Defensible Space
The letter from your insurer is the real deadline
Most people up here start thinking about defensible space when a carrier sends a non-renewal notice or an inspection photo. By then it is a scramble. The work itself is not complicated, but which zone a plant sits in decides whether it stays, and the difference between passing and failing is usually five feet from the wall.
What's included
- Zone 0, the first five feet, cleared to ember-resistant: no bark mulch, no shrubs against siding
- Zone 1 out to thirty feet: spacing, limbing up, ladder fuels removed
- Zone 2 out to a hundred feet where the parcel allows it
- Needle and litter removal from roof, gutters, decks, and under decks
- Before-and-after photos by zone, listed against the requirement each satisfies
Worth asking anyone who bids this
Ask anyone bidding this whether you get photographs by zone. Without them you have paid for work you cannot prove, and proof is the entire point when a carrier is deciding about you.
Before After ★★★★★
“We got the non-renewal letter in March. They walked it, cleared it, and sent a photo packet I forwarded straight to the carrier. We kept the policy.”
Photographed, zone by zone, for your insurer
Every defensible space job gets photographed before and after in each zone, with the work listed against the requirement it satisfies. You get that packet as a PDF. When your carrier asks for proof, you send it instead of scheduling another inspection.
Thinking about defensible space?
We walk the property with you and send a written assessment in two business days. Free, whether or not you hire us.