Fire prevention in your house begins with your roof and parts of your roof like the eaves.
Altadena residents and business owners continue rebuilding and sifting through the challenges of rebuilding after the historic and devastating January 2025 Eaton blaze leveled 6,000 homes.
Thomas Garvey, owner of Garvey Roofing, has roofed newly built homes in Altadena.
Here’s what his team does to ensure the roof has the best possible chance of repealing embers to reduce the risk of a home catching fire.
All roofing materials that Garvey Roofing installs has the highest possible fire rating. That means the plywood decking, underlayment and both the asphalt shingles or tiles.
Scroll down for a Fire Hardening Special.
Soffits
Most roofs don’t catch fire by embers landing on the roof’s surface. Blown embers can find a way beneath the eaves and ignite inside. That makes for easy access to the interior.
Heat can also get trapped in the eaves.
Look at the eaves of your home. How is the wood?
If it’s older and if there are any portions that are rotten then replace them.
Garvey Roofing boxes in the eaves to protect them using code-compliant soffits.
A lot in Altadena brought back to life and a roof installed by Garvey Roofing
Mesh screens
Altadena lost many homes built in the early to middle of last century. Homes that had the older style dormer vents were vulnerable to embers flying into the attic, especially given the power of the winds at the time.
Garvey Roofing will install fireproof fine mesh screens on all protrusions on the roof and crawlspaces.
Thomas says that in the event of a wildfire blazing out of control, homeowners can duct tape something as simple as thick lawn and leaf bags over vents to keep out embers.
Low profile vents
Replace dormer vents with a few low profile vents that allow heat to escape the attic but closing off the entrance for embers. The vents aren’t easily noticeable so they don’t take away from the aesthetics of the roof.
The Eaton Fire followed 32 years after the Kinneloa Mesa fire which forced evacuations and destroyed homes that were mostly east of Eaton Canyon.
Threats of fire are a fact of life in the San Gabriel Valley which is densely packed and with many older homes and roofs.
Why Garvey Roofing
Call (626) 358-9208
Thomas Garvey has operated Garvey Roofing for over 35 years. The main office is in Monrovia but his team works on homes of all styles from La Canada to Bradbury and from Altadena to Hacienda Heights.
Fireproofing is one of the company’s licenses, along with general contracting.
Thomas Garvey knows the weather patterns and how it affects commercial buildings and homes. He’ll advise on the best roofs near canyons north of the 210 where the wind and rain patterns are different than homes closer to the 10 freeway and the 60 freeway.
He’ll work with homeowners on their budgets and will share the best roof for a home whether it’s a historic bungalow or a modern sprawling structure.
Roofing estimates are free.
Garvey Roofing guarantees all labor and materials for your peace of mind.
As Thomas says, “When the rains fall and winds blow, my phone doesn’t ring.”
Another roof that the Garvey Rooing team installed
