New Construction in Sunland-Tujunga With an Ember-Resistant Wall
Fiber cement siding over fire-rated gypsum gives a new Sunland-Tujunga house an outer wall that offers embers little to catch where a lot is mapped.
Fiber cement siding over a layer of fire-rated gypsum sheathing gives a new Sunland-Tujunga house an outer wall that offers embers little to catch. Both layers resist burning, so a hot brand lodged against the siding finds almost no fuel, and the gypsum slows heat on its way to the studs. Sunland-Tujunga has land inside mapped fire hazard zones, and where a lot falls in one, ember-resistance rules can apply. This wall is drawn to meet them from the first sheet.
Building the wall in layers
Structural panels go on the studs first for bracing, and the gypsum sheathing is fastened over them on the schedule its listed assembly sets. A water-resistive barrier laps over the gypsum, and the fiber cement boards or panels follow with corrosion-resistant nails at the spacing their maker calls for. Joints get flashing or sealed trim. At the base, the siding stops above the soil and any paving, and a metal closure seals the bottom edge so embers cannot settle behind it. Around windows and doors, metal flashing replaces plastic trim that would soften in heat.
What LADBS and the inspector check
Wherever the lot falls in a mapped zone, LADBS checks the exterior wall against the ember-resistance chapter of the code, so the plans name the siding product, its listing and the full assembly behind it. Eaves get the same care: soffits are closed with noncombustible material, and attic vents carry mesh or baffles rated to stop embers. Siding waits for the inspector, who checks the gypsum layer and its flashing first. On a lot outside the mapped zones, this wall can still be built, and we price it beside a standard stucco wall so the difference is plain.
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Its place on the fire hazard map, before anything else. If the lot falls inside a mapped zone, the walls, roof, vents and windows are specified for embers from the first sketch. Next come the boundary and contour survey, soil borings, what the zoning allows, and the fire department's word on how its engines reach the lot and where water for firefighting comes from.
Everything up to the permit is one piece of work with one price: the drawings, the engineering, any fire department review and LADBS plan check. Building is the second piece, priced from the approved set and listed stage by stage, and the ember-resistant work on the walls, eaves and vents is broken out so its share of the total stays visible.
Our office keeps them on one schedule and one set of drawings. The surveyor's map of lines and contours is the base every other consultant draws on. For a lot in a mapped zone, the fire department's comments and the siding maker's assembly listing join that set, and we track each LADBS correction until the consultant who owns it has answered.
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