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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2019 11:38am - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Are there any fabric / flexible / rolled material options out there that one could use to skirt a cabin/cottage and make a cabin on piers or beams more fire resistant?
To my best knowledge, the sun and weather are so hard on most fabric that they don’t last long.
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2019 05:03pm
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Might try fireproof paint.
Piers and beams.
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Atlincabin
Member
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2019 08:16pm
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Corrugated roofing will roll up somewhat.
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darz5150
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2019 10:38pm
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Is there a reason you want something fabric/flexible? I replaced my old skirting with galvanized roof metal. Still can access under the cabin for maintenance or storage in about a minute with a screw gun. You can get colored roll sheet metal from anywhere that sells siding material. But if you use fabric or something flexible. How would you attach it to the ground and the cabin to keep it from being wavy and or just blowing up under the cabin?
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 08:22am
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Wrap it with hardi planks.
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KinAlberta
Member
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 12:50pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Yes, I know there’s a number of great but inflexible options.
Here’s mention of a possible material (down in Arizona):
https://www.arizonasunsupply.com/Textilene-Outdoor-Fabric-with-Enhanced-Fire-Rated-Pe rformance
Maybe just doubled up metal or fibreglass window screen wrapped around a tube at the bottom for weight and rigidity.)
(Screen would allow air flow, easy access and ease of dealing with uneven ground and any building’s summer to winter movement. Flammable weeds, webs etc though would accumulate on it but might stop embers from blowing under buildings.)
I have several sheds and our boathouse on pads / blocks. A grass fire would definitely light up all of them. (No defensive gravel perimeters around any of them yet. That a plan for the future after I move a few into better locations.)
The boathouse sits on overgrown beach sand thT starts at very near the lake level and rises towards the back (3-4’ off the ground at the front and at ground level at the back) and likely moves a fair bit at freeze-up so say a sheet metal skirt would have to allow a few inches of movement. A solid skirt would likely attract skunks, wasps, etc. So maybe just some type of tarp
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Princelake
Member
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 06:57pm
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What about doing a skirting with cementboard? You can parge it, add decorate stone etc.
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rockies
Member
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 07:53pm
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If you are planning on enclosing a pier foundation with a solid material you're in effect creating a crawlspace. This can lead to all kinds of problems with humidity, mold and rot under the cabin.
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 08:54pm
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That’s why something that can be rolled up or will allow wind to pass through it would be good.
Fibreglass cloth?
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 09:30pm
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If you want it enclosed, skirt it with hardi panel (comes in 4X8 sheets) and add vents for breathing.
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KinAlberta
Member
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2019 10:59pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Yeah that may be the easiest way to go.
Deep flashing or double studded and lapped to prevent them from bursting or gaping and vented with a fine mesh.
I suppose aluminum soffit might work as skirting as well.
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sparky30_06
Member
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2019 07:41am
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they make fire blankets for welding. you could roll them up, make a steel frame work behind them and you will be good to go.
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KinAlberta
Member
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2019 01:26pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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Was just hoping to find something quick and easy and of course dirt cheap to prevent a grass fire from torching sheds etc and mesh-like to avoid moisture, mold and rot problems as well as avoiding creating nice comfortable pest habitats.
I thought something on par with landscape fabric or tarpaulin which could be easily cut to fit uneven ground. Then just tack or staple it to the bottom perimeter of a shed and maybe use tent stakes to hold it in place.
Right now I have several old sheds on blocks and skids or beams that I plan to put metal siding on. I’m thinking that I should consider different options to fireproof the bases before siding them.
Maybe just laying cheap old roll roofing on the ground under the perimeter edges would be enough to stop a fire from getting right under the buildings. Then maybe just flashing the undersides of the perimeters would be enough to reduce the grass fire risk.
Where sheds are close to the surrounding forest though, proper skirting would be ideal as long as I take into account freeze-thaw building movement.
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