If you were building from scratch....

[Root Cause]

This is our local fire prevention checklist here. The big one not really on the list are what the exterior of the house is. A friend used concrete siding boards. Not at all flammable and from about two feet indistinguishable from raw lumber. I would plan larger roof overhangs to keep rain off of the house, no gutters, and gravel around the house for drainage. I would also seriously consider metal roofing, and a simple (e.g. four simple roof planes, no dormers) roof, with as few roof penetrations as possible.

If you do large overhangs, you will get more shade inside the house for cooler temperatures in the summertime. Outside, I would cut down trees that are within 100' of the house, or their height, whichever is larger, and I would be generous, knowing that trees grow and are easiest to remove when there isn't a house there.

If you do clear to mineral soil, you can add landscape fabric and gravel to prevent dust and erosion. Where you are, I am not sure that I would bother. I am not a fan of shrubs around houses in woods; they collect leaves, small mammals, and tend to increase mold/mildew issues on the house.

Swales / ditches are ok. If it were me, I would look upslope and plan for that 17" in twenty four hour rainfall event. E.g. a second or third swale higher up slope to divert water before it gets to your house swale. I wouldn't plan on a bench being enough.

I would move the branches / chips / pine needles farther away if it were me, but fire is much more of a concern here. If you have a lot, it might be easiest to hire someone to chip it all with a monster chipper, or just pile it up and let nature do its thing. Where you are, I would move it a ways away and compost it to bring back in a few years to add to the soil.

I would rent an excavator or dozer to pull the stumps and dump/bury them somewhere well down hill.

Photos?

All the best,

Peter

I think my chipper is adequate. It will take a 4" limb but I will be stacking everything 3" and up for my in water stove.

Here are some pictures over the last month.


I have hardi-board panels now and will be using them on the new house with stone veneer and a metal roof.

Thanks for the link. I will be looking at that tonight. I am having the grader push all the tree tops and underbrush down the hill about 200' away from the clearing.

From what everyone is saying, it looks like I have a lot of things in place but you all have offered some other things that I will incorporate and I appreciate each post.

 

[etpm]

My last house was built in the early 70s on wetlands. I had no idea about this when I bought it. The basement flooded several times. The house is in Redmond WA. We moved to Whidbey Island, also in WA. When I had my house built I did so on the highest part of our land. The house has a daylight basement. The part of the basement that is underground has 3 layers of waterproofing. There is also a footing drain around the complete foundation. The house is now 15 years old and the basement is dusty dry. No sign of moisture at all. In rainy Washington State. We also used Hardieplank siding. The stuff is great. I did not like the very wide reveal of the wide Hardieplank boards so I had the contractor overlap the boards way more than normal. It used almost twice as much Hardieplank but the siding looks great. Since my wife and intend to live here until we are dead it was worth the extra expense. At least to me.
Eric

 

[Root Cause]

My last house was built in the early 70s on wetlands. I had no idea about this when I bought it. The basement flooded several times. The house is in Redmond WA. We moved to Whidbey Island, also in WA. When I had my house built I did so on the highest part of our land. The house has a daylight basement. The part of the basement that is underground has 3 layers of waterproofing. There is also a footing drain around the complete foundation. The house is now 15 years old and the basement is dusty dry. No sign of moisture at all. In rainy Washington State. We also used Hardieplank siding. The stuff is great. I did not like the very wide reveal of the wide Hardieplank boards so I had the contractor overlap the boards way more than normal. It used almost twice as much Hardieplank but the siding looks great. Since my wife and intend to live here until we are dead it was worth the extra expense. At least to me.
Eric

I have been to Widbey Island one time. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We like the hardboard planks and will have them on this house. Thanks for mentioning the footing drain, I will make a special note of that when planning the foundation with the contractor.

 

[etpm]

I have been to Widbey Island one time. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We like the hardboard planks and will have them on this house. Thanks for mentioning the footing drain, I will make a special note of that when planning the foundation with the contractor.

Yeah, I can hardly believe I get to live here on Whidbey Island. We have trails we cut through the woods that take about 40 minutes to walk.
Eric

 

[Root Cause]

Yeah, I can hardly believe I get to live here on Whidbey Island. We have trails we cut through the woods that take about 40 minutes to walk.
Eric

Yeah, I was thinking about you getting a tractor delivered to your house via boat. LOL You are indeed lucky.

 

[etpm]

Yeah, I was thinking about you getting a tractor delivered to your house via boat. LOL You are indeed lucky.

Actually, a couple months ago I bought my Yanmar YM2310 from a guy 3 or 4 miles away. So I just drove it home.