ARTICLE 18
After Disaster Strikes: Before You Rebuild, Understand Your Options
A fire. A wildfire. A flood. A severe storm.
Sometimes events like these are described as an act of God, or in certain contracts as a force majeure event.
Whatever you call it, life can change in a matter of minutes.
But before thinking about the house, the insurance claim, the damage, or what comes next, there is one question that matters more than anything else:
Is everyone safe?
Are your family members accounted for?
Are your pets safe?
Does anyone need medical attention?
Is the building safe to enter?
The house can wait.
People cannot.
Follow the direction of emergency responders, and don't enter a damaged structure until it is safe to do so. Fire-damaged framing, compromised electrical systems, gas, standing water, unstable trees, and other hazards can remain even after the immediate event appears to be over.
Once everyone is safe, another difficult process begins.
You Just Want Your Home Back
Maybe you've lived there for 10 years.
Maybe 40.
It's where your kids grew up. Where family gathers. Where the dog sleeps in the same spot every night. Where birthdays and Christmas mornings happened.
Now you're looking at burned framing, smoke damage, soaked walls, broken windows, a damaged roof, or perhaps an entire portion of the house that is simply gone.
Naturally, you want to fix it.
You want your home back.
Then come the questions.
What can we save?
What needs to come out?
What will insurance cover?
Can we repair it?
Can we rebuild exactly what was there?
Where do we even start?
That last question is important, because rebuilding after a major disaster isn't always as simple as putting everything back exactly the way it was.
Sometimes you can.
Sometimes you can't.
And sometimes, even if you can, you should ask whether you should.
The Event That Damages Your Home May Not Control How You Rebuild It
A friend of mine had grandparents living in Florida whose home suffered an electrical fire.
The house had been there for years.
During that time, flood mapping affecting the property had changed. The existing home was essentially grandfathered in. They weren't suddenly required to tear it down or raise it just because newer floodplain requirements affected the property.
The existing house could remain.
Then came the fire.
It wasn't flooding.
It wasn't a hurricane.
It was an electrical fire.
But once major reconstruction became necessary, a completely different issue entered the conversation.
Could they rebuild the house exactly the way it had been?
For structures within a Special Flood Hazard Area, FEMA guidance says a community must evaluate substantial damage regardless of what caused the damage. If the cost of restoring the structure reaches 50% or more of its pre-damage market value, current local floodplain standards generally come into play. Some communities adopt even stricter standards.
Think about that.
The fire damaged the house. The floodplain affected how it could be rebuilt.
Suddenly, this wasn't only a repair question.
Could the house be repaired?
Could it be raised?
Could it be moved?
Should it be redesigned?
Would it make more sense to start over?
That is where rebuilding becomes more than replacing damaged materials.
It becomes a question of understanding your options.
In Montana, the Conversation May Be Wildfire
Here in Montana, the risk may look very different.
Wildfire is part of living in the West.
And a wildfire doesn't have to completely burn a house to create major damage. Embers, heat, smoke, and direct flame can attack a structure in different ways.
Montana DNRC emphasizes the Home Ignition Zone, the home and surrounding area, because the condition of the structure and nearby vegetation can have a major influence on whether a home ignites.
So imagine your family is safe, the fire is over, and now you're looking at putting hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the property.
There is an important question worth asking:
If we're rebuilding anyway, what can we change so this house has a better chance the next time?
That should be part of the conversation.
Rebuild for the Worst. Hope You Never Need It.
You cannot stop a wildfire from moving across Montana.
You cannot stop a severe storm from arriving.
You cannot always stop floodwater from rising.
But you can make decisions about how your home responds when those things happen.
If you are already rebuilding, this is the time to ask:
What failed? Why did it fail? What can we do differently?
For wildfire, that starts before the flames ever reach the house.
And it doesn't mean simply clear-cutting the property.
Montana DNRC recommends approaching the landscape in zones.
The first 0 to 5 feet around the home is especially important. Combustible material immediately against the building can provide embers or flames a path to the structure. Noncombustible materials such as rock and hardscape can help reduce that vulnerability.
From approximately 5 to 30 feet, the goal becomes creating and maintaining defensible space. Vegetation can still exist, but spacing, maintenance, removal of ladder fuels, and breaks such as stone paths, gravel areas, or driveways can help interrupt how fire moves.
Farther out, roughly 30 to 100 feet, thinning vegetation and breaking up continuous fuels can help reduce fire intensity as it approaches the house.
You can still have trees.
You can still have landscaping.
You can still have a beautiful Montana property.
The goal is to make it harder for fire to travel from the landscape to the house.
Then Look at the House Itself
If you're rebuilding, look at the parts of the building that can make a difference.
If the roof needs replacement, consider a high fire-resistance roof assembly appropriate for the project.
If siding is being replaced, evaluate noncombustible or more ignition-resistant materials and details.
Look at vents and openings where wind-driven embers could enter an attic or crawl space.
Look underneath decks.
Look at combustible fencing connected directly to the house.
Look at where firewood is stored.
Look at gutters filled with pine needles.
Look at branches hanging over the roof.
Look at combustible mulch immediately against exterior walls.
Montana DNRC specifically recommends home hardening, removing flammable fuels around the Home Ignition Zone, and using noncombustible materials where appropriate.
No single detail makes a house disaster-proof.
Nothing does.
The idea is to eliminate as many weak points as reasonably possible.
If you're already rebuilding the deck, why recreate the same vulnerable deck?
If you're replacing the siding, why not study whether a more resilient material makes sense?
If the landscaping helped carry fire toward the house, why put it back exactly the same way?
If you're already spending the money, use the opportunity.
Flooding Requires a Different Response
The same principle applies to water.
If a house has experienced major flood damage, ask whether mechanical equipment, electrical components, or other critical systems should return to the exact same vulnerable locations.
Could equipment be raised?
Could the lowest portions of the building be used differently?
Could different materials make recovery easier if water ever reaches the building again?
Could the entire house be elevated?
Could another portion of the property be a better place for the building?
Maybe the right solution is repair.
Maybe it is raising the house.
Maybe it is changing the design.
Maybe it is moving it.
The point isn't that every flooded house should be elevated.
The point is that if you're already rebuilding, this is the time to understand the options.
What About Wind, Falling Trees, or Severe Storms?
Same idea.
If a roof failed during a severe wind event, don't only replace what blew off.
Ask why it failed.
Should structural connections be evaluated?
Did an opening fail?
Is there a better way to put the assembly back together?
If a tree came through the house, look at the surrounding property before rebuilding directly beneath the same hazard.
If water repeatedly found its way through a particular roof condition or drainage problem, don't simply rebuild that detail and hope for a different result.
The disaster tells you where the building was vulnerable.
Use that information.
Repair, Raise, Move, Redesign, or Start Over?
There isn't one answer for every damaged home.
Sometimes most of the building can be repaired.
Sometimes portions can remain while others need to be rebuilt.
Sometimes elevation may solve a flood-related problem.
Sometimes another location on the property makes more sense.
Sometimes the original floor plan isn't worth recreating.
Maybe the family has changed.
Maybe accessibility matters more now.
Maybe the house could take better advantage of the site.
Maybe energy performance could improve.
Maybe wildfire resilience should influence the materials and landscaping.
And sometimes the amount of damage simply makes starting over the most reasonable option to study.
The goal isn't to walk onto a damaged property already knowing the answer.
The goal is to understand the possibilities before making an irreversible decision.
This Is Where an Architect Can Help
After a disaster, there may suddenly be a lot of people involved.
Emergency responders.
Insurance adjusters.
Restoration companies.
Contractors.
Structural engineers.
Building officials.
Floodplain administrators.
Each one has an important job.
But someone also needs to step back and look at how those pieces fit together.
What can remain?
What needs to be removed?
What has changed since the house was originally built?
Is an existing condition grandfathered?
Does the extent of reconstruction affect that?
What requirements apply today?
Why was the house vulnerable?
What could be improved?
Should it be repaired?
Raised?
Moved?
Redesigned?
Rebuilt?
What should an engineer evaluate?
What do we need to ask the local jurisdiction?
What options should be priced before committing a significant amount of money?
Sometimes the first thing an architect needs to design isn't the replacement house.
It's the path forward.
Don't Demolish the Information
There is another reason not to rush.
Once something is demolished, information disappears with it.
Existing framing tells us how a house was constructed.
Foundations show where loads were carried.
Opening walls may expose old construction, previous additions, moisture, wiring, or structural conditions that nobody knew were there.
Photographs and documentation may also be important for insurance and for the professionals evaluating the building.
Of course, safety comes first.
If emergency responders or qualified professionals determine something is dangerous and needs to be stabilized or removed, it needs to happen.
But once the immediate danger has passed:
Document before you demolish.
Understand what happened before removing the information that may help determine what should happen next.
This Is One of the Reasons I Do What I Do
Architecture is often shown through the finished product.
The beautiful house.
The photographs.
The renderings.
The finished kitchen.
But that isn't the only time an architect can be valuable.
Sometimes architecture is helping someone on one of the worst days they've experienced.
Sometimes it's sitting down with a family that doesn't know what happens next and helping them make sense of the problem.
It's looking at what remains.
It's asking the questions they may not know to ask.
It's talking with engineers, contractors, and local officials.
It's exploring the options.
It's helping someone move from:
“I don't know what we're supposed to do.”
to:
“Okay. We have a path forward.”
That is one of the reasons I do what I do.
Not simply to design buildings, but to help people.
Especially when they need someone in their corner to help them understand what comes next.
Hopefully, You Never Have to Think About It Again
After a disaster, people understandably want their lives to feel normal again.
They don't want to spend the next ten years thinking about wildfire, flooding, structural connections, or ember-resistant vents.
They want to live in their home.
That is exactly why these decisions matter during rebuilding.
If you're going to rebuild, prepare for the worst while you have the opportunity to do it.
Make the upgrades that make sense.
Address the weak points.
Think about the site.
Think about the materials.
Think about what happened the first time.
You cannot eliminate every risk.
You cannot guarantee another disaster will never happen.
But you can build a home that is better prepared to face it.
And ideally, when the work is finished, all of those decisions disappear into the background.
You don't wake up thinking about your roof assembly.
You don't spend dinner thinking about defensible space.
You don't stare at the wall wondering about structural connections.
You made those decisions when they mattered.
Now you get to go back to living.
Because ultimately, resilience isn't about living your life afraid of the worst thing that could happen.
It's about preparing for it so you don't have to live afraid of it.
First, protect the people.
Then understand what happened.
Learn from it.
And when it is time to build again:
Document the damage. Understand the risk. Rebuild with purpose.
Michael Demetrios Frudakis, AIA, NCARB
Principal Architect