Your insurance company already knows decks are a weak point. Most homeowners don't. IBHS, the insurance industry's own research arm, names decks as one of a handful of home components that require systematic wildfire hardening, right alongside vents, eaves, and roofing.

Here's the part most homeowners never hear: composite decking with standard board gaps doesn't stop embers from reaching the joists underneath. Once those joists ignite, either from embers falling through the gaps or from debris catching fire underneath the deck, they can burn long enough to expose the deck boards, the siding, and the house itself to sustained flame.

IBHS's own recommendation: to actually reduce the odds of deck ignition, the entire deck assembly needs to be noncombustible, joists, railings, posts, and walking surface, not just the part you walk on.

That's why every Guardian deck starts with a steel-framed substructure. We're not replacing a board, we're closing the gap composite decking alone leaves open. We build with Fortress steel framing, one of the industry's premier fire-resistant deck systems, so your deck meets that standard from the ground up.

Source: Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety