Location:	Gilbert, AZ
Home Type:	Single Family
Yr Built:	2007
Sq. Ft.:	2694
Yr Sprinklers Installed:	2007
Sprinkler Cost:	$4000*

In 2007, Travis Mack decided to have his new Gilbert, Arizona, home built with residential fire sprinklers. Travis reasons, “I work in the fire sprinkler industry and feel that it is appropriate that I practice what I preach. I also work from home and want the protection for my business as well as the piece of mind it provides for me in knowing that my family would be safe in the event of a fire. We have a young child and pets that I want protected in times of fire should it ever happen.”

The house is a 2694 square foot, one story single family dwelling. Although Travis intended the house to be built with sprinklers from the beginning, the builder would not allow the sprinkler installation to take place during the home’s construction. Travis notes, “I live in a single story home with a large attic, so I knew that it could be retrofitted relatively easy. However, if this was a 2 story, I would have taken this fight to the local building official to let me have fire sprinklers if needed.” Travis chose to retrofit the home with a fire sprinkler system immediately after taking possession of the home from the builder.

As a professional fire sprinkler system designer, Travis designed the system himself. One of his business clients, Wicked Fire Protection of Flagstaff, AZ, agreed to perform the installation at cost. *This resulted in the entire home fire sprinkler retrofit only costing $4000 or $1.48 a sq. ft.

The home insurer is Ameriprise, and at this time, Travis does not receive a discount for having fire sprinklers. He indicates, “We have not had any monetary benefits as far as insurance premium reduction because we are max’d out already. We have deductions for a new home, smoke detectors, central alarm and a few others. The fire sprinkler discount will kick in at year 5. The benefit is that we will be able to keep our current “lower” premium for years to come because as current deductions phase out, the fire sprinkler deduction will cover those.”

Maintenance has not been an issue for Travis. The system is only about 6 months old. He has not had any problems, and currently, he is estimating that maintaining the system will cost less than $100 per year.

Travis feels that his residential fire sprinklers provide peace of mind that nothing else could give. In his words, “I have a greater piece of mind knowing that my home is safe when we are around or away. Our fire sprinkler system is tied to a central monitoring station so that even if a fire occurs and we are not home, the local fire department will respond and deal with the issue. Also, having small children at home, it is always nice to know that should a fire occur, we will be able to get out of the house safely.”

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Is your home protected by a residential fire sprinkler system? If yes, we would like to know about it and feature you and your home in a case study. Download the “Installing Residential Fire Sprinklers Questionnaire”, answer the questions and return the completed questionnaire as indicated. We will use the information provided to publish a case study sharing your experience with residential fire sprinklers.