Comments on: Eichler: No Walls, On A Slab…. Run The Wires (and Water) On The Roof!

By: Cupertinoeichler

Cupertinoeichler — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:19:03 +0000

We had our cold water line moved onto the roof when it sprung a leak in the slab…water gets hot in summer. Have to go over the roof to not destroy the radiant floor heating….leak was next to the manifold!

Our t & g ceiling/roof isn’t caulked…it rains bits of tar cinder when people are on the roof.

By: Olivia

Olivia — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:47:45 +0000

I was elated to find this description of your home! I do not have an Eichler home, however my home does share MANY of the same characteristics as yours, including a flat roof, tounge in groove ceilings, slab foundation, and plumbing gone wrong in the slab. I am convinced a lovely insulated box could be built on the roof to accommodate new plumbing, but people keep telling me no. I am in Sacramento and am not sure how my climate compares with yours. Do you have problems with hot water or any other info you can offer?

By: bbum

bbum — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:32:27 +0000

For the uninformed, eichler ceilings are made of really thick redwood tongue and groove planks. Over the 40 or so years, the planks tend to dry out and shrink slightly. Thus, the spacing between is enough to allow gunk on the tar-and-gravel roof to fall or be pushed through.

Unfortunately, our ceilings were not caulked. Fortunately, they did have the proper layer of paper on top unlike some.

That, combined with the utter destruction in the house, has meant that all the areas with roof incursions were areas that were also torn down to the slab. Big mess anyway.

(And, yes, that last comment is semi-spammy. Trying to drive traffic to a bay area Eichler “for sale” network. But it is also a spot-on question and a definite concern. Clearly, a network that has at least a bit of a clue.)

By: eichler

eichler — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:27:40 +0000

Looks like a lot of work! Out of curiosity, were your tongue and groove ceilings caulked prior to all of this roof work? I only ask because i’ve seen a few roof projects like this that shook things up a little bit and resulted in roof sediment inside of the home. Hopefully it was a ‘clean’ project for you (at least inside).

By: bbum

bbum — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:43:45 +0000

Bwahahahaha! Stupid spammer. I’d love to have seen the terms of contract that resulted in that comment.

Link removed.

By: David

David — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:32:06 +0000

It is a terrible sight, i would not be willing to appear in a place like that

By: bbum’s weblog-o-mat » Blog Archive » No leaks!

bbum’s weblog-o-mat » Blog Archive » No leaks! — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:25:39 +0000

[...] A couple of weeks ago, our roof was mighty torn up. [...]

By: Andy Boyko

Andy Boyko — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:47:10 +0000

A minor correction: Eichler was a developer, not a designer — the houses were designed by various architects of the era, tuned for cost and reproducibility.

We just moved to Sunnyvale from the east coast, and living in an Eichler was one of my wife’s criteria for the move. Having endured renovating a 1940′s house back east, one of mine was: let’s rent. From what I can tell, one might be happier as an Eichler renter

By: Phoenix Heating Repair

Phoenix Heating Repair — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:11:34 +0000

That’s a pretty interesting system… I’d never heard of Eichler homes before coming across your webpage. I have a question, though – why couldn’t you just make two layers on the roof and put the pipes in between (kind of like acoustic tiles, or the floors in a computer center with all the wires running underneath)? Then you could just pick up the parts of the roof you need, put them to the side, work on the pipes, and then put them back on. That way, you wouldn’t have to cut into the roof every time you need to do some plumbing.

Am I missing something on why this wouldn’t be a good idea?

By: DLub

DLub — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:35:52 +0000

Is there a reason for not burying the water pipe into the foam roof while you’re digging that electrical in? Seems like doing that might help both problems – the edibility of the insulation and the pipe-bursting issue.
We get birds pecking at our foam roof too, and we head up there with some polyurethane caulk every fall and try to patch up the divots. Didn’t make it in time for our early first rain this year though.
Also, I notice that you put in flat skylights, as opposed to domed. Other than the domed shedding water differently, what’s the difference? Thanks!