debris from the ceiling

Yes,it is grit and it is very common. The original Eichler roofs were tar paper and gravel.

It is very common to have junk and dust from the ceiling find its way out through the grooves. However, it is also common for carpenter ants to cause this type of debris to rain down from the ceiling. Collect some samples of the grit and call in an expert to check it out.

So if grit falls from an Eichler ceiling and no-one around to hear it......

Ok...enough fun. We need some answers here. Where is the grit coming from and how do we get rid of the problem?

1st- grit can come from two sources. Little bugs eating away at your precious wood will cause tiny bits of crud to rain from the spaces between the ceiling boards. You can usually tell if its bugs as the 'bits' are fairly uniform in size and not what we would refer to as gravely or gritty.

2nd- The gravely or gritty variety is usually the remnant of a 'dirty' roof tear-off in your Eichler's past. Think about this for a minute.... your roof was torn off in the past and dirt, gravel and grit were left on top of you roof deck boards. The new roof was promptly installed over the top of the crud. At this point think of your ceiling as a large dirt grinder, your tongue and grove boards rub against each other as the roof expands and contracts laying down a nice layer of grit with each cycle. The cycling can be the result of regular expansion/contraction or something as simple as someone walking across the roof. We have heard reports of Eichlers that had so much dirt under their roof that a larger truck driving down the street was enough movement to lay down distinct lines of dirt across the dining room table.

The fix.
If you've got bugs....kill them.

If it is gravel or grit.
This gets tricky. The next time you have your roof off vacuum between all of the boards and get rid of the grit before putting another roof on.

Short of that....some have tried vacuuming the ceiling (definitely use a canister vac - not an upright- and work under cover of darkness lest your neighbor see you and start some silly rumors). The vacuum will draw a lot, but certainly not all, of the grit out of the ceiling.

Another approach. Drape the interior of you Eichler with plastic sheeting to catch the grit and then have a bulky fellow walk all over your roof to encourage the grit to 'bleed out'. Of course you need to weigh the potential harm to the existing roof vs. the peace of mind from being rid of some grit.

And now the winner/loser.
We have seen this one done, sometimes amazingly well, but certainly wouldn't recommend it unless you are at the 'end of your rope'. Some owners have carefully caulk each and every ceiling crack to stop the grit. It turned out looking very nice and the problem was gone. I don't think that I need to mention that this only works with painted ceilings...but I will anyway to not be the cause of someone really messing up their Eichler.

<> The sealing of the ceiling boards will create a situation that can be hazardous to your Eichler's health. You will not be able to see the usual signs of a roof leak if the joints are caulked. Moisture will be able build up under your existing roof and on top of your ceiling boards potentially saturating any roof insulation. You may not have a clue that there is a roof leak until water starts to pour out of lighting fixtures or paint starts to detach from ceiling boards forming water filled 'blisters'.

Now don't think of this as all bad. When you are forced to tear off all of your water soaked roofing/insulation, you will have to leave the wood deck boards exposed to air to allow them to dry. After the deck boards are dry this would be a great time to vacuum up the dirt that was left between the boards.......See how it all works out?

Hope the explanation helps. I think we all know the moral to this story....don't roof over dirt,gravel and grit.

Or Maybe it was an earthquake, i remember in that 5.6 in october i found grit all over the place as well as chunks of drywall and other C**p

great post...we have now seen ants...so it is most likely the cause...any recommendations for reputable pest control with eichler experience?

Hello...

We are getting ready to paint the interior of our Sunnyvale Eichler and have been seriously considering caulking our ceilings (no, we were not lucky enough to have inherited the pristine stained ceilings). I know a lot of folks have caulked ceilings and i have heard very different opinions from professional painters about the risk of damaging the roof, contrary to what Adam from Dura foam talks about.

So, i was wondering if anyone who has caulked their ceilings have had leaks which were discovered much later because they caulked?

Our roof is kind of old (~14 year) flat T&G and is coming to it's EOL in the next 3-5 years. This concerns me a little more and would really like advise on weather we should:
- Caulk now while we get our ceilings painted and not worry too much about roof damage due to undetected leaks
- Caulk after we put in a new roof
- Never Caulk

thanks