Fall Maintenance

Adorable print by Jenn Ski, available at her Etsy.com shop!

Fall is here, busy squirrel feet are skittering across our flat-top roofs, and we should be getting ready for cooler, wetter weather! Time for gutter cleaning, furnace maintenance, and fireplace cleaning at your Eichler home.

Extensive gutter system and flat top on our Eichler home requires regular cleaning

Just last week I had the gutters cleaned on the Eichler and our MCM ranch. Sacramento is renowned for its trees which naturally gunk up our gutters. If you're in need of someone who does a great job at cleaning off your roof and gutters, look no further than Justin Kemper of Castle Gutter Cleaning. Justin and his crews have done an excellent job and clean-up every time -- very conscientious and meticulous work. You can reach him at (916) 988-1825.

What was left of a Likeler in Palo Alto that exploded in a fireball after a gas leak

Sadly, a flat-top home, possibly a Stern and Price, in Palo Alto was severely damaged after a gas leak caused an explosion this last week. There had been reports of a strong gas odor before the explosion; a mother and her baby had just left the home. The father was still inside when the explosion occurred but miraculously was not severely injured. The blast literally blew the roof off, the windows out, and reduced the house to a charred frame. Reportedly, neighbors said the homeowner had recently complained of smelling gas and had called inspectors to the home.

I recommend you print out PG&E's recommendations for when you smell gas odors on your property and post them in a handy place along with relevant phone numbers. Do regular maintenance such as changing your filters and having your furnace inspected by a qualified professional. I recommend Brent McCully of California Heat & Air. I've been most impressed with his work. You may reach him at (916) 355-9900.

Finally, a clean fireplace is a safer fireplace. We prefer not to use ours (the smoke aggravates our allergies) but the original owners had used it A LOT and had extensive records of what had been done to the fireplace and chimney. I decided to stick with the same company, Chim Chimney. I appreciated their professionalism -- they even offered to give me a written record of the previous work that had been done over the years. I highly recommend them.

Hope the referrals to local services are helpful. Here's to a healthy and safe season!

Up on the roof

Anyone who owns a home knows (and particularly those of us who own quirky flat topped homes) that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We recently have been busy taking preventative measures to protect our investment. Our first Big Project was making sure our roof wouldn't leak. This is an ongoing vigilant matter with Eichler owners.

Local roofer Hugh Barnes from The Roof Repair Company assessed our roof, came in with some proactive minor repairs and also kindly cleaned our roof and gutters in the process. He resealed all the items on the roof that had penetration flashing with modified mastic and granules, repainted all flashings with aluminum colored paint, and worked on an area that needed repair over our garage. All areas with edges were resealed as well as all areas that were suspect for future leaks. We also invested in a two year roof certification so that in the event the roof leaks he would repair it.


I found Hugh and his coworker easy to work with, professional, and competitively priced. They were also very happy to make sure my clumsy butt didn't fall off the roof when I went up to take pictures.

Hopefully we won't be needing to make use of our roof certification but if we do, I will report back regarding the outcome. You may reach Mr. Barnes at 916.643.3605.

The Flat Top

I don't know what it was about the 1950's that predisposed houses and hairstyles to be flat, but I did make an awesome discovery regarding our roof!

I revisited the plans left behind by the former owners. According to the plans drawn by Caywood and Associates back in 1979, extraordinary measures were taken to improve the roof, including a layer of foam insulation.


As most Eichler owners are aware, the roof can be a real challenge to maintain. At least two different installation companies in the Bay Area specialize in foam roofing for flat top and low slope roofs.


We are currently in the process of getting a two year certification for our roof and I will be sharing these extensive roof remodel plans from 1979 with our roofer.