Why Eichlers Suck, and What You Can Do About It - Citrus House

Eichler homes, designed by Joseph Eichler, is the main example of Mid Century Modern homes in California, with over 11,000 of the homes built in the 20th century. Many people love them and they have some amazing features, with large expanses of glass and large, open floor plans that are so popular today. They were cheap to build and made efficient use of materials to build a reasonably sized home. Unfortunately, they are really horribly constructed, prone to structural problems, foundation issues, energy inefficient while also being cold and drafty. Leaks in the roofs and walls are commonplace, as is rot at the windows and doors, cracks in the concrete slab floors and broken radiant floor heating systems. The designs didn't allow for any future modifications without a rats nest of pipes and electrical wires on the roof. But there is hope. See how we took a disaster of an Eichler and made the roof look like we build it new.

[@david100483]

Was there a follow-up to this video?? Would be nice to see the finished product

[@BuildingABetterWay]

Yes, sorry. We have not released that yet. We have been working on retooling our videos to make them more entertaining and educational, so we have paused almost all of our video production while we research how to do so. We will work on getting out our old material as we plan and film our new materials. Sorry for the wait and thank you for reaching out and asking about it.

[@david100483]

@@BuildingABetterWay 👍 can’t wait to see more! ✌️

[@BuildingABetterWay]

@david100483. Thank you so much!! We are excited to see how you like the new stuff. Please let me know if you have a topic that you want us to cover that we have not covered or to redo something that we didn’t do well before. We are listening.

[@david100483]

@@BuildingABetterWay mid century modern housing mainly!

[@BuildingABetterWay]

@david100483 Got it. We will do our best. We do some MCM but not a ton. We do have a very cool one starting later this year for a structural engineer we work with, so that will be super cool.

[@joevarga5982]

There's nothing protecting those planks? Water goes between the boards and then what? Is there rolled asphalt roofing underneath? That's bizarre.

[@BuildingABetterWay]

Hi @joevarga5982 Sorry, there was a roofing over the boards. We had already removed the existing roofing material, which was closed cell foam. It was horribly uneven, pooled water and have literally a hundred wires, pipes and vents sticking out from it.

[@joevarga5982]

@@BuildingABetterWay I see. I'm used to seeing plywood sheathing. What a nightmare. I've admired Eichlers for years but had no idea that they were so horribly built until I watched your video. Thanks.

[@BuildingABetterWay]

@joevarga5982 Yes. We are preparing to start another one soon and while we would love to transform it, the client is more interested in keeping some of the details that make them not such great homes. So, while we will be doing a lot of videos on how we are making it better, they won’t be much better, unfortunately.

[@joevarga5982]

@@BuildingABetterWay I'm not sure what changes you had in mind, but the client may want to preserve the aesthetics. Many MCM homes are ruined by contractors who aren't sensitive to MCM aesthetics. I saw one where a Spanish-style tile roof was installed, and another with a partial second-story addition, lol. There's more to Eicher homes than function and R-numbers. I just subscribed, so I expect I'll be seeing it soon.

[@BuildingABetterWay]

Hi @joevarga5982 I totally get that and agree that a ton of corruption is done in the name of progress and "improvement". I also would contend that when someone buys a home, whatever style, they buy the right to do with it what they want, with some obvious historical exceptions, which they also buy. That said, we don't do any design, so we are really implementors of other people's design decisions. We prioritize our recommendations to our clients, engineers and architects that focus on durability, longevity, indoor air quality, comfort, silence, efficiency and sustainability, not necessarily in that order, as that order is dependent on the priorities and values of the client, not ours. We just try to make recommendations to our clients to help them find the best balance cost and benefit(client interpreted value, again, not ours) as we work for them first, then people, then planet, then profit, in that order. Thank you so much for subscribing. If i can address anything that you are interested in or passionate, please let me know, anytime.