Sawdust coming from log home ceiling.

RF Joanne
by RF Joanne

We just moved into a log home that has a wooden ceiling over the living room. The area above is an open loft area that is carpeted and installed directly on wood floor boards. Every morning there is fine sawdust on all the furniture below. We dust the furniture everyday. It’s not bugs but comes from walking in the loft. Any suggestions on how to solve this?

Sawdust on glass coffee table below.

Wood ceiling above living room.

View of floor depth. Floor boards are only 3.5” thick with carpet installed directly on top.

  10 answers
  • Gk Gk on Jul 11, 2020

    Is this a NEW log home? There could be LOTS of sawdust left from construction.

  • Annie Annie on Jul 11, 2020

    Are you sure its not from bugs? If not now, in the past. I would get a exterminator in to confirm then you may have to remove ceiling boards, clean, and re install

  • RF Joanne RF Joanne on Jul 11, 2020

    Yes, not bugs. Ceiling is the floor. It’s a true log cabin. But we plan to live in it year round.

  • Nan W. Nan W. on Jul 11, 2020

    I would call an exterminator -- especially if the house is not new.

  • Oliva Oliva on Jul 11, 2020

    Was your cabin inspected for carpenter ants, carpenter bees, etc.? There's too much sawdust to be coming merely from friction of boards against one another. Once inspected, you might consider treating the floors and sealing them. Remember that vermin like to knaw on wood, and they could be entering through very tiny holes in the cabin.

  • RF Joanne RF Joanne on Jul 11, 2020

    House was built in 2006. Home was well maintained. The dust in photo is where I piled it up to take a photo. The dust falls all evenly under the loft area. Not in pikes.

  • 17335038 17335038 on Jul 11, 2020

    Have you tried vacuuming the underside of the floor with wand attachments that get into the crevices (between the floorboards)?

    • See 2 previous
    • 17335038 17335038 on Jul 12, 2020

      It's a reasonable assumption that,

       will solve the dilemma.

  • William William on Jul 13, 2020

    There is a possibilty that it's not sawdust but from padding or bottom of the carpet disintegrating. The jute on carpeting can break down from friction and llok like fine sawdust. Cheap rubber padding also breaks down to a fine dust.

    • Carol Carol on Jul 15, 2020

      William, that's exactly what I was going to say. It's either padding that is breaking down, or, if there is carpet without padding, then the carpet backing is breaking down. I would like to add....when replacing the carpet, it would be good to put some kind of underlayment first. This could be plywood, or some kind of tar paper, resin paper, something like that, so you won't have to deal with this again. If you will not be re-carpeting, you might want to retro-fit wood, or some other material, onto the ceiling of the below room, between the rafters. Or, you may have to install a false ceiling.

  • William William on Jul 15, 2020

    William, that's exactly what I was going to say. It's either padding that is breaking down, or, if there is carpet without padding, then the carpet backing is breaking down. I would like to add....when replacing the carpet, it would be good to put some kind of underlayment first. This could be plywood, or some kind of tar paper, resin paper, something like that, so you won't have to deal with this again. If you will not be re-carpeting, you might want to retro-fit wood, or some other material, onto the ceiling of the below room, between the rafters. Or, you may have to install a false ceiling.

  • Sarah Sarah on Nov 03, 2020

    I have “sawdust” falling from the ceiling of my log home. I have a drywall ceiling. I had the drywall removed, scratched out insulation and found nothing that could be causing this. Exterminators don’t carry ladders, unfortunately. I’m having whole house caulked inside and out. I fear bugs have a tunnel I’ll never find. Any ideas?