Replies

1. 
   Gabe_Martel | Nov 27, 2001 04:26am | #1

   *
   I wouldn't do it any differently.

   Gabe

1. 
   Mike_Smith | Nov 27, 2001 05:28am | #2

   *sounds good... you may want to bush some of the high spots too....

1. 
   Gabe_Martel | Nov 27, 2001 05:36am | #3

   *Mike would you believe me if I told you that about 20 odd years ago I went to trim a house that was framed on a foundation that was off level by 12 inches!Walk out and went to another site.Gabe

1. 
   Mike_Smith | Nov 27, 2001 05:49am | #4

   *another example of yur gud judgement , gabe..used to see cellar holes 12" out of level...but never the top of a wall

1. 
   Gabe_Martel | Nov 27, 2001 05:56am | #5

   *If I remember right, this was a Viceroy prefab home that was assembled on this foundation and needless to say the entire house was out of level now as well. You walked in and it felt like you were loosing your sense of balance. What made it worse was that the house had the usual sunken living room. The walls were plumb but the floor sloped a foot to the rear.Built on the side of a beautiful lake on the Rideau system and made you want to cry that anyone would do such a thing and call themselves carpenters.Gabe

2. 
   John_Lazaro | Nov 27, 2001 06:03am | #6

   *Gabe,You think grout is the best answer?I'd feel better about adding another treated sill plate ripped so that the second nailed to it would be level. More work but I think more stable. Your opinion?John

3. 
   Frenchy_Dampier | Nov 27, 2001 06:07am | #7

   *One of the slickest repairs for a badly out of level foundation I ever saw was this summer one contractor snapped a line on the side of the plate material. He then took it to the shop and following the line on his bandsaw made himself probably the worlds biggest wedge.

4. 
   John_Lazaro | Nov 27, 2001 06:11am | #8

   *Frenchy,That's essentially what I was trying to say...in a few more words.BIG SHIM.

5. 
   Gabe_Martel | Nov 27, 2001 06:20am | #9

   *John,Grout is the way to go. Other than the extra work, you wouldn't gain anything.Stability is achieved with the anchor bolts during the early construction process only. Once you've toe nailed your rim to the sill plate, nailed your joists to it and you've glued and nailed the entire "waffle" together with plywood, stability is the assembly acting as one.About 30 years ago a tornado ripped into a subdivision that my father was building and there were 3 splitlevels, built side by side.The tornado took the right upper half off one house, the entire house in the middle was cleaned off the floor and the left lower half off the last house.In all cases, the floor was left intact, even though none of the plates had been bolted down at the anchors yet.Gabe

6. 
   John_Lazaro | Nov 27, 2001 06:41am | #10

   *Ok...maybe I don't understand. Define a non-shrink grout. When I think grout, I think of something that may crumble at a later date. I suggested the plate rip because to me it seems like a permanent fix.John

7. 
   Mike_Smith | Nov 27, 2001 06:51am | #11

   *non-shrink grout is specil masonry product... that will set fast, does not shrink, and has incredible strength... usual use is under steel plates to level them so you can bolt the steel columns...Quikcrete makes non-shrink.. sells it in pails...any place you need high strength, no shrink & fast set....similar to grout for setting bolts...

8. 
   Don_Reinhard | Nov 27, 2001 07:07am | #12

   *Mike: You can also order Quickcrete grout in 50 lb bags - costs about $9.00 a bag. At least that is the cost in Atlanta. The 6 lb plastic buckets cost a bundle on a per lb. basis. We went through nearly 50 bags of the stuff fixing voids in a wall. You gotta be fast - it does, indeed, set up fast. In the winter,we mixed one bag using warm water, like the instructions said to do. It started to set up before we even got it all mixed!Don

9. 
   Gabe_Martel | Nov 27, 2001 02:23pm | #13

   *John,Non-shrink grout is a type of grout and is most definitely a permanent fix.Check it out and it will save you time and money at site.Gabe

10. 
    Buz_Ottem | Nov 28, 2001 07:55am | #14

    *JeremiahSave yourself a lot of frustration and forget the steel wedges. Clamp some new form material to the existing stem walls and 'pour' it level with the fore mentioned grout. If your anchor bolts come up short drill and epoxy new ones.Keep track of your time and materials and bill the concrete contractor for the repair.Buz

11. 
    Johnnie_Browne | Nov 29, 2001 05:31am | #15

    *with it beimg out 1.5 what is that going to do with the plywood,stud and drywall. I would think capping whole slab a better idea. More money but better on rest of framing

12. 
    Mike_Smith | Nov 29, 2001 07:29am | #16

    *johnnie... this ain't no slab...it's the top of a foundation wall..

2. 
   jeremiah_mercier | Nov 29, 2001 07:29am | #17

   *
   I am getting ready to start framing a custom home that is about 6,000 sq. feet and that has a foundation with 25 jogs and 4 different floor elevations. I checked the foundation for level and it is an 1.5in out over the majority of it. So I snapped a level reference line around the hole thing and I am going to have my crew use that line to get all the plates level with steel shims on 16in. centers. Was wondering if anyone has a good idea on how to fill in the voids between shims. I was thinking about non shrink grout. Any better Ideas would be appreciated!

   Thanks, Jeremy Mercier