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Also, if the ends of the studs are rotted less than 1-1/2″ you would want to cut off the ends and double up on the sill plate. If their rotted more than that you’ll want to splice on to them.
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Tom, by now you will have completed your repairs, but just in case not...
with balloon framing we install post jacks and scrap 4x4, 6x6 or small I-beams under the first floor ceiling or assuming your ceiling joists run the same way as the floor joists just use one p. jack and a 3-4 foot section of 4x4 etc. a few feet in from the ends. If its 2 story repeat on 2nd floor. Do the same thing in the basement. You should be able to carry enough weight that you can support the middle of the wall with minimum effort and work at will. have fun.
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I just demolished a concrete patio (about 2 feet tall) that sat up against the back wall of my house. The house has stone foundation walls. When I removed the patio I found that because it was so high up it was trapping moisture against the house and the sole plate was largely rotted out. It would be a lot of effort to do an actual repair on the wall and I don't think the value of the house would justify it. I was thinking of filling the holes with sand mix or patching concrete then leveling the surface with either a mortar mix or more concrete and placing a fascia board on top of that (the house originally had stucco that went down to the stone, but now has aluminum siding over the old stucco). Does anybody have any comments about whether that's a good idea or if they have an alternative?
*Geez Tom, that house of yours has a life of it's own.How bad is it really and how large of an area are we talking about anyways?Important question, the side of the house that your talking about, is it along the joists or do the joists butt into it?You know that I would strongly recommend cutting out the rotted wood and splicing in a replacement.Gabe
*In addition to Gabes questions, I was wondering if your house is platform or balloon frame and if you've checked under the siding to see just how far the rot goes? Not scared to look are you?JonC
*Hi Gabe,To answer your question, the side of the house runs the same direction as the joists so I would guess it's a non-load bearing wall. What do professionals do in a case like this? How do they get the bad pieces (most of it!) out and insert a new piece? Open up the walls from the inside and try to jack up and/or support the top plate while inserting new wood below? Also, some of the studs are a little rotted at the bottom, also. They would also need some work or replacement. Unfortunately, I'm having time constraints this year and may not be able to do the correct job until next year. In the near term are there simple patch jobs that will stabilize the area until I can do the real job? Also, the wall affected is the back wall of the house where my kitchen is - I was going to pull down the interior walls next year when I renovate the kitchen - that would probably be the opportune time to attack the problem correctly. Any thoughts?Tom
*Hi Jon,It's definitely balloon construction. I have looked a little further and it seems the problem is located near where the porch was against the house. Some of the studs sitting on the plate have become a little rotted where they meet the plate, also.Tom
*Gabe, I forgot to add that the wall is approximately fifteen feet wide and probably 75% of the plate is affected to some degree. In one place approximately 2" is actually gone, in others just some rot has occurred.Tom
*Different techniques but all involve lifting the wall alittle and sliding the old sill out and a new one in.If it's balloon framed, you'll want to lift the wall, not the floor below. Probably easier from outside but sometimes can be done without too much trouble inside.I've lag bolted a 2x10 or 2x12 across the wall to be lifted. Lag bolt to each stud.Then just start jacking the wall at several points along this board you just screwed in place.Once you've got the weight off the sill plate, sawzall as needed and get it out of there.Slip the new pressure treated on in and nail it to the existing studs. Drill through plate into foundation and install epoxybolts, expanding bolts, or whatever fastner will work.This is probably something an experienced contractor can do in a day, the sort of thing that takes a very long time if you have't done it before. You might want to find someone who's done this before.
*I think Ryan has the right idea. Putting a new piece of treated lumber in there eliminate the rot completely. I know there are some product on the market (seen something advertised in fime hombuilding) also the Feb/Mar 1997 issue of FH has an article called "Restoring Wood With Epoxy". In this article they lean more towards just replacing the material with new unless it is some special millwork detail. I would be nervous that if all the rotting material was not remove, that the rotting could continue.Not sure this would work , but maybe you could cut out a little section , say a 2-3 ft of that sill plate and with a big sledge hammer force a section of treated wood in there. Continue this process on down the line. However if the wood is rotted bad enough, you may find enough settling has occured to make the replacement board to difficult to force in.now that you have that slab removed, if you could put in some temporary flashing to keep the area dry and then fix it later when you do that kitchenproject and replace them studs while you're at it.Not to alarm you but , have you checked for carpenter ants. A lot of repair jobs I've been involved with that had damp, rotting wood seems to attract carpenter ants. We have a few of them here in the midwest.Good luck with your endeavor, you are off to an excellent start, there are a lot of real creative and knowledgable suggestions given here in breaktime.
*Also, if the ends of the studs are rotted less than 1-1/2" you would want to cut off the ends and double up on the sill plate. If their rotted more than that you'll want to splice on to them.
*The reason I asked about balloon framing is that with that system your wall studs are right on what I think you're calling your "sole plate". They're holding up your top plate, which is holding up your rafters etc.. Kind of a hip bone connected to the thigh bone connected to the knee bone thing.. As Ted said, if 1 1/2" or less of them is rotten, you can saw them off and use a double "sole plate" (mud sill in our regional terminology), otherwise you'll probably need to sister new studs to them. You wont like this part, but if you need to sister, I think you'll have to remove either the exterior or interior wall to do it. Maybe somebody here knows another way. Since it sounds like you're concerned about cost, you'd be surprised how fast somebody with a 20 ton hydraulic jack, a sawzall and a bunch of blocking can replace that sill. Irregardless, I think you need to pull off some of the siding at the bottom and see what you've got. Heck, post a picture, I do much better with pictures.JonC
*If you can't see the framing clearly, definately tear off sonething to look inside. No point in setting a rotten wall down on a new sill plate.
*Hi, Tom,As you can see the boys have all good advise on this concern. I think you probably knew what to do, in the first place, it was more of a question of what to do in the mean time, until you can get around to it.If you're planning on fixing it right in the next year or so, just protect the area from the elements and things won't deteriate that much in the mean time.I don't have to remind you that the sooner the better.Gabe
*Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. Being a rank amateur with not enough experience and time to do this one myself I'm going to have a professional do this for me. But I'll be there watching!