I’ve have a stickbuilt garage about 12′ wide by 30′ long built in 1910. In the front section a concrete slab exists, but appears to be built on the inside of the framing.
In the back section 12′ by 12′ the 24” O.C. framing is rotting into the ground. Acutually the whole thing is rotting, but the wood 1′ above is fine. Its about 6-8” out of level forward to back. I have a motorcycle/atv jack lifting the back of it now, just to see it would move and it did easily.
Are there any suggestions to rescue this garage, as it sits with no setback to the alley, so if was knocked down, I’d have to have one.
I’m trying to be low budget as my remodel of the home is going on 18 months and money is running dry. I was just gonna leave it as is and let the new owners deal with it, but I wanna try to spruce it up.
Any thoughts would be appreciated
Replies
Here's my reply for what it's worth until better ones come along--I'd tear down the back part completely (except maybe roof, if it's in good shape) and rebuild as a pole building. On the front, I'd set a new pressure treated sill plate on the slab (drill and bolt to slab) right inside the old wall. Then I'd frame new walls with pressure treated and tip them into place. Do you have joists running across at the top of the walls now? If so this would work as I said. If not, you' have to make some, so the roof rests on your new walls. Or you could build your new walls so the studs line up with the old and use plywood strip each side to tie the studs together. Still not a good thing to have the old walls sitting in dirt, but if this is just a utility sort of building, as long as it continues to stand and you don't car how pretty it is, this would be a fairly cheap and easy solution. Otherwise, jack up sections, and sister new PT's to rotted studs (cutting off old studs with sawzall 1-1/2" above slab) and maybe slide a 2x8 or 10 under old studs so its's under them and still on slab, bolt it to the slab and add sisters to it every so often to keep it from wanting to tip down toward the outside from the weight of the walls. That's my quick response--am racing to work. I'm sure you'll get other responses before end of day. Good luck!
Need more details. How is the sill made? Back then, they often set a fat timber on the ground with some loose stones underneath to prevent sinking, then built the frame on that. Later, someone would come in and use the sills as a form for pouring a slab, and make matters worse.
Generally something like this is open on the inside, so repairs are fairly straight-forward.
First thing you need to do is decide what "level" will mean. Then establish a foundation of sorts (eg, blocks dug into the ground, or concrete bricks laid on the slab). Best if the "foundation" tops off several inches above ground level, to minimize further rot.
Next, jack up the building to "level" and temporarily support it however you can. Tear away the rotten stuff about 10 feet at a time, install a new treated sill, then sister a stud to the side of each rotten one. You can either use full-length sisters or pieces 3-4 feet in length, depending on how well you think you can fasten the new wood to old. Where possible you should tear out the rotten part of the stud and wedge a piece of new wood in place, but this may not be possible without at least removing nails from the siding.
Are pier blocks sunk into the ground a bit and sistering studs on both sides of the existing studs out of the question?
Run a raised treated 4' by 6' or old school beam across the blocks and maybe partially shear the upper studs with plywood to and below the top plate. Dig a narrow trench inbetween the blocks to keep the beams away from the soil. The exterior is ship lap with 4'' cedar siding, whats left of it.
Run some sort of simpson bracket to accommodate the one true 2' by 4' and two modern studs to tie to the beam. I'm only talking about the back section 12' by 12'.
Its a bit hokey, but I feel I should do something to it or just leave it alone, let it rot and let the new owners decide what they want to do with it. What do you think?