Rotted sill plate

[TexMex]

would you still recommend putting new wood back?

No, sorry, I meant replace affected portion of DPC .

I'm with you on this point. You could build another sleeper wall just inside the original, capped with dpc and wall plate. This would allow a bit more circulation around the ends of the joists. (you'd cut them about 3/4" shy of the boundary wall). But this is perhaps a minor benefit compared to the simplicity of using joist hangers, (as you suggest).

It used to be quite common to bed the ends of timbers in the wall like this. The thing I don't like about it is that, it exposes the end grain of the joists to the damp in the wall. Also, it's a b*gger to replace an individual joist later when it fails.

 

[masona]

DaveJ123,

Is this on the ground level ?

If the wallplate is rotted, are the floor joists okay ?

The problem with rotted timber, it might be a lot longer than 4ft because you cannot see the internal state of the timber.

The way I would go is to put in a concrete lintel in section but you need to know what you're doing and I don't know what access you have.

I don't know why it was done this way, it's a very bad design but I only going by the drawing.

 

[DaveJ123]

Well, in the case of the *sleeper wall* I can see a dpc under the mortar (or whatever it is) that supports the plates. But in the outer wall at issue, I think the dpc may be on top of the 'mortar' (could be wrong) . Either way, does anyone know how to fix these small replacement lengths of plate onto the outer wall along with the dpc? B&Q have some kind of epoxy cement - would that do? Or ordinary mortar??

I just grabbed a lump of plate and it came away in my hand, so it ain't supporting much. Should be able to cut out a foot or two at a time out without the wall falling down... I 'ope.

 

[murraysnudge]

Any chance of a photo here Dave 'cos we're all guessing and we may guess wrong?

 

[DaveJ123]

murraysnudge,

No, sorry, haven't got the technology. I thought you and Tex had got the picture?

Masona (just seen your post.)

The plate's on the inner layer of the external foundation wall, with wall on top of that. Parts of the joists in the immediate area are affected, and will need to be replaced.

You mean put a concrete lintel in place of the pressure treated wood? If so, I don't know. I'm trying to solve this as quickly and easily as possible - by mother's 84 and getting stressed. The timber solution i.e. back as it was, looks like the simplest for me to do. I can get the pressure treated joist material of the right size etc. and no risk of further damaging the brickwork while doing it. If it doesn't fit exactly I can plane and cut. Builders are a nightmare to find and
good one might be 5 weeks. This is becoming a nightmare.

 

[masona]

What area are you from?

 

[DaveJ123]

South East

 

[masona]

South East

So am I Can you do better than that ?

 

[TexMex]

Dave "inner layer"?. I hope You don't have a cavity wall construction. The only places I have seen where the woodwork is built in like this is on solid wall construction.

Even so, messing around removing 4ft chunks of support to the wall is fraught with danger. You should be using techniques similar to those used in underpinning. ie beams mounted to the brickwork above and supported while the work is carried out.

This is not a job to be taken lightly.

I am also in the South East and have a digital camera. If you would like to EMail me, and you're not too far, I could possibly pop around and get some photos posted.

 

[DaveJ123]

Tex,

I'd assumed (for some reason) it was a cavity wall. Is that worse? I wasn't going to risk cutting out more than a couple of feet at a time, though.

I've just phoned a couple of builders from a list the FMB sent me. First guy who lists "conservation" along with house building as his trade sounded a really decent chap, but surpise surprise he's booked until October. He seemed to recogonize, though, the construction as soon as I described it, and said that usually you can take out "small" (whatever that means) sections at a time without support. I've got another one phoning me tonight. If nothing else, I might at least find out a bit more about what's involved.

Tex and Masona, thanks a lot you guys for the kind offers of assistance. If I don't make any progress with the FMB guys, I'll get back to you.

 

[murraysnudge]

Dave said:

I thought you and Tex had got the picture?

I think we have got some of the picture but not all of it. Like Tex says we don't know if it is a cavity or solid wall. If it's an outside wall, what is the pattern of bricks on the outside. A cavity wall will be laid in stretcher bond i.e. all the bricks in all courses are laid end-to-end. If it's a solid wall there will be some headers showing in at least some of the courses i.e. just the end of the brick.
I'm interested in this one so would like to see some pics, so I hope Tex is nearby.

 

[TexMex]

Yes, it is much more serious if it's a cavity wall.

If it's a solid wall then, the cross bonding of the wall means that the brickwork above is partly supported by the rest of the brickwork. The thicker it is, the more you can remove without danger.

In a cavity wall the only thing that holds the two leaves together is probably wire wall ties (made out of material similar to wire coat hangers). These offer practically no vertical support whatsoever.

I suspect, however, that you are mistaken and it is, in fact, a solid wall construction. I'm glad that you are getting some professional input on this, but do keep us posted.

 

[DaveJ123]

murraysnudge,

Can't see the outside -pebble-dash. For the wall at the ends of the joists, the brickwork in the foundation i.e. up to the plate, appears to be all ends of bricks - or else they're all very short! Above the plate, I can only see a few bricks. Near the corner there are a couple of ends that are side by side, but further along it seems to be a mixture of ends and end-to-end. It's difficult to see - I'm hanging upside down looking through the bottom of an old diy sink unit.

The foundation brickwork in the wall on the other side of the corner i.e. parallel to the joists, is all end-to-end.

 

[murraysnudge]

Not absolutely conclusive, but I agree with Tex it's more likely to be a solid wall.

 

[masona]

I gave a long hard think about this, I'm guessing the joists do not go into the wall but resting on a sleeper wall with wallplate which is against the wall ???????