Rotted sill plate

[DaveJ123]

Due to long term leakage from a badly installed sink in a bungalow kitchen, the main external wall's sill plate is badly rotted in the corner area - probably for about 4 feet on each side of the corner. Does anyone know if it's possible to replace small sections of the sill plate as a diy job, or does it necessarily require a professional to jack the wall up? If diy is possible, any info would be much appreciated.

Dave

 

[masona]

the main external wall's sill plate is badly rotted in the corner area - probably for about 4 feet on each side of the corner.

Not sure what you're mean ? Is it a window ?

 

[DaveJ123]

Sill plate (mudsill):  Bottom horizontal member of an exterior wall frame which rests on top of a foundation, sometimes called mudsill. Also sole plate, bottom member of an interior wall frame

 

[masona]

Sorry, I still don't understand, is it a window or door frame with the corner of the bottom sill and the side jamb with 4 ft each way that's rotted ? If so how big is this frame ?

 

[DaveJ123]

Nothing to do with windows.
Apparently, (this is all new to me as of a couple of days ago), the 'sill plate' is a pressure treated piece of timber that is rests on the foundations (actually, bolted down on). The walls above the foundations sit on top of the sill plate. Hence the slight complication in replacing bits of it.

Dave

 

[nstreet]

Sounds like you are talking about a timber frmaed building or wall(s). If the ssill or sole plate is rotten then the chnaces are the some of the rot may have travelled into the studs, you may want to check this. To replace the sill you will have to disconnect the studs from it, this will mean no support for the wall, so you will need some sort of prop (acro) to take the weight, you will also need to remove any platerboard to reveal the studs etc.

Professional job I would think?

 

[masona]

Ahh, is this a timber stud with plywood on the internal wall and with outside finish brickwork ? This is a Australia design to save labour cost. There're not many around now and the last site I've work on them was in Basildon via Pitsea flyover.

 

[nstreet]

I really must learn to use the spell checker, just read my last post. C-

 

[masona]

Hangover

 

[DaveJ123]

Nope. Brick walls.

It's a pre-1940's English bungalow, with crawl space. Main external brick wall has brick foundations with a piece of timber (sill plate) on top of the *inside layer* of the foundation brickwork. On top of that rests the ends of joists. Built on top of the sill plate there appears to be a brick wall with holes in it for the joists. However, in certain places, there are some larger rough, black looking 'bricks' (I think they are) above the first row of bricks that are on top of the sill plate. Behind the front layer of brick (there's a gap next to a joist) I can see through to an outer layer of brick.

Since there's actually a small gap between the top of the 2 joists that I intended to replace and the red brick/mystery black bricks, I suppose I could cut out a small piece of sill plate remove the joists and replace both? What's disturbing though, is that the corner area where the sill plate is totally rotted is apparently supposed to be supporting the inside layer of wall above it.

Do you not recognize this construction?

DaveJ

 

[murraysnudge]

I've come across this construction in a Victorian house in the intermediate floor. (The ground floor joists were supported on sleeper walls but not on the outer wall).
In the intermediate floor where the wallplate was rotten I have removed it completely, bricked in, and fixed the joists with joist hangers.
(Excuse the rough drawing)

 

[DaveJ123]

Ah, good! That's the kind of thing; we've got the sleeper walls with a plate on top, in between the outer walls too.

Presumably, you had to support the brick above the plate to remove it?

Anyway, would you recommend I chop out small bits of plate and replace? If so, aren't the plates bolted down? And what timber could I use for a plate - ordinary pressure treated joist timber?

 

[murraysnudge]

The wall plate was so rotten it wasn't supporting anything. The brickwork was 9"English Bond where alternate courses were headers so the wall was cross bonded. I didn't think the wall plate was a good idea in that situation, so I removed it and bricked it in solid. I built steel joist hangers in the wall and supported the joists on them. Much better in my opinion.

 

[TexMex]

Dave
Be carefull when taking the old wood out. You may find the DPC sitting immediatley below it. Damaging this may lead to further problems later. In fact, it may be existing damage to this that has caused the rot, in which case it would be worth replacing the affected portion.

 

[murraysnudge]

Good point about the dpc Tex, but would you still recommend putting new wood back? If the dpc is damaged then surely you can put in a new plastic one and brick on top? Depending how long the wall is then you do it in sections.