Wood alternatives for wall plate?

[elliot916]

Hi Everyone,

We have a 1900s house with a suspended ground floor and I have had to remove the whole of it because everything, I mean everything, had been eaten by wood worm

I'm going to have to do it up to control standards and adding extra ventilation.

The joists were sat on a wooden wall plate which was absolutely obliterated and it was set into the mortar bed of the wall. So to improve durability of the wall plate is there any new materials since the 1900s that has created an insect proof and moisture resistant wall plate in order to increase the life of the floor or is it just plain wood?
I'm going to see if I can get treated wood if the only option is to have to use wood

Thanks in advance!

 

[noseall]

Hi Everyone,

We have a 1900s house with a suspended ground floor and I have had to remove the whole of it because everything, I mean everything, had been eaten by wood worm

I'm going to have to do it up to control standards and adding extra ventilation.

The joists were sat on a wooden wall plate which was absolutely obliterated and it was set into the mortar bed of the wall. So to improve durability of the wall plate is there any new materials since the 1900s that has created an insect proof and moisture resistant wall plate in order to increase the life of the floor or is it just plain wood?
I'm going to see if I can get treated wood if the only option is to have to use wood

Thanks in advance!

Build the roof carcass with tanolised timber then spray it (with beetle insecticide etc) afterwards before covering it in.

 

[jeds]

You could set a pad for each joist from something like slate or a thick quarry tile bedded on 1:4 cement:sand. I would also use SBR in the mix to make it as resilient as possible. You don't want the pads too long, or they will be prone to cracking. Twice the thickness of the joist would be about right. You need the pads to be as flat and level as possible, although you could adjust joists later with shims.

Alternatively, you could infill the existing wall plate slot with masonry bricks - or maybe a concrete mix - and bolt a treated wall plate against the wall, which is much easier to protect. Then hang the floor joists off hangers.

As you say, pay particular attention to ventilation. You can't have too much.

 

[jeds]

Build the roof carcass with tanolised timber then spray it (with beetle insecticide etc) afterwards before covering it in.

Is this some sort of new fangled below ground roof noseall?

 

[noseall]

Is this some sort of new fangled below ground roof noseall?

My new years' resolution - to read the WHOLE post before replying - has fallen short somewhat.

Similar method applies though regards treatment.

 

[cdbe]

Replace the rotten plate with brick and build in masonry joist hangers, obviously a bit at a time. Wrap the joist ends in DPM (or if you have a tiny bit of skill, fit it between hanger and wall). And don't forget - insulation, insulation, insulation.