Whats the best way to level your sill plates that need to be bolted down. I know a transit level is probably the best, but I dont have one of those, and the room is only 14 feet x 9 feet. Also if the sills need to be shimmed whats the best product to use? My Dad is telling me to shim with slate, but I used cedar shims. Is that ok too?
Craig
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Replies
how out of level could a room 14 x 9 be.
Depends on the age of the house as well who built it...
The concrete foundation from one corner to the other across 14' is out 3/4". I dont know what happened. I set all the forms myself, something must've moved during the pour. Everything was level before the concrete went in. Murphy's law was in effect I guess
It's never happened to any of us. That's why we have no idea how to fix it.
Run string lines representing the top of the wall and cut each stud to fit.
If you already know how much it is, layout all your plates to find out how many studs to cut. Stack that many studs on the sawhorses on edge and measure each stud on the end to the measurements then draw a line with a straight edge.
Once the line is drawn square each stud off the short point of the pencil line. Then put each stud in the wall in the order that you cut them.
I hate leveling with mortar or other stuff makes more sense in my opinion to cut the studs right to fit and move on.Can't you hear the violin playing your song.
That's the way it was done here in the pre-WWII days, before tracked earth moving equipment. Footings were hand dug, the tops of stemwalls pretty much followed the adjacent grade. Slopes of 2 or 3 in 12 aren't uncommon. When an earthquake shakes one of those that isn't bolted down, the angle gives it a bias towards sliding off.
-- J.S.
He said that he was bolting it down.
I have never given a thought to an earthquake situation either.
Every house that I have framed withstood all the earthquakes we have in Michigan.:)
I worry about weight settling and turning the mortar into powder. May never happen either, I feel a whole lot better with studs that fit than a mortar cold joint.Can't you hear the violin playing your song.
What I do on a bad slab is nail and bolt the sills down first with no shims at all and then nail your two outside corners up plumb first. You said one side is off by 3/4", so using your stud height on the higher end make up one corner and nail it in plumb and braced and make the other end 3/4" taller and nail that in plumb and braced. Now string a chalkline on top of the corners and it should be level.Now hold every stud on the 16" center marks on the sills and slide the stud against the chalkline eyeing it plumb and that will mark your studs the exact height with the chalk from the chalkline.When your done with that you can cut your studs right in place and make up your top plate and nail the studs to your top plate and then stand the wall up and toenail the studs into the sill and you will have a nice straight top plate.This way your sills are bolted down nice and tight and you don't have to use one shim and that chalkline is nice and straight and it gives you your exact stud height and you don't have to take your tape out once.Joe Carola
Edited 7/11/2006 10:39 pm ET by Framer
I've laid a mortar bed then set the sill once when the brick guy was smoking through his level instead of reading it. I oversized the holes slightly (x3/16) and set up a string then packed and tapped the sill "level" on about 1/2" of mortar. Came back the next morning and bolted everything down. What followed went up easily and further testified to the wisdom of dealing with it early instead of later.
Same here. Go buy some sacks of mason's mix and trowel it out thick on top of the wall before setting the sills down. Use the anchor bolts to cinch things down a little at a time until it's all level. Do one piece of sill at a time, and make sure to use enough mortar so that it's squeezing out both sides. Use a long straightedge to make sure the sill is not humping up between bolts.
To answer the Question, either rent a laser level or use a pices of 3/8 tubing as a water level. Attach a stick to both ends so you have somethting to hold the end straight and clamp to something. Works great and is low tech.
In Japan, all foundations are leveled before the sill goes on. This involves using a transit or line level and tacking on 1x4 screed boards into the concrete all around the perimeter inside and out. Then the mortar is troweled in and smoothed out.
Some outfits also use self-leveling cement.
Rent or borrow a transit level from someone who has one. I buy 3 1/2" sq. steel shims in 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", & 1/2" thicknesses & shim my sills to level. If you start out of level & square, it only gets worse as you go. I never use cedar as over time they rot & stuff settles.
Do you have an online source for those steel shims? I'm not kidding. I've only been able to find plastic shims (invented by a window installer). I've gone to all kinds of hardware stores trying to find steel shims. I've been reduced to cutting up Simpson connectors but it's a pain. Pros think I'm a loony and use cedar shims for floor joists, CI tubs, etc.
I go to a local steel fabrication shop and order about 50 of each at a time. They cut them up in no time and I usually always have some on hand so I have them as needed. A little pricey at first, especially with the price of steel, but they work great, and the different thicknesses come in handy
Wouldn't most any old scrap steel work just fine? Cut up whatever junk you can find, it'll always be stronger in compression than the wood on top of it.
-- J.S.
These days with ACQ, I might be leery about using straight steel unless it was isolated somehow. I just pulled some deck boards that were nailed with sinkers and was amazed how little was left of them after one year. Incidentally, it was my mom's husband who used the sinkers, not me...
Where do you get steel shims?
We get half a five gallon bucket on every job when they send the I-Beams. They also give us an inch per stanchion.
I just left about 25#'s worth lying on the ground on the last job.
blue
just left about 25#'s worth lying on the ground on the last job.
blue
Ever considered a mail order biz? Free inventory!SamT
a six foot level might work quite well...
Eric in Cowtown