I’m considering a project that would put a stone patio step against the wood frame wall of the house.
The door is currently about 18″ above grade. The first 6-8″ up from grade is the concrete block foundation. Then typical wood frame construction with ?treated? sill plate, untreated band & floor joists, untreated plywood sheathing, (no tarpaper/tyvek), covered by cement-fiber (no asbestos) shingles. 30 years ago, the step down from the door was two full-size railroad ties with a piece of slate on top. Over the years, the ties have been eaten away, so the slate is now sitting on the ground. (There was about a 2″ gap from the wall and there’s no evidence that any of the bugs transitioned into the house.)
We would like to make a new stone/concrete landing just outside the door, almost level with the interior floor. That would mean that about 7 feet wide X 10 inches high of the shingles (and indirectly the interior wood) would be in “stone/concrete contact” or separated by just a slight gap (not really sure how I could detail it so that it doesn’t fill with water and debris.)
Any suggestions?
Replies
Any suggestions?
Yes.
What is really wanted is to butt a waterproof membrane flashing against the house. Against that you install an impregnated felt seperation "pad" of at least 1/2" thickness. You then want either a peel-off strip or a scrap of 1/2" wide material, to "fill" the form to the top over the seperation strip.
That way, after stripping the forms, you have a gap of 1/2" wide by, oh, 3/8" deep into which you put backer rod and seal the gap with a good flexible sealant.
Alternately, cast just the step/landing as a separate item near by. Put a footer in at the foundation as needed. Then, lever the step/landing into place leaving a neat uniform gap into which backer road and flexible sealant can go against the flasshing applied to the house. (Note that this solution may take some haggling with a BI). But, that could let you dowel through the set in place step, and then reuse the slate as a finished step.
Your first suggestion (I'm picturing something like Grace Ice Shield) seems to address any wood to stone/concrete contact moisture issues. (And I like the sound of this plan despite the lifetime "watch the sealant" need.)
But don't I have to worry about the 8" of ground to wood clearance to keep the termites out?