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Prescriptive codes don't address the connection at less common angles, so base the connection off more typical ones using bolts, structural screws, blocking, and steel tension ties.
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OK, so what this is all about is replacing sole plates destroyed by termites. I have a lot of that to do, so I came up with this rig as a way to do it. Perhaps some of you can suggest improvements to the method.
In the case of this 8 ft piece of plate, the wood was totally destroyed, to the point where it literally was all demoed out with the shop vac. Unfortunately, the picture of the fragments of old plate didn't come out.
142 shows the old plate completely gone, with blocks and wedges to get some load onto the studs. The old plate was a full 2" x 3 5/8", on top of 3/4" subfloor. To replace it with a new 1 1/2" thick plate, I made a 1 1/4" piece ripped down from a 2x4 to go under the new plate. These are stacked in the way, blocking the view of the blocks and wedges, which sit on top of the joists and blocking
144 shows the bottle jack and one of the angle braces in place. The jack sits on top of the replacement lumber, so that the new wood will be in the right place when the joists are lifted enough to slip it in. Again, part of a block and wedge can be seen.
147: The angle braces are up, and the ledger above them is attached to the studs with deck screws.
150: The wall is supported on blocks and wedges under the angle brackets. I had a bunch of 2x10 stock on hand for sistering some joists, so I used it to form the bottom of the pile of blocking.
154: Closer look at an angle bracket wedged up, and the new wood in place. I didn't stop to take pictures of the process of getting the new lumber in. The bottom piece was fairly easy, and got nailed down to each joist and block. The top one, the actual sole plate, took a bunch more fussing and cussing and levering and sledge hammering. I just wanted to get the wall down off this rig asap.
156: The rigging is cleared out, the new pieces are in.
160: Closer of the new stuff in place. I've nailed the plate down, but I still have to attach the studs to it. Perhaps Simpson A-35's instead of toenails, what do you think?
161: The angle brace rigging folded up and ready to put away.
The stucco on the outside looks just as bad as it did before all this abuse. ;-)
-- J.S.
Sorry, no feedback or suggestions for your fascinating process, just a question. Why did the termites eat the plate but not the joists and studs?
Ya, I was wondering about that.
The termites completely destroyed the plate, to the point where you could literally demo it with nothing but a shop vac. They also got up into the studs a little bit, there's only one really bad one, but it's nowhere near like the plate. Maybe 40% - 70% of it is gone depending where you look at the cross section. There are two others that have some damage, maybe 10% of the wood gone. I'll be sistering all of those later, but for now I left that part out of the pictures because I haven't done it yet, and it'll be just a ho-hum ordinary sistering job, no interesting techniques or gadgets.
Even the really bad one is still holding many of the nails that hold the lath and chicken wire on, so I'll do what I can to glue its remnants to the sisters. Termites seem to stay away from nails for some reason, they'll leave 1/8" - 3/16" of wood around a nail, maybe because it's compressed and harder to eat. They eat the softer summer growth rings first, leaving the winter wood in between. (Because the rings are grown in specific years, I wonder if there are gourmet termites who prefer certain vintages....;-).) The other thing they do is eat the inside first, working outward toward the surface. They leave a paper-thin remnant of the surface in place, because in their natural habitat, they want to remain hidden from birds and other predators.
Continuing downwards, there was a little damage in the subfloor, and so far none in the joists and blocks. Because of the way they stop when they get near surfaces, they tend not to move into adjacent pieces of framing unless the two are in very firm contact. They spread to other pieces of wood mainly by flying and forming new colonies.
-- J.S.
Not to be picky John, but - Why not toenails?.
I'm wondering too about why the termites stopped atthe sill. All I can imagine is that the horizontal plane held more moisture and was more habitable for them. How did you assure youself that there were no more termites in the studs though?.
Excellence is its own reward!
Toenails are one option, I went with Simpson A-35's on one side and a few toenails on the other. My goal is to get as strong a connection as is reasonably possible since this is in earthquake country. You can't use two A-35's or you'd split the wood with two many of those stubby joist hanger nails. You can sneak a few toenails in the other side if you look carefully to avoid getting too many nails too close together.
When the old plate had been vacuumed out, I just pushed the old toenails out of the bottoms of the studs, some just with a gloved hand. They were fairly loose because the stud ends apparantly had also been wet in the past. This area had been a laundry room with a floor drain, so the water might well have been an inside job. With the A-35's, I was making new holes in different directions, staying away from the weak material around where the original nails had been.
As for determining where the termite damage is, the first thing I do is touch the wood with my hand. If it crumbles into fragments and disappears before my eyes, that's very bad termite damage. The wood that survives the first test, I then poke at with a small straight blade screwdriver and rap on with a hammer. If the screwdriver breaks into termite galleries, that's very bad damage. If I get a hollow sound, that's bad damage. Sometimes it also triggers that "rain stick" sound of falling frass, but in that case you have to look around carefully to see where that's happening. There's also some not so bad termite damage, maybe 5 - 15% of the cross section gone. But that I've only been able to find in places where I've had to make a cross cut in something, and looking at the cut end, I find termite galleries.
-- J.S.
Edited 3/10/2003 6:34:38 PM ET by JOHN_SPRUNG
When I run into one like this, I am more likely to take a little more off the bottom of each stud and squeeze in three bottom plates so that I am nailing into more solid wood in the stud. Also, sometimes I will add a cripple sistered to the side of the stud tight to the plate, glueing it to the stud and toe-nailing it to the plate..
Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks, I'll use those techniques on a lot of other places around the house. Shortening the studs also has the advantage of eliminating the big rip as a way of getting everything to fit nice and snug.
-- J.S.
That's why I mentioned it..
Excellence is its own reward!
Bumping this up, since it's referenced in another thread.
-- J.S.
Wow! John, That was quite and undertaking.
My only question is why wouldn't you replace the the sole plate with incised Pressure treated ground contact wood if bugs were the problem?
I admire your intuitiveness to tackle the problem.
Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
Thanks. I didn't consider PT lumber for this because in this incarnation of the house, this area will no longer be particularly damp. It used to be a laundry room with a floor drain, but now it will house the HVAC equipment. This is on the second floor, roughly 12 - 13 feet above grade. With drywood termites that fly around looking for something to eat, it's pretty much a matter of chance which framing members they get into.
-- J.S.