Shear wall question

[tonyg]

Hello,I am putting a foundation under a house. I want to pour a footing directly in the ground. So will have a hole under a beam and if I were to build a 2foot hi shear wall and hang it from the beam with anchor bolts hanging into the hole and then pour my mud up to the bottom of the plate would that be a good wall. In other words it will not be built under load by cutting studs tight between two hard surfaces but will be in a neutral load until I pull the surrounding cribs out. Will this be an acceptable bearing wall. It sure would be easier for me. TonyG

[Bobk207]

If I understand your description......Yes

cheers Bob

[marson]

concrete fully under the wall--you might want to consider a vibrator. You're there, I'm not, but it is hard to see how putting a wall in first and pouring second would be easier. For one thing, how are you going to hold it plumb and straight while you pour? Isn't it going to be more difficult to get concrete on both sides of the wall?

[Bob Morrison]

Tony:

That will work. You will want to use a low shrinkage concrete mix, which usually means low water content. You can use a mid or high range water reducing admixture (plasticizer) to improve workability.

[tonyg]

Thankyou Bob,There will be Press. Treated plywood on the outside and a

6-8" strip on the inside to keep dirt from getting into the stud cavities. So I could pour to the top of the mud sill and I might reduce the chance of shrinkage having any serious effect. Also my pumper guy pours wet. I could go with a 61/2 sack mix.(?) The reason this is appealing is that there is really no room to work on these jobs and building a wall under there takes 5 or more times longer than doing it in the sunshine. I have done over 25 here in P.T. and I am hoping this will be a profitable and quality shortcut.Do you take jobs up this way? TonyG

[Bob Morrison]

Adding cement is not the answer. Tell your concrete supplier that you will be pumping the concrete, but need to minimize shrinkage. This usually means some sort of mid- or high range water reducer. These products increase pumpability without increasing water content.

I regularly do work in Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam Counties. However, my current backlog of work is such that I cannot start anything new for at least 8 weeks.