sill plate bolt

[Eigenvector]

I've seen this in a few houses, my own included, where the anchor bolt for the sill plate is not inserted into the framing but rather inserted into a cutout and pounded flat into the wood. Can this be corrected, as in the bolt straightened and properly tied to the sill plate? I've found about 4 of these bolts and all of them are done in the same way, a large cutout in put in the sill plate the bolt is then pounded over until it is mashed into the plate. I guess that's secure, somewhat, but probably not what the designers had in mind. In fact doing that was probably harder than putting a nut on the bolt and fastening it down - which makes me wonder why that's done in the first place.

None of the framing in my basement is tied to the foundation, in fact the framing sits about 1/2 off the surface of the foundation so I'm looking at ways to correct this before I close the wall up with new drywall.

BTW: Why is drywall so expensive? 16 bucks a sheet for 5/8".

[Edwin Pawlowski]

The bolt will snap if you tryu to straighten it. If you have concerns, you should add anchors.

It does not have to contact the foundation.

Same reason everything else has gone up. Cost of energy is a huge factor, as well as supply and demand. Lots of homes in the south are in need of drywall.

[BobK207]

EV-

If you're concerned about the anchors & sill ......I'd move ~ 1' away from the defective one & install new ones (two for each f'd up one)......overkill but I cannot tell from here if the sill is somewhat compromised by the hatchet job.

In seismic areas I'd use a Sika epoxy....non-seismic a Hilti Quik bolt, RedHead or Rawl wedge anchor

I don't understand this comment .....what's it sitting on if it's 1/2" up?

Where are you located? 5/8" drywall in SoCal is not $16

cheers Bob

[Eigenvector]

Maybe I ought to take a photo of this to make it clearer what I mean. Although based on what Pawlowski indicated it doesn't sound too important.

I personally am not worried about it so much as I'd like to correct it while I have a good opportunity

pretty representative of the gap, the actual board is resting on a small nubbin of concrete, but it ain't much. Its wide enough to see daylight through, wide enough for the buggies to get in without too much trouble. The house is post and pier foundation, the basement was an addition.

the bolt, again pretty representative of how the sill plate is attached to the foundation.

Again, since the wall IS going to be open (as if I haven't started yet) I just kind of wondered if there was something I could do about it. So far I've been stuffing the gaps with Great Stuff, pretty handy really.

As to 16 bucks a sheet for 5/8", that's what Lowe's is selling it for over my way.

[BobK207]

EV-

Good photos.....What I got out of them is....the sill does contact but intermitently / incompletely.

If it really bothers you & you want the final result to be as if the concrete / sill interface had been done right...........I'd fill it with SiKA Sikadur Epoxy fast set....... Stronger than concrete.

If you just want to fill the gap (non-structural) use caulk or foam.

The sill bolts are a hack job but unless you have e/q's or high winds........

If you don't want to do the double wedge anchors....consider a coupling nut . Add a large washer to span cut & bolt to tighten the whole thing up.

I'd do the double wedge anchors, probably faster & easier..

cheers Bob

[Eigenvector]

Alright, thank you.

[Don Young]

Believe it or not, a lot of houses are not secured to the foundation at all. Many are sitting on loose rock or on cement blocks with absolutely nothing except the weight of the house to keep them in place. It seems strange, but some of them have been through a lot of storms and are still in the same place.

Don Young

[maradcliff]

Because the builder was an idiot or too cheap to do the job right.

Anchor bolt brackets to the foundation and attach to the wood.

Cuz our (F~#&!^%) president is sending all our resources to Iraq. Same reason steel and copper are outrageous these days.