Installing Simpson HDU5 hold downs

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have lots of new earth quake code for residential construction. My house plans calls for a bunch of shear walls and HDU5 hold downs. I have never used these but just taking a look at them gives me a shudder. How are you going to locate the hold down bolts into the slab footings in just the exact place where they will be up against a stud/s. I usually don't even do the final building squaring until the concrete is set and I can snap lines.
I understand you can drill in the bolts after the wall is up but I can see that as being an exercise in misery, especially with rebar in the forms.
Comments?
Thanks, Bob

They make templates out of sheet metal. I have many. They hold the bolts in placement making it a fairly "sure" fit after foundation is poured. The main trick is to locate the templates properly with framing in mind. that was my hurdle and I did have good success. I have many in my basement and save them for the time I need to use them again. You can "borrow them" john
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So with a little prep and head scratching, you are able to hold them in the correct locations and then pour your slab? I suppose you can always slide a stud over a 1/2" or so if necessary.
Thanks, Bob

Yes,
My foundations are generally within an 1/8" I have purchased templates from simpson that represent bolt pattern and you put the bolts in them and cast in place. remove the template. a l;ittle fudging works........ john
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Bob,
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I don't recall the exact Simpson hold downs we used in our house and garage, but we had to accurately place the bolts before pouring our foundation walls. I bought all the parts I would need ahead of time so I wouldn't have any suprises later with unavailable supplies, and could make accurate measurements for locating bolts.
Our garage walls bolted right to the top of the perimeter foundation, so we only needed to locate the bolts somewhere between the studs.
On our house, the bolts had to extend up through the floor framing and tie into posts in the wall framing. So, I had to really plan ahead there, locating where the floor joists and studs would be before we even started pouring concrete. It's not a huge effort, but it does mean thinking ahead a few steps.
I simply screwed a 2x2 across the tops of our forms and drilled a hole in the middle for the anchor bolts/hold downs. I screwed the nut on to keep the bolt from falling down, which also helps clean the concrete off the threads after the pour by simply unscrewing the nut. This made it easy to locate the hold down accurately, while holding everything securely during the pour.
We built our house back in 2003/2004 here in Washington state, and all of our rebar, anchor bolts, etc. had to be in place and tied securely before we could even pour the concrete. Same with any water pipes or electrical conduits.
I'm pouring a small sidewalk in a few weeks that will need four bolts located accurately for deck posts. I'm planning to use little pieces of scrap plywood with a hole in them to accurate locate the bolts. Simpson makes special little plastic brackets to do this, but for small jobs like mine it's easy enough to use some kind of scrap to hold the bolts in place during a pour.
Good luck,
Anthony

responding to http://www.homeownershub.com/construction/Installing-Simpson-HDU5-hold-downs-19089-.htm 2concept wrote:
Robert Olin wrote:
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Use a new clean sheet of 3/4" form plywood, use a table saw to cut into 12"X 12" squares, using a framing square scribe a vertical and a horizontal cross hair at midpoint of both sides of 12"X 12" template. Using a transit level + batter boards set instrument over slab edge located on batter board and shoot template cross hairs in required planes attaching template to edge forms or otherwise securing same. You've previously set anchors in template now you have line and grade. Pour it! ------------------------------------- |> |> | | III |> /-|\ III i> | _|__|__III i ^ |>\______/III i ^^^ | !__!__III/\ ^^^^^ /\ ////|====IIII == /\/////|====IIII == | | ||||::::::IIII == | | |||| IIII ==---------------------------------- http://www.concepts4building.net

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Bob-
If you haven't gotten too far into the construction, you might consider using factory prefabbed shear panels.
http://www.shearmax.com /
I'm not affiliated with the company but I know the father son team that developed & manufactures the panels. They are experienced framers & truss builders AND brilliant designers / developers.
Unlike most manufacturers of shear panel products, these guys have years of construction experience. The practical realities of construction have driven their designs. Instead of templates or jigs to help with placement of bolts, these panels have embeddable base plates that assure correct placement.
check them out
As jloomis suggests accurate concrete work is key.
cheers Bob