"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.

[Sean M]

Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete. The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to =BD inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

[John Grabowski]

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete. The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½ inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

I think that dowel method went out in the early sixties when contractors discovered anchors. I don't think wood is a good idea to put in contact with moisture. Tapcons or other types of anchors are more suitable. The contractors that I have worked with finishing basements usually use Hilti or Ramset type gun powder activated tools to drive hardened nails into the concrete.

[Joseph Meehan]

I use structural glue.

[The Reverend Natural Light]

Ramset works. It's much more fun and it'll leave the pleasant aroma of gunpowder in the air for a few days. It can crack older concrete, though.

-rev

[barry]

Hammer-drill and appropriate-length Tapcons work great for me.

Forget the dowel s**t- maybe biscuits would work? :-)

J

[BocesLib]

Get yourself a nice ramset.

I did basically the same thing...

I used pressure treated lumber on the floor. . Then I used construction adhesive and glued the

2x4 to the floor. Once that was set where I want it, I drilled a few small holes and used the ramset to attach the wood to the floor. I predrilled because the pressure treated lumber is TOUGH stuff to ramset through.

Depending on the job, the ramset you hit with the hammer is the cheapest. Only 20.00 or so. The nicer one is a gun type that no hammer is needed, just a little body weight. I went the cheap route and it worked fine. I dont mind the smell of gunpowered but make sure you DO wear some ear protection and get the dog, cat, baby etc (if you have one) out of the house. The sound of a .22 cal cartridge is fairly loud expecially when its in a confined space such as a basement.

Tom

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete. The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½ inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

Firstly, I wouldn't go this route due to the fact that you'd be putting wood in direct contact with the concrete (ie. the dowels) unless you can find pressure treated dowels? I also wouldn't go this route because quite frankly, that's a lot of work and there are easier ways. I would find yourself a Hilti style gun (maybe something like this:

) or go the Tapcon route. Cheers, cc

[spudnuty]

That older concrete is very brittle. That was the situation in my house ~1920s. Wound up using Tapcons. The ricochets with the Ramset was pretty exciting tho' ;

[DanG]

Drill a hole through the base plate into the concrete. I would use a 3/16 or 1/4" bit. Put in 2 or 3 pieces of electrical wire with the insulation still on it. Drive a 16d double head nail. You will need a heavy crow bar if you are wrong. A whole lot cheaper than Tapcons without the frustration of snapped heads, etc.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete. The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½ inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean