Sill plates

[cedarglen]

I have Wagners book on house framing. He says you use 2x8 pressure treated sills on a crawlspace foundation.  We are building on a crawl space but will have 2x6 cripple walls under the joists. There is no reason for 2x8 sills then right? 2x6 sill to 2x6 stud to 2x6 double top plate will be fine and accepted by the building inspector right?

Chuck

[MikeT]

I put 2x8s on mine but I knew I could do 2x6s without any hassle from the inspector.  The reason I stayed with 2x8s was because I could more easily get my walls exactly where I want them if I had that extra plate room.  Call it beginner's convenience!

mt

[Jens]

2x6 is fine for a 2x6 wall.  Invariably, the foundation will be out of square, at least a bit.  Take your longest straight wall, and measure in 5 1/2" from the outer edge of the foundation at either end.  On the adjacent walls, measure in 5 1/2" at the intersection of the plates.    Snap chalk lines square to the first line.  For the last line, measure in 5 1/2" on one corner or the other.  measure from the first line to find the parallel mark at the other end of the foundation, snap a line.  Check your diagonals to ensure that you are square.  It is helpful to have at least 3 chalkboxes, with blue, red, and black chalk.  This way you can adjust lines if need be.  Black is the line that you snap when you are sure you are right, the chalk will never come off.  Never use black or red on anything that is to be painted BTW, it will bleed through the paint.  Once you have your square lines, drill the holes in you plates, and put them on.  If your foundation is out of square, the plate will either overhang the outside of the wall, or be further in... better to let it overhang a bit.  I wouldn't let it hang over more than 1", inspectors usually don't like more than that.  If it is in from the edge however, it looks worse, IMO, and gives a nice little ledge for water to rest on.  I know this is more than you were asking, but it sucks to frame up an out of square house.

[cedarglen]

Thank you for the tips. A few more questions.

1. How tight do I crank down the nuts?

2. Do I have to worry about popping the concrete which will be a week and a half old?

3. All of the foundation bolts are all equally spaced 32" apart on the back wall (left side of picture below). The house is 32' long. If I use two 16' sill plates don't I need a couple extra bolts at the end of each plate in the middle of the house or can they each go 16" past their last bolt?

[Jens]

1. until the wood compresses a little under the washer

2. no

3. should be fine how it is.  If you are worried, fire a few concrete nails with a $20 powder nailer.  Remember, you will have about 20klbs (at least) of house on top to hold things down, and your sheathing will tie the plates together, and to everything else.

[desdawg]

Your concrete will probably not be perfectly flat and level. Drill your holes and put on your plate. Snug up both ends and put a string line on it. Then use shims where needed and tighten the nuts till you have a straight plate. The more level and square you start out the easier time you will have later. A little extra time spent here will be well worth the effort in the long run.

[cedarglen]

Thank you for the input.  In the front (right side of the picture above) and on 1/2 of the sides we will be building a cripple wall up to floor height.  I assume that I nail the 2x6 studs through the sill before tipping the wall up in to place and bolting it down right? Or should I bolt down the sill and then frame up a wall and tip it up into place on top of the sill and nail to the sill?

[PEG688]

#1:   I assume that I nail the 2x6 studs through the sill before tipping the wall up in to place and bolting it down right?

#2:      Or should I bolt down the sill and then frame up a wall and tip it up into place on top of the sill and nail to the sill?

 Either way is OK . If it's ACQ lumber use hot dipped galvies.   If you do the dbl bottom plate thing you'll need to either let out the under side of the non treated plate , or drill a large enought hole so the bolt and washer don't cause a hump / bump in your wall.


Back to your anchor bolt question , code sez 4' OC and a bolt within 12" of the end of each plate.  If no code is in play what you have is fine , IMO .

Simpson make a concrete screw called Titans , look on Simpson's site they would be code compliant if you have to pass insp.      

[cedarglen]

What do you guys like to use under the sill? Henrys? Foam? Rolled weather strip?

Chuck

[PEG688]

What do you guys like to use under the sill? Henrys? Foam? Rolled weather strip?

Chuck

Nuttin , it's a unheated crawl space , none / nothing is needed.  

If you have to lift the plate to level the sill and you end up with  large gaps you could parge some morter mix under it to fill the gaps .

But as far as keeping out bugs, spiders they'll get in thru the wire mesh in the foundation vents , so if the gap is only "bug sized" why bother??

If the bolts don't hold it down the glue/ Henry's  surely won't. Or did you mean the tar type Henry's

The foam "sill sealer" is a waste of time , money etc and makes seeing you lines a PITA , I never have figured out why it's spec'ed on a vented crawl space , slab on grade ya it might work but you have to caulk the sill plate down anyway then the foams again just a PITA due to the caulk not getting to the sill and concrete cleanly.

YMMV but I rarely use the crap.  

[cedarglen]

Good points about the sealing. Two more questions and I think I'm off to build.

Do I need pressure treated 6x6 posts from my CB66's up to the girder, or will standard 6x6's be fine?

It there a minimum height I should make a cripple wall? In other words is a 1' tall cripple wall too short? Should I stack the 2x6's horizontally instead of building a 1' tall wall?

Chuck

[glenn kangiser]

I would use the most economical height of wall I could.  They already have excess strength for the load they will support.  I think you would want to make sure your studs line up under your floor joists though to transfer the load down to the footing directly.

[PEG688]

Regular 6x6 is fine , as long as it's not outside like on your pier pads out front on touching concrete.  If a beam needs to sit in  a concrete beam pocket just wrap the end that touchs the concrete with Grace Vycor , or building felt .

 I'd build a short pony wall your studlets would be 7" or so long , stacking plates can get goofie with tha way lumber varies in thickness, warpage etc , stacked 4 high is about my limit,   a short walls your best bet.

G/L PEG