Question for the contractors

[motv8tr]

Hey all, now I'm a handy gal, but I have learned to accept my limitations, and one of them is replacing a section of the sill plate in the house. Can anyone give me a ballpark on what it would cost to have done? The section that needs replacing is in a corner of the house, but I wouldn't be surprised if it all needs it, or rather would seriously consider replacing all of it. The house is about 50 yrs old and has a 4'6" crawl space.

 

Thanks

Maureen

[muskymike]

hey maureen, can you provide some pictures of what it looks like, to give an idea of the amount of work? if its accessible, its fairly easy yet can still be complicated (if that makes any sense). the biggest problem you are going to have is working around your anchor bolts.

 

the gasket and lumber will be pennies, its the labour that will cost you and thats an easy one for someone to rip you off with.

[Gerritt]

some 2x's and a couple jack posts...... is usually all that needed to take the pressure off the sillplates to replace them... one guy or girl could easily do them in one day... depending on circumstances of course... Be sure to use a sill gasket to prevent future rot on the new sill plates.

 

G

[douG]

This is right up your alley, Gerritt. I think you should change your handle to '2Rs2Ts'. That would really hlep.

[pike slayer]

replacing the sill plate??? that sounds like a huge job. if its in the crawl space and the area is accessable, then it should be reasonably easy. another concern is whats on the exterior of the house? will you have to pull siding? you can always do a temporary fit in the crawl space and add on to the wall to keep the corner of the house from crumbling in. i say buddy is gonna try and rip you off.

[Sinker]

Is it a poured concrete basement, or block?

 

Siding or brick?

 

Is the original sill set flush to the iside of the foundation?

 

If it is siding, and the sill plate is flush to the exterior of the foundation, you can just run a new sill on the inside of the old one, without removing the old one.

 

Basically, you need to support the house (jack it up) on the floor joists inside the sill plate, remove the old one, and get the new one in around the anchor bolts. Not really that hard of a job, but a PITA more than anything. The section of the house where the joists run parallel to the sill plate will be the toughest part.

 

Sinker

[tinbanger]

Also you should adress whats causing the rot . is it related to that roof leak ?

 

Couple of photos will help .

 

TB

[Greencoachdog]

Like others have said, a labor intensive job... a dirty job.

 

Is it the entire sill all the way around, or just a section? I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but there may also be hidden rot on your joist band as well if this was caused by some sort of leak.

 

This didn't just happen overnight, your home inspector should have seen this when you bought the house.

[motv8tr]

Thanks for the replies guys, I do know how it's done, but I know that I am not capable of doing it myself. I suspect there is no gasket which is why it's rotting. I will try to get a picture in the next few days...I just hate going down there .

 

The spot is accesible, but it's a mess down there. The passage is fairly narrow as it's a trench that was dug out around the perimiter, which makes the job more challenging. before I can replace the sill plate I need to get someone down there to clean the area out...all the insulation has to be removed and redone along with removing a lot of crap. I cannot spend too much time down there as my back doesn't like being hunched over for that length of time, which is why I need to get someone else to do it for me.

 

"Is it a poured concrete basement, or block?"

 

It's block walls and dirt floor

 

"Is the original sill set flush to the iside of the foundation?"

 

I'm not sure at this point, I will try to take a closer look when I go down to take a picture of the plate.

 

The siding is aluminum, and needs to be removed eventually as I suspect there is no house wrap...

 

"Is it the entire sill all the way around, or just a section? I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but there may also be hidden rot on your joist band as well if this was caused by some sort of leak."

 

I'm not sure about that Glen, again I need to take a closer look...I would like to replace the entire sill plate to be safe and I'm not convinced they used a sill gasket at all. and Ya I thought about the joists being in danger of rotting as well. Not sure if the problem is a leak or the fact that there is no gasket combined with moisture from the dirt floor, along with other issues I'm aware of.

 

There is lots of work to be done here, and from what I can tell a lot of short cuts and poor work(wrong) were done over the years. The house inspector did tell me about it, along with a few other issues, but I was unable to do anything about it at the time. Not sure I can now, but am trying to get a rough estimate of cost so I can try to plan things out.

 

Maureen

[2 tone z71]

if I wasent a few hours away id tackle it ,as where on a lay off till ice out I have a bit of time on my hands

[ch312]

do you have a confirmed water leak or are you just speculating at this point?

 

blocks are notorious for wicking water that comes from water sitting near the foundation or rain blowing against the house. its possible that a downspout, improper grading, or wind driven rain is the culprit for the sill plate rotting. older blocks are more porous and can wick water more than new. its funny how such a cheap piece of foam between the plate and foundation can prevent such expensive damage.

 

heck it could even be plumbing on the exterior wall. even though those pipes shouldnt be there, ya never know what some handyman has done in the past.

 

 

if you are going to insulate your basement or get new siding done make sure you get a home energy audit done on your home before you start. im getting $4-5k in government rebates for my place