- Q.We are working on an old
house that has settled. The house must be jacked up so
the floor can be leveled. But this will leave gaps
between the joists and sill plates, or between the sill
plates and the foundation. Should we raise the sill
plates to the joists and shim between the sill and the
foundation, or is it necessary to raise the foundation
by grouting some kind of extension in place?
A. The flat sill plate
won’t have enough strength to carry the
joists unless it is shimmed at each joist. However,
this would put a series of point loads on the
foundation, which may not be capable of carrying
that type of load, especially since it has already
settled. Therefore, the best solution would be to
support the joists on a beam just inside the
foundation. Then the foundation can be stabilized
to act as a curtain wall. In this case, stopping
the draft will be the highest priority.
An alternative might be to raise the sill to
support the joists, then grout between the
foundation and the sill. The more space you have
between the sill and the foundation, the better
this alternative will work — first,
because it will be easier to get the grout into a
wider gap, and second, the thicker the grout layer
is, the more strength it will have to support the
loads. There are a number of grouts available that
don’t shrink and yet are runny enough to
flow freely into small spaces. One is Embeco Grout
(Master Builders, 23700 Chagrin Blvd., Cleveland,
OH 44122; 800/227-3350).