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How To Install Sill
Plates
When building a house, installing the sill
plates correctly
will determine how straight and square the
finished product
will be.
Hopefully the concrete contractor did his
job and left you
with a reasonably straight and square
foundation. A good
concrete contractor can make a framing
contractors job of
building a house a piece of cake. Even if the
foundation is
slightly out of square, a good framing
contractor can adjust
his sill plates and correct the problem.
When laying out the sill plates, snap chalk
lines on the
biggest square of the foundation. This will
usually be the
main part of the house. After snapping the
front or back and
one side, check for square. This is easily done
by using
the 3-4-5 method. Measuring 3' from the corner
on the side,
and 4' from the corner on the front or back.
Make a pencil
mark on the chalk line at these dimensions.
Measure the
distance between these two marks on the
diagonal and if
perfectly square will equal 5'. If it is not
square, adjust
the shortest of these two lines so that your
measurement
equals 5'.
Once squared these lines can be used as a
reference point to
square and keep paralell other sections of the
houses
foundation, like a garage or sunroom. By using
the biggest
square portion of the house, your work will be
more
accurate.
After your chalklines are all snapped, your
ready to lay the
sill sealer and sill plates. The sill sealer is
put on top
of the foundation wall first. This material
comes in two
forms. One is very similar to fiberglass wall
insulation
except thinner and with the same kraft paper
backing. The
other is a 1/4" foam similar to laminate
flooring
underlayment. Both materials come in widths to
accomadate
2x4 and 2x6 sill plates. I prefer the foam sill
sealer for
its ease to work with and what I feel will keep
drafts and
moisture from penetrating under the sill plate
better. Both
sealers are installed butting up to the chalk
line to the
inside of the foundation wall. Both are pushed
down over
the anchor bolts till it pops through the
sealer.
The exterior finish determines the placement
of sill plates
on the foundation wall. If the exterior finish
is siding,
the sill plates will finish flush with the
outside of the
foundation wall. In this case I like to measure
in the width
of my sill plate, 3 1/2" for a 2x4 and 5 1/2"
for a 2x6. If
the exterior finish is brick, the sill plate
will be 4 1/2"
from the outside edge of the foundation
wall.
Holes must be drilled in the plates to
install them over the
anchor bolts. These 2x plates are usually
required to be
treated lumber to resist rot. To locate the
bolt hole in the
2x, put the plate up against the anchor bolts.
Using a speed
square or a combination square, put the square
on the edge
of the 2x and against the anchor bolt. Hold
your pencil
against the squares edge with the lead 1/4"
away from the
blade of the square and draw a line. This will
give you the
center of the 1/2" anchor boltalong the length
of the 2x
plate. to get the center off the edge of the
plate, measure
from the chalkline to the center of the bolt.
This will give
you the location to drill the holes in the
plate. Drill a
3/4" hole in the plate. This allows some wiggle
room to drop
the plate over the anchor bolts which are not
always
straight up and down.
Once the holes are drilled in the plate,
bolt it down with a
washer and hex nut. Continue the process by
butting the next
plate to the one just put down and locate the
next set of
holes, putting the sill sealer down ahead of
the plates. Toe
nail all joints where the plates butt one
another.
This is an important step when building a
new home. By
installing the sill plates straight and square,
it gives a
solid reference to follow when framing the rest
of the
house.
(c) Mike Merisko www.sawkerfs.com
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