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Carpentry and Repairs
Wood rot is mostly hidden and sometimes you don't know it
is there until the floor starts to sag or other bad things start to happen.
Leaks in something on the outside of the structure cause most rot. Missing or cracked caulk is one of the most common causes of leaks. We also find many cases in which improper installation of decks or porches leads to leaks which lead to rot in the sill plates. Just exactly what is a sill? SILL applies to any of several items. A sill is usually something that supports something else. Normally, a door has a sill (under it), the floor has a sill (usually around the foundation and under the floor), and even windows have sills. When we replace a floor sill, or SILL PLATE, the wall and floor are held in place, the old sill is cut out, a new sill installed, and any sleepers or floor joist that might have been nailed to it are re-hung with joist hangers or sleeper hangers. A Floor Joist is the support for the flooring system. Generally they are rough or planed (smooth surface but thiner than rough wood of the same size) 2 inch by 8, 10, or 12 inch, pine or similar material. Floor joists can run from sill to sleeper or sleeper to sleeper, depending on the layout of the floor above. It is common to see a HELPER installed under the floor joists to help support the weight of an object or wall on the floor above. SLEEPERS carry the weight of the walls above them. They might be under a hallway wall to aid in carrying weight. Or, they might be under a staircase. Sleepers generally tie into the sill work system and are usually posted every 8 to 10 feet. When sleepers need to be replaced, we hold the floor joists on either side, remove the rotten sleeper and replace it, then re-hang the existing floor joists with joist hangers. Rotten floor joists are usually not replaced. A new floor joist is installed beside the existing bad one. It is hung or nailed to the sleeper or sill and could have a helper installed under it for extra support if needed. The subfloor and floor are nailed to the original floor joist so removing a bad one and replacing it in the exact same location would lead to significant additional cost with no real benefit. HELPERS help an existing structure, usually floor joist, carry weight. For example: if someone had a large safe installed, the flooring under the safe would most likely have been "beefed up" with helpers. Also, when floors are leveled, helpers will be installed to keep the newly leveled floor in place. Helpers are supported by posts and often are not tied into anything that already exists. As a rule of thumb, if you can push an awl or similar sharp pointed object more than about a quarter inch into any wooden beam (whether sill, sleeper, helper or floor joist), it may need to be looked at by a professional. PO Box 1055 24A Old Manchester Road Raymond, NH 03077 USA Tel/Fax (603) 895-4911 e-mail info@nubbleservices.com  |
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mcclard@nubbleservices.com with
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