Old Slab New Mudsills

[CurlyDave]

I have finally demolished my burned-out house and am starting to move along on rebuilding.

One of the questions which a contractor brought up is the question of how an I going to handle the fact that I now have a 20 year old foundation with old, plain steel foundation bolts (a little rusty, but certainly re-usable) and will be using new pressure treated mudsills. The new pressure treated wood requires either galvanized or stainless fasteners.

Any suggestions?

Can I wrap electrical tape around the bolts, or coat them with epoxy?

 

[powerpace]

You might try cutting lengths of galvanized pipe with the inside diameter of the bolt to the thickness of the mud sill. The mud sill hole would be cut oversize to fit the diameter of your pipe shim.

 

[Carykong]

my local building code would insist on galvanized bolts with pressure treated wood. you can retro fit galvanized anchors into an existing foundation with relative ease. good luck

 

[Carykong]

forgot to add that you can retro fit with galvanized lag bolts/anchors. 1/2 hammer drill will make your holes very quickly

 

[woodlandfarms]

A house on our property burned down and we discussed rebuilding it with the state inspector. They said no, that once a foundation has had a fire it must be destroyed do to melting of the steel and such. So we had to push it in and put the house somewhere (but thankfully better) on the property. Maybe it is a washington thing......

 

[CurlyDave]

Maybe it is a washington thing......

Could be a Washington thing, could be the condition of the foundation.

I had professional engineer look at mine and he stated in writing that it "...appears to be undamaged by the fire."

 

[EddieWalker]

I'd cut them all off and install new anchor bolts. It just takes a second to drill the holes with a SDS Rotary hammer. Size and depth of the hole are not an issue.

I set my walls and drill the hole through the wood with my drill, then put my SDS into the hole and drill out the concrete. It takes longer to type it then it does to do it.

Eddie

 

[whitedogone]

I have finally demolished my burned-out house and am starting to move along on rebuilding.

One of the questions which a contractor brought up is the question of how an I going to handle the fact that I now have a 20 year old foundation with old, plain steel foundation bolts (a little rusty, but certainly re-usable) and will be using new pressure treated mudsills. The new pressure treated wood requires either galvanized or stainless fasteners.

Any suggestions?

Can I wrap electrical tape around the bolts, or coat them with epoxy?

The IRC allows plain steel bolts if they are 1/2" or larger.

 

[RadarTech]

Curly,
how did the insurance all work out?

J

 

[CurlyDave]

how did the insurance all work out?

I quit posting on it because this is an open forum and no one know who is reading, but it is almost all over now and I can say what I want.

The Public Adjustor and I finally beat them into submission.

Right up until the very end, they were claiming that the house had salvageable parts, but then the Town told them what they had to do to salvage anything (test it through an engineer pre-approved by the Town, not one of their in-house lap dogs) and they decided that it would be less costly to pay off the policy limits.

So they have paid off the policy limit, and because I had negotiated a few things with them of what they would pay if we reached the policy limit they actually paid about $3000 over the limit.

And, best of all the Public Adjustor noticed that there was some mold on the parts they wanted to salvage, so I got $5000 for mold abatement.

Because we are selling the house after we rebuild it, and because it was really a tossup whether to salvage anything or just start from scratch, we decided to demolish the house down to the foundation. We felt that having to disclose the use of fire-salvaged material would be a negative marketing point for the house. We abated the mold right to the dump...

However, the saga continues...

Instead of sending the money to me, the insurance company sent it in checks made out to me and to the bank holding the mortgage. Of course, they have their own set of silly rules about how they will release the money to me. This is going to be another long uphill battle.

I think I will start a new thread on the rebuild in a few days -- there are even tractors, or at least a skid steer, in it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Fortunately, I've not had to deal with Insurance much...

I did have about 8k of storm damage to my place when I was living 800 miles away... the adjuster was fair... at least the supervisor was when I called his attention to several things that were missed.

They cut me a check made out to Wells Fargo... the problem is I've never had a mortgage with Well Fargo and my property was free and clear...

It took a lot of back and forth... they wanted proof I didn't have a mortgage with Wells Fargo... how is a person supposed to prove a negative???

Anyway, it took three weeks from start to finish... I told them they were negligent and acting in bad faith by making the draft out to Wells Fargo...

Glad it's working out for you, unfortunately, you will end up knowing more about insurance than you ever wanted to!

 

[CurlyDave]

I set my walls and drill the hole through the wood with my drill, then put my SDS into the hole and drill out the concrete. It takes longer to type it then it does to do it.

Eddie:

What kind of bolts do you put in?

This is earthquake country, and the new rules are that the town wants to watch and inspect each bolt that I add this way. Of course, I get to pay the inspector while he sits around and watches.

Might be worth it if I can do them all in one day, but the way it really works is that they don't have a "bolt inspector", so I need to hire a registered engineer who they approve and he has to watch me do it. This is $200-250/hour.

 

[dfkrug]

....I need to hire a registered engineer who they approve and he has to watch me do it. This is $200-250/hour.

In our area, I thought 5/8" bolts are now required....

Anyway, if it is engineered, you can likely have your "special inspection"
done by an inspection service as well as having an engineer come and
watch. I paid an inspection service, and it saves a little, anyway.

Simpson StrongTie publishes a document on the use of steel connectors
with the new corrosive PT wood. I coated (painted) any steel I used
that touched PT wood. The last was my deck that used steel joists with
PT plywood.

Good luck, Dave!

 

[whitedogone]

What code has been adoped where you are rebuilding?

What Seismic design category are you located in?

 

[CurlyDave]

What Seismic design category are you located in?

We are on the San Francisco peninsula. As I read the map, we are right on the contour where there is a 10% chance of exceeding 0.6 g horizontal acceleration in the next 50 years.

There are a couple of very small areas with 0.8 g nearby, but this is as high as it gets in the lower 48.

The San Andreas fault is about 1/2 mile from our house.

In our area, I thought 5/8" bolts are now required....

I am going up there this afternoon. I will measure the existing bolts, but I think they are 5/8" already. 20 years I built this house myself, planning to stay for a good long time. I used double overkill on every engineering decision...

 

[whitedogone]

Dave, The Seismic design category that needs to be considered will come from the code that has been adoped where your is is being rebuilt. Which code do you need to follow?

 

[MarkV]

Dave has anyone told you you can not use the existing bolts? You are near the bay and I understood the older type of treatment system was still available for marine use. May cost a bit more per board yet easier than retro fitting all the bolts.

MarkV

 

[EddieWalker]

Are they grandfathering you into the previous code as a remodel or will you have to meet current code? In the East Bay, where I worked before moving here to Texas, we had to have continuous straping from the foundation footings to the tops of the rafters, plus bolts in the sil plates.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

No one official has told me I can't use the existing bolts. A contractor questioned wether I could, and did bring up the corrosion issue.

The Town just says they use the 2007 CA building code, but do not give any more details. That code can be downloaded for ~$279, but I am not certain I could find the right place in there to look.

They are grandfathering me in as a remodel, and I do have an architect drawing plans. I raised the issue with him and suggested the attached possibility, which I think would be pretty easy to do.

Both the architect and engineer have looked at my suggestion and agreed that it would work. Essentially, if they sign off on it, the Town has to accept it.

I am hoping for something better than what I can think up from the collective minds at TBN.

At the time I built it, I didn't need strapping to the roof, but did need tie-downs at each corner, which were bolted to the studs with a special formed piece of ~10 ga sheet metal. There were two machine bolts through the bottom of the stud required, which captured the hold down and had to be a certain distance from the bottom of the stud.

I checked and the existing bolts are 5/8".

 

[whitedogone]

Dave, I don't have a copy of the 2007 CA code here at home. We may have a copy at work. I'll check. If not, I met another Code Offical from CA at the national conference last year in Minn. I could call him and ask. Bottom line is what your inspector will accept. Have you asked your inspector. You could also ask them to make you a copy of that section of the code. Or, go to the Inspections Department and ask if you could read it there.