Repairing Rotten Sill Plate and Rim Joist

28 Aug Repairing Rotten Sill Plate and Rim Joist

We are a Landscape Construction Company.   Like many of our professional peers, we regard the landscape as a fundamental component of a home.  Unlike many of our professional landscape construction peers, our skill set includes a dozen years in licensed home remodel carpentry.  In the occasions where we find rot, we have the knowledge and experience necessary to not only repair the damage, but to identify the cause and remediate the defect.  Here’s a pictorial essay of a recent situation where we’ve fixed a problem that would have become an epidemic if ignored.

Rotten framing under not-so-bad looking siding

We discovered rot in an area where soil had been piled against the siding from over the years.

cutting away the rot

We cut away the rotten wood which consisted of a portion of the sill plate and a portion of the rim Joist.  The siding itself was surprisingly intact.  Cedar is stalwart as siding.

replace with treated lumber

We replaced the rotten wood with pressure treated lumber and bronze coated screws.

flashing and hardipanel

Over the new framing lumber we installed Fortiflash brand butyl flashing membrane, and over that, James Hardie brand cement board siding attached with stainless steel nails.  Although no soil will be in contact with it, we will back fill with gravel bedding.  A patio will be flush to the siding in this area.

at the lower left portion of the picture is the hole we drilled in the retaining wall

To address some of the reason this area was rotting, we core drilled a 4″ hole in the concrete retaining wall…..

solid pipe conveys rainwater away from house

and ran a titeline pipe to redirect the rainwater from the downspout that had been creating a puddle in that corner of the house.

Fixed!