louie wrote:
Ok, this may be a bit long winded, so bear with me:

I am renovating a house we have recently bought and fixing many many
of the previous occupant's 20+ years of "fixes" and additions. The
current problem is, he has built an addition onto the house, but the
addition is built on top of part of an outdoor deck. Two of the Three
walls sitting on this deck are flush with the edges of the decking,
but the deck extends under and beyond the third wall. The bottom of
this third wall is rotten, most likely from rainwater getting between
the deck boards and the wall. I can put some temporary jacks under
the wall (bearing the load from the roof rafters) and replace the
rotten studs and plate, but two problems still remain that I think I
have solutions for and want to see what others think about them:

1) the sheathing looks like it's not in great shape, not as punky as
the 2x4's but not great, I'd like to just seal it up with a resin
"wood hardener" that is available (I've seen it by Minwax, but I'm
sure others sell it too) instead of having to rip off siding and
sheathing and goodness knows what else. Anyone ever try this and
does it work?

2) I'm thinking of cutting a 1/4" or 1/2" gap in the decking flush
with the edge of the wall (outside). It'll probably mean having to
put a pair of joists on either side of the cut (the joists run
parallel to the proposed cut). If I did this, put flashing under the
plate, gob the heck out of it with caulk - what do you think?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/advice.

Before doing anything, I suggest that you consider if you should try to
"fix" the problem at all. Was the foundation and the deck really designed
and built to support a room? I suspect you will have continued problems and
you may someday face a building inspector that tells you to tear it down.
Was a permit give for the original project?

I would tend to believe the best thing is to tear it all down to the
ground and build new from the foundation up. Doing it right means doing it
once.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit