wrote in message
oups.com...
I really can't remove the just rennovated concrete steps over the
rotted sill and I have no idea how to "jack it up and replace it"
so........any more options?

If you don't understand the concept, you want to hire someone who does. It
really doesn't get much simpler than this, and it's very inexpensive, as
long as you turn the jacks and they don't have to come out everyday. I hired
someone the first time I needed to replace a sill, now I do it myself.

Get some floor jacks (I use 3-8, depending on what I'm jacking and how long
the area to be jacked) and position them in either the basement (if you can
get access to the load bearing members), or outside (if you have a recessed
doorway, just attach a 4x4 across the doorway frame and you can jack from
outside, assuming the sill is not rotted on either side of the doorway, then
you'll need to jack a longer area.

Jack it up SLOWLY, say a quarter turn a day (of course, your jacks might be
different). When the gap is sufficient to accommodate a new sill pate
(whatever your using in the rest of your house) pull out what's left of the
old one, and put in the new, attaching it however the rest of your sill is
attached. If your house is very old, you might want to check with your local
codes to see what is currently recommended for materials rather than using
what is already there. My house is about 200 years old, so when we replace
sills we use pressure treated rather than the hand-hewn, bark-covered oak
that was used originally. It's actually the 80 year old addition that has
had most of the sill plate problems. Only one wall of the original house has
need sill plate replacement.