wrote:
In the old days, I know that when they built a concrete block
basement, the wooden floor joists were just set on top of the block
walls, and they would make the top row of block with a solid topped
block (no exposed core). Then after the wooden joists were set in
place, they would put a thick bead of mortar on the inside, on top of
the block wall.

I've lived in several homes built in this manner. I guess they
figured the weight of the house would hold it in place, and that
mortar bead added to this, as well as keeping air from leaking and
insects and rodents from entering.

The problem with that concept is that if a tornado or hurricane hits
the area, it dont take much to knock the house off the foundation.

I'm planning to build a small summer cabin. It will be set on a
concrete block foundation, either as a crawl space, or possibly a
usable basement depending on cost. Since the cabin will be small,
that would mean is weighs less, and thus would probably make it blow
off the foundation easier. This is not an area that gets hurricanes,
but tornados are always a possibility.

My question is what's a better method to attach the house floor to the
block walls?
On: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2layconcreteblock
They suggest putting an anchor bolt every 3' to 4' in the last (top)
run of the blocks. I guess that would mean having an open cored
block every 3rd or 4th block, and filling the block core with
concrete to hold that anchor. But that brings up two questions.

1. Filling a block's core generally means all the cores below it would
need to get filled, and thaT would take a lot of concrete. Unless a
wad of newspaper or some insulation is crammed in the blocks in the
row below the top one first.

2. Using floor joists laid on their narrow edge (such as 2x8's), this
anchor would end up with no wood to attach to, unless a 2x8 was laid
flat first, and then the floor joists laid on top of that, which is
not something I've seen. (Or is there some sort of bracket made for
this use?).

Then too, making sure these anchors dont und up directly under a joist
might be tricky too, because the location of each joist would have to
be measured and marked on the blocks first.

Anyone have any tips?

1. "J" bolts in the block

2. 2x8 on edge through drilled to fit over the J bolts, nut and fender
washer

3. nail on hangers on the 2x8s for the horizontal sticks


--

dadiOH
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