On 2/29/2020 6:48 AM, TimR wrote:
When the weather warms enough I'll get to replacing some rotted sill plate in my shed.

But I had a thought, which is maybe a dumb idea, I dunno.

I have to cut each stud above the plate, add a section, and connect to the new sill plate. The floor is concrete slab. The old sill plate is wood but metal wrapped, kind of weird. I haven't seen that before. It didn't seem to protect it any though.

What if instead of laying the new sill plate directly on the floor, I placed one row of concrete block? Block is cheap, it would elevate the plate a bit above the moisture. It will take a bit longer, but if it saves me doing this job again at my age it would be worth it.


I replaced the sill plate of my shop in a few spots. I made a "T" out
of 4x4's, and used it on a floor jack to push up on the ceiling joists
to lift the wall slightly from the foundation, hammered the sill plate a
little loose from the wall studs, then either pulled the nails or cut
them off with a hacksaw blade in a hand holder. I then replaced the sill
plate with pressure treated wood, dropped the wall back down and toe
nailed the studs back to the new sill plate.

Concrete wicks water. You could just lay heavy tar paper beneath the
wood to prevent that.