"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a
question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete.
The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½
inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top
plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral
nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit
the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared
to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the
concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening
the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

"Sean M" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a
question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete.
The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½
inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top
plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral
nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit
the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared
to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the
concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening
the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

I think that dowel method went out in the early sixties when contractors
discovered anchors. I don't think wood is a good idea to put in contact
with moisture. Tapcons or other types of anchors are more suitable. The
contractors that I have worked with finishing basements usually use Hilti or
Ramset type gun powder activated tools to drive hardened nails into the
concrete.

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Sean M wrote:
Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a
question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete.
The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½
inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The
top plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral
nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit
the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me
compared to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into
the concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening
the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

I use structural glue.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Ramset works. It's much more fun and it'll leave the pleasant aroma of
gunpowder in the air for a few days. It can crack older concrete,
though.


-rev

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Hammer-drill and appropriate-length Tapcons work great for me.

Forget the dowel s**t- maybe biscuits would work? :-)

J

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Get yourself a nice ramset.

I did basically the same thing...

I used pressure treated lumber on the floor. .
Then I used construction adhesive and glued the
2x4 to the floor. Once that was set where
I want it, I drilled a few small holes and
used the ramset to attach the wood
to the floor. I predrilled because the pressure
treated lumber is TOUGH stuff to ramset through.

Depending on the job, the ramset you hit with the
hammer is the cheapest. Only 20.00 or so.
The nicer one is a gun type that no hammer is
needed, just a little body weight. I went the cheap
route and it worked fine. I dont mind the smell of
gunpowered but make sure you DO wear some ear
protection and get the dog, cat, baby etc (if you have one)
out of the house. The sound of a .22 cal cartridge is fairly loud
expecially when its in a confined space such as a basement.

Tom

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

"Sean M" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I have a
question about the method to attach the sole plate to the concrete.
The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to ½
inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole. The top
plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral
nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you hit
the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me compared
to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the
concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of weakening
the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean

Firstly, I wouldn't go this route due to the fact that you'd be putting wood
in direct contact with the concrete (ie. the dowels) unless you can find
pressure treated dowels? I also wouldn't go this route because quite
frankly, that's a lot of work and there are easier ways. I would find
yourself a Hilti style gun (maybe something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Remington-490-Po...c mdZViewItem
) or go the Tapcon route.
Cheers,
cc

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

The Reverend Natural Light wrote:
Ramset works. It's much more fun and it'll leave the pleasant aroma of
gunpowder in the air for a few days. It can crack older concrete,
though.
That older concrete is very brittle. That was the situation in my house
~1920s. Wound up using Tapcons. The ricochets with the Ramset was
pretty exciting tho' ;)
Richard

"Old school" method of attaching sole plate to concrete vs. Tapcons.
 

Drill a hole through the base plate into the concrete. I would
use a 3/16 or 1/4" bit.
Put in 2 or 3 pieces of electrical wire with the insulation still
on it.
Drive a 16d double head nail. You will need a heavy crow bar if
you are wrong. A whole lot cheaper than Tapcons without the
frustration of snapped heads, etc.

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Sean M" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

I am starting to frame parts of my basement this weekend and I
have a
question about the method to attach the sole plate to the
concrete.
The advice I have received is to drill a rather large hole (3/8 to
½
inch) in the floor and then hammer a wooden dowel in the hole.
The top
plate is then hammered into the wooden dowel using 2.5 inch spiral
nails. Everything has to be meticulously measured to ensure you
hit
the dowel with the nail. This method seems a bit tricky to me
compared
to just drilling a 3/16 inch hole trough the sole plate into the
concrete and driving in a Tapcon.

Can anyone comment on these 2 methods? Is there a danger of
weakening
the concrete floor by drilling several 1/2 inch holes into it?

-Sean