[movemaine]

I just discovered that my sill plate and joist setup is different than others I've seen (and I was a Realtor, so I've seen a lot of sills).



As you can see from the picture, there's a gap between the exterior board and the subfloor. Covering that gap, on the exterior, is just some tar paper and vinyl siding. So as you can imagine, cold air here in Maine is just pouring in.

I have two questions - is there a potential structural issue? and what should I do to fix it? spray foam? cut 2 x 6's and attach to inside?

More information: house built in '78, floor joists are insulated, area is a crawlspace, joists rest on on full length steel I-beam.

Any help would be appreciated.

[woodworkbykirk]

something is definitely off there. .first off the rim board should be sitting on top of the mud sil and the rim board should be at the same height as the joists so there flush on top and so the floor sheathing is full supported.. you can try to rip some strips of 2x to fit in between the rim and the sheathing

if the sheathing were kept back from the edge of hte rim by 1/4" it would be perfectly fine as its typically done that way so it doesnt interfere with the wall sheathing running down over the rim and for straightening hte rim

[movemaine]

Originally Posted by woodworkbykirk

something is definitely off there. .first off the rim board should be sitting on top of the mud sil and the rim board should be at the same height as the joists so there flush on top and so the floor sheathing is full supported.. you can try to rip some strips of 2x to fit in between the rim and the sheathing

if the sheathing were kept back from the edge of hte rim by 1/4" it would be perfectly fine as its typically done that way so it doesnt interfere with the wall sheathing running down over the rim and for straightening hte rim

Hey WoodWork - that was my thought too. That the rim board should be on the sill, but it's not is butted up against it. I'll need to go under this weekend to see if it's that way full length. If it is, what are my options? I can't pull off the bottom row of siding in the middle of winter.

My initial thought was to spray foam the gap - my next thought was to rip sections of 2 x 6 and attach them to the inside, resting on top of the sill and attached to the rim board. Not sure what direction to go.

My next thought is that there's no way the could have built the house this way, but at the same time I've seen some crazy things.

[joecaption]

I sure hope that's not where the sheathing started where that block thing is shown.
The sheathing should have been at least 1" below the top of the foundation so there would be no air leaks.
In other words it should have compleatly covered up the rim joist and foundation plate.

[woodworkbykirk]

yah you can rip 2x6 or 2x8 whatever you get the most pieces out of one piece of stock.. spray foam will definitly work but wont support the floor sheathing.