2

I am in the process of having my first home built and have been trying to learn as much as I can along the way.

Today I visited the home site and saw that the builder installed the sill plates on the foundation. There are two areas that appear slightly off to me and due to my limited knowledge, I do not know if I should be concerned about these areas and bother the builder about it.

The sill plates appear to be aligned correctly with the anchor bolts centered everywhere except for the wall where my garage would be. As you can see the bolt is not centered.

enter image description here

There is also a gap here between the sill plates on two walls of the garage

enter image description here

Should I be concerned about any of this?

Niall C.
  • 20,709
  • 17
  • 90
  • 131
RotoRooter
  • 23
  • 3
  • 4
    Feel free to bother the builder about it. He may have a reasonable explanation, or he may move the plate. In either case, he'll know that you're checking his work, and will make sure that he can't be queried in future. – PeteCon Aug 03 '16 at 19:33
  • 1
    It is hard to tell in the photo but it looks like the forms blew slightly causing the bolt misalignment. The bolts are there to hold the wall on the foundation during an earthquake. I would not be highly concerned with a few offset bolts. I would watch the construction to make sure that this not the norm for there work. I have had a few forms blow over the years and all the inspections passed. Some of those houses are over 35 years old now. – Ed Beal Aug 03 '16 at 19:33

2 Answers2

2

Looks like the mason centered the bolts where they expected the framed wall to sit on the foundation wall. They don't often spend a lot of time pondering what the carpenters will do, so this is very common. Short of an F3 or better tornado, it's not likely to ever be an issue.

isherwood
  • 119,766
  • 7
  • 148
  • 349
0

I would be concerned about the mouse hole. The bolts might be okay... they are just there to keep the wall from sliding. The contractor might be planning or willing to secure it with tapcons or something. You should ask contractor about this and about the 3/4" gap. If he's defensive (or offensive), there might be a problem. Looking down or away might indicate a problem, too.

11 Signs Someone Is Lying To You

  1. They change their head position quickly.
  2. Their breathing changes.
  3. They stand very still.
  4. They repeat words or phrases.
  5. They provide too much information.
  6. They touch or cover their mouth.
  7. They instinctively cover vulnerable body parts.
  8. They shuffle their feet.
  9. It becomes difficult for them to speak.
  10. They stare at you without blinking much.
  11. They tend to point a lot.
Ben Welborn
  • 6,204
  • 5
  • 21
  • 48
  • 2
    @RotoRooter... I'm profoundly unimpressed. At this stage not likely to be the end of the world but not a good sign of craftsmanship. Can you take a non fisheye photo sighting down the foundation and sills? – PaulBinCT2 Aug 03 '16 at 19:48