powder post beetle damage & rotted sills

I have a 170 year old brick house on a cobblestone foundation. Some of the floor joists and sills have dry rot and powder post beetle damage. While the joists are relatively easy to repair, I am at a loss as to how to best repair the sills as they are grouted into the foundation and the joists which are resting on them have crushed them down substantially. The basement has a dirt floor and limited headroom, so it is not real easy to bring in equipment.

Any suggestions on how to best repair the sills?

I think there are contractors on this board, so they might jump in, but here's a layman's opinion. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

All the joists that are resting on the rotted sill have to be jacked up high enough to both remove the crushed sill and install the new one. If this is a large amount, i.e., the sills have really been crushed, this will probably result in cracked plaster in the walls.

Depending upon the framing technique (balloon framing?) used on the house, you may not be able to just jack up the joists in the basement. You may have to build supporting temporary walls on each floor of the house so that the entire side of the house is raised in order to remove the weight on the sills. Big job if the sills are on the gable end. Bigger job if they are not.

This will take big jacks and expertise that I, personally, would not attempt. I'd call in a professional.

Just saw Norm and crew doing this on This Old House Classics. Lots of jacks Good Luck

The house is a true brick house - not brick veneer. The sills only hold up the floor, the brick wall's weight appears to bear directly on the foundation. The sills and joists are grouted into the foundation with cobblestones between each joist. This is where my concern is. I have jacks under the center beams and have sistered some of the weak beams adjacent to the basement stair, but I'm unsure how to handle the sill and joists on the outside wall.

Any chance of posting a picture of the joists and sill?

Andy...

I had this problem on my 150+ year old house. Posts were OK but sill plates were rotted out. We have to remove the lower clapboards and jack the house up on the entire side where the sills were rotted. Then, sills were replaced with pressure treated 6"x6" beams. This was time consuming and expensive and best left to a professional contractor who has the equipment and skills to perform this type of work.

Regards,
Bob Ancar
Cambridge, NY

Andy,

I grew up in a stone farm house in PA when we moved in some of the sills were bad. My dad borrowed/rented large screw jacks (40Lbs each) with about a 2" screw. We built the joist support beams where needed and then twice a week for about 3 months turned them a half turn raising the house ever so slowly. This minimized the cracking of the interior walls though some did occur also allowed the house to adjust slowly. Usually the brick/stone is attached at intervals to the wood siding boards, so this is why I undertand we took the slow process of lifting the interior walls.

So it is possible to do this, it just takes time and patience as well a background in building trades/experience is beneficial.
Do it once and do it right, otherwise it will cause more problems down the road.

Carl