Hello... I was doing some improvements on my house and I found that I have a rotten beam (sill) and the wall is a load bearing wall, the cable end. How can I support this side of the house and replace this section of beam that is rotten?

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Originally Posted by XLX55

Hello... I was doing some improvements on my house and I found that I have a rotten beam (sill) and the wall is a load bearing wall, the cable end. How can I support this side of the house and replace this section of beam that is rotten?

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First up, look to see what is causing the dry rot. Leaking window is probably the answer so that means the upper window trim area needs sealing too. Depending on how large the window is and if it is in a corner window configuration, then looking at how extensive the rot is, would determine the fix. Usually the gable is load distributed fairly even where the window not being a factor if it is pretty small. If the rot is exposed through the siding, then fixing is a must.

Thank you for the info... You are right the upstairs window does leak and the bottom picture window (in middle of wall) does to. Will work on that!! I have about rot in different place of this sill. There is about a 4 foot area of rot and farther up there is small patch of rot. A few studs also have rot where they connect to the sill. Any suggestings. Thanks

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Originally Posted by XLX55

Thank you for the info... You are right the upstairs window does leak and the bottom picture window (in middle of wall) does to. Will work on that!!! I have about rot in different place of this sill. Is the sill a header over the window and if so what is the size of the header, (i.e. a header for a 4 foot wide window will normally be at least a 4x4 size. Usually in new construction a 4x12 is normally used to save framing time and height level eveness under the double plate. This is California tract framing practice for production time savings and code compliance without question.There is about a 4 foot area of rot and farther up there is small patch of rot. Is this the vertical header studs or is this just a sill trim area. A few studs also have rot where they connect to the sill. How much has the rot advanced through the studs? Over 40 %? Any suggestings. Thanks

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Depends on the severity of rot on the framing support of the headers over the windows. Nm

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

Depends on the severity of rot on the framing support of the headers over the windows. nm

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Hello again!! This is a old house. The rotten parts is under the window. This house was built with no rhyme or reason. The header is two 2/6 about 7 feet long. Yes to your question of the studs. The sill is about 8x8 inches. The studs are true 2x4's. Thanks

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Originally Posted by XLX55

Hello again!!! This is a old house. The rotten parts is under the window.Good. this is not easy but at least the header above the window is intact and does not need work, right? This house was built with no rhyme or reason. The header is two 2/6 about 7 feet long. Yes to your question of the studs. the sill is about 8x8 inches. You just lost me. The header is above the window and supports the bearing wall. The sill is below the window and supports the window weight. Is this correct?The studs are true 2x4's.What percent of the full dimension stud is rotted away. The king stud goes up to the ceiling double plate, lets start with that one. Is it okay on both sides of the header? The jack stud supports the header on both sides of the window. How bad are these rotted? Thanks

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Keep up the good descriptions. Nm

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

Keep up the good descriptions. nm

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Hello again!! I would say 49% of the sill is rotten... Two king studs are rotted down where they connect to the sill (about 5 inches). Say this line is the sill A and C areas are rotted while B is OK (no rot). [U]_____A________B________C_____[U] There are also two cripple studs rotted that are about 2 feet long under the window. Thanks for you continuing help..

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Originally Posted by XLX55

Hello again!!!
[U]_____A________B________C_____[U] There are also two cripple
|...|........|............................|....... |...|
studs rotted that are about 2 feet long under the window. Thanks for you continuing help..

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Ok XLX, This is going to be an easy fix without destroying anything. The above red represents from left to right scab-on 2x4's as follows....
king..U..cripple......A..cripple....C..cripple.... cripple..U..king studs in the order shown. pretty neat and just requires cutting scab length size and nailing in place against the rotted stud. This will shore up the vertical compression loss of each dryrotted stud. I take it the horizontal sill 2x4 is not more than 45% rot cross-section of that stick that the cripples are holding up. Jack studs are not addressed. This takes care of bearing wall compression and acts as the new sheetrock wall nailers. Mark a line on the floor to have a vertical stud centerline reference for the vertical field nailing or screwing of the sheetrock. You should be good to go if I have understood what you told me. Anyway, you get the idea... :) nm

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

Ok XLX, This is going to be an easy fix without destroying anything. The above red represents from left to right scab-on 2x4's as follows....
king..U..cripple......A..cripple....C..cripple.... cripple..U..king studs in the order shown. pretty neat and just requires cutting scab length size and nailing in place against the rotted stud. This will shore up the vertical compression loss of each dryrotted stud. I take it the horizontal sill 2x4 is not more than 45% rot cross-section of that stick that the cripples are holding up. Jack studs are not addressed. This takes care of bearing wall compression and acts as the new sheetrock wall nailers. Mark a line on the floor to have a vertical stud centerline reference for the vertical field nailing or screwing of the sheetrock. You should be good to go if I have understood what you told me. Anyway, you get the idea....:) nm

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THANK YOU!! I see what your talking about. This will take care of all the horizontal studs right? NOW.. What about the vertical beam (the sill) itself?

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Originally Posted by XLX55

THANK YOU!!! I see what your talking about. This will take care of all the horizontal studs right? NOW.. What about the vertical beam (the sill) itself?

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XLX, I missed interpretation of vertical beam. Anything shown in red is vertical and called studs. Are you referring to the horizontal 2x support under the downstairs window or the horizontal header framing over that window? Can you send a sketch to show where you are addressing the structure parts?

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

XLX, I missed interpretation of vertical beam. Anything shown in red is vertical and called studs. Are you referring to the horizontal 2x support under the downstairs window or the horizontal header framing over that window? Can you send a sketch to show where you are addressing the structure parts?

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SORRY... I meant to say the horizontal beam that's holding all this up. Thanks

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Originally Posted by XLX55

SORRY... I meant to say the horizontal beam that's holding all this up. Thanks

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Ok, that is the sill support 2x you are talking about. If it has more than 40% dry rot in any part of that 2x4's cross-section, then remove it along with the related rotted supporting cripple and replace with new framing. That should be fairly easy. The lap shearwall boards usually are cedar or redwood (if 19th century) and should be intact. If not, then another ballgame has just begun. Nm

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

Ok, that is the sill support 2x you are talking about. If it has more than 40% dry rot in any part of that 2x4's cross-section, then remove it along with the related rotted supporting cripple and replace with new framing. That should be fairly easy. The lap shearwall boards usually are cedar or redwood (if 19th century) and should be intact. If not, then another ballgame has just begun. nm

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HELLO... This beam I'm talking about is what the house is sitting on. It is 8inches by 8 inches and about 20 feet long. When they put the picture window in they took some of the siding off 10"x 10' boards and replaced it with plywood. Thanks

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Originally Posted by XLX55

HELLO... This beam I'm talking about is what the house is sitting on. It is 8inches by 8 inches and about 20 feet long. When they put the picture window in they took some of the siding off 10"x 10' boards and replaced it with plywood. Thanks

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XLX, Now what does the 8x8 girder have to do with the window and where is the 2x10 located? I do not have a good picture of what you have described. A posted elevation drawing would solve some of these details. What I am visulalizing now is a dry rot condition under the house in the crawl space... a completely different situation.
:confused: nm

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Originally Posted by nmwirez

XLX, Now what does the 8x8 girder have to do with the window and where is the 2x10 located? I do not have a good picture of what you have described. A posted elevation drawing would solve some of these details. What I am visulalizing now is a dry rot condition under the house in the crawl space....a completely different situation.
:confused: nm

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SORRY... I must of explained this the wrong thing. The beam is sitting on a stone wall foundation. It is rotten. The studs that go up the wall are rotted where they connect to this beam... Thanks

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Originally Posted by XLX55

SORRY... I must of explained this the wrong thing. The beam is sitting on a stone wall foundation. It is rotten. The studs that go up the wall are rotted where they connect to this beam... Thanks

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I can see why the concern for supporting a bearing wall and correcting the dry rot. This is a lot more then a little undertaking if that 8x8 x 20ft. Long mudsill needs replacing. That is not a normal framing configuration.
Let me ask, are any of the floor joists supported by this 8x8 mudsill plate. Correct my understanding that there is no floor joisting and that the flooring planks sit on the mudsill, and the studs sit on the sole plate that rests on the flooring planks. These old construction methods get modified to justify easy corrections. There may not be a sole plate that the wall studs sit on. Is this also true? Nm

Is putting shorter pieces of 8x8 in place of the rotted sill, and supporting the studs on either side of the insert as you do this, and then move on to the next spot and repeat.
Then nail a facing 2x to either side in order to connect all the pieces together a possibility. I have a similar situation but the sill sits on a rock wall and the studs are attached to the sill