Hi folks,

Wondering how you handle an 8" sill, 6" thick wall on the sill (SIP or built up) the Code requires 3.5" of bearing of the sill on the foundation, for a total of 9.5" of foundation wall width. Now add in some brick or stone veneer and you are looking at 14" of foundation wall!

Another option I guess would be to use piers (sp?) integrated into the councrete foundation pour eunder each post above and rely on the peers to carry the weight of the sills, with little sill resting on the 10" foundation wall itself. I can clarify with a pic if needed.

Bruce,

What kind of foundation are we talking about? Interior piers would be my choice, generally speaking.

Recently during a lunch I had with several engineers, we discussed this subject about how to properly support posts on what could be called a narrow foundation wall.
Or whether or not you should pour a wide (14") foundation wall.
One comment was made that it depends on how you're being charged for the foundation form work.
If you are paying for the form work by the square foot and you're buying the concrete direct then pour a wide wall. A couple of hundred dollars for a wider wall could be cheaper than the extra labor charges for the bump out in the form.
If you're paying for the concrete form work "by the yard (of concrete)" and he's paying for the concrete then have the concrete form bump out and create a pilaster or pier at the point of each post, to support it, (of course with proper re-bar in each).
Does this make sense?

I'd be interested in hearing other opinions about this.

Jim Rogers

Hey Bruce... I can tell you what I have done on two frames so far with reasonable success. On a 10" wide foundation wall I bolt down 2x8 pt sill plates 3" in from the foundations outside edge. So if your frame is 24x40 your foundation would measure 24'6"x40'6". My 8x8 posts sit in a shallow mortise flush to the 2x8's outside edge and held firm with a strong tie strap. This of course means that the post overhangs on the inside by 1" but almost 90% of the post bearing area is still working and even more so on the corners. The reason for this 1" sacrifice is of course to provide a 3" shelf for the exterior walls. I have never used SIPS but I can tell you that with 1" T&G interior walls, 4" studs filled with extruded foam, 1" strapping covered with board & batten siding I'm left with an asthetically pleasing 4" overhang. A thicker wall would require a different approach. In my opinion forming in pilasters at post locations would be cheaper than pouring a thicker foundation for the entire circumference only to accomodate the occational post. Still out Almonte way?