I'm tearing down a section of wall and re-doing a beam that spans about 16'. The drywall is down and the studs exposed, but it appears that they are embedded in concrete. Ever see this? Should I just cut them flush with the concrete and then put a new sill over them, or what? Any ideas? Would pictures help?

That's not right!

Are they exterior wall?


interior don't matter.
exterior just copper green the hell outof what's left

[This message has been edited by pokeyfiero (edited 03-14-2014).]

quote Originally posted by FieroFanaticus2: Would pictures help?

Yes

I had this with one wall in my house. The studs rotted out at the bottom. I had to replace/repair the studs. Cut them out and fix it.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: I had this with one wall in my house. The studs rotted out at the bottom. I had to replace/repair the studs. Cut them out and fix it.

And, use pressure treated for the boards that contact the concrete.

quote Originally posted by WBailey1041: Yes

I've seen it in heavy industrial construction but never home construction.

Steve

I've never heard of such a practice. Wood and concrete don't mix. At least not in this method.

Wood will always rot in such a scenario. This doesn't make sense to me. Anyone have an explanation other than that whoever did this was trying to save a buck?

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Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun?

My Uncle Frank was a staunch Conservative and voted straight Republican until the day he died in Chicago. Since then he has voted Democrat. Shrug

Someone may have tried to level the floor after the walls were up.

Ok, I'll upload the images in just a minute, they're huge so I hope they adjust in the forum. I don't see PIP anymore?

Are you sure there's a sill plate under the studs? Use pressure treated for a new sill plate and a lam-beam across the top. I don't like the split you have in the existing beam.

Looks like a load bearing wall and they added the concrete for strength for some reason. Be carefull tearing it out.
Maybe they were originally going to brick up a wall there and decided not to?

Stud in concrete for exterior walls Is common and Is required to meet building code in many places. They keep high winds, low floods, and small earthquake like vibration from big trucks from moving the house.

If you cut them then replace the studs too. Size and Distance between must meet current codes. Is a min distance from old stud to avoid cracking.
Depending on local codes and concrete condition, you have some options.
Easy one is Self expanding anchor stud w/ washers and nuts. Quick example... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchor_bolt

Need some foam plastic to stop air flow in the concrete/wall joint. Is made for this job. concrete, foam, wall in that order.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

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What Don said.....it IS a weight-bearing wall. (the last two pics confirm that for me) You should build two temp support walls one each side of it before you rip them studs out., even if you have get your replacement beam in between the two temp. walls first. I would cut the studs 2" up from the concrete, take a good wood chisel and split the bottoms, grab the pieces with some big ol' pliers or channelocks and work 'em out of the concrete. Maybe tap 'em around with hammer to loosen 'em up some... Next find some concrete patch at the big box store and fill the voids. Use treated bottom sill plate. try not to locate the center studs directly over the old stud positions when possible.

I don't even see sills.

Don't take out that beam without supporting the ceiling on both sides!!

If you taking out those studs they probably will come out. Unless they are in deep and that is something I ain't never seen.

That is some interesting framing.

I think the sole plate is buried in the concrete. On the other side of the room is a utility closet which has exposed studs inside and I can see the plates in that room.... the plate that "would" be extended to the other side (if it were a continous wall)... is buried in concrete up to the top of the plate.

I'm just going to call in a contractor and have them take care of it. If they mess it up their insurance will pay for it. If I mess it up I just have a bigger problem.

That's interesting. What's under the carpet? Concrete floor or wood? Is there a basement underneath?
Definitely looks like the house has had some kind of weakening and sagging under those studs. Someone tried to fix it and did a half ass job. Beams not supporting the weight.
Unless you are able to assess and remedy the reason for the sagging, I'd say calling a good contractor would be a good idea.
Might be a sinking footer.

Are you sure those are sunk into the concrete? Looks like a patch job with wetcrete? I could be wrong. It does look funky?

I would use a floor jack, and 3 2x4's made into an I-Beam. "T" it off with a top plate of 2x4 about 24" long and supports angled about 1/3 the way down the I-Beam. Use floor jack to apply upwards pressure on the damaged plate/beam. When you begin to put tension on the beam, keep an eye out for the movement of the studs supporting the beam. Relieve tension on the studs, and remove accordingly. Use jack to level out support beam. Build back with a pressure treaded base plate.


Edit: Like what was just stated a post ago. Inspect for a deeper issue to that questionable fix. At least have the contractor inspect. Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Tony Kania (edited 03-15-2014).]

could be after the floor and wall was made it may not have been level and to try and fix it as easily as possible they may have just pored in a couple of inches of concrete to level the floor. that's what it looks like to me anyway. it may also be what ogre said, I have never worked on something like he said so I can't be sure. up here we put pressure treated sills down before starting the wall studs on a concrete floor. they are set with one of those 22 nail guns and concrete anchor nails. or threaded steel anchors set in the concrete.

Steve

If it were me, I'd take advantage of the situation since you already have everything open and replace some of the key studs with steel posts.

It looks like they built the walls and then poured the floor. I guess there's some logic in there somewhere.

Sorry. Ignore my post above. Wrong stud cutting...

I saw your pictures now. I nearly got sick looking at them. I've seen this first hand and always bad news. My old neighborhood have many problems like this.

Yes. Is a "loaded wall" and you have a slab floor... All your second floor joints meets at this wall.
You problem is worse than you think... Likely far worse. This is only 1 section of wall. My guess whole first floor have problems.
DIY fixing won't help.
PM sent.

My guess is this wall was an exterior wall at one point. Check out the handy work above to extend the roof line.



Looks like instead of supporting it properly some hack added the studs in an effort to take up the load that the header (Header = Beam) above cant carry. I'd guess this was done after the room was finished and the ceiling started to bow. Is that drywall BETWEEN the studs in the second picture below?? Why in god's name didn't they run the header to the outside walls to help distribute the load?




[url=http://postimage.org/]

The drywall between the studs tells me it was done after the fact. The concrete was probably set with the idea that it would carry the load uniformly. It won't, all they managed to do is point load each side of the opening. Which is why the floor is sagging. You need to carry the load to the foundation on either side of that opening. What type of foundation is the home sitting on? Please don't say basement.

[This message has been edited by WBailey1041 (edited 03-16-2014).]

quote Originally posted by theogre: Stud in concrete for exterior walls Is common and Is required to meet building code in many places.

Not in any place i have lived. They are all bolted down. ( bolts in the concrete of course )

Hard to tell from the pictures but is that built on a slab, concrete floor? if so and from the pictures that wall looks like it doesn't go the other wall? just part way across the room?

I second having a reputable contractor coming in to fix it if you have the money, make sure he does have insurance and as said reputable. if so he will gladly show you them and references of previous work he has done.

Good luck

Steve