Sole plate woes!

[Mattpoyser]

Hello All,
Having bought a renovation project a few months ago, I have started to put a plan together to tackle the jobs one by one as funds allow.

First job was to try to dry the walls out as it’s had cement render thrown all over the place. There is no drainage around the house and water just runs off the roof and into the walls, with the sole plates rendered from the inside - nice. This has resulted in a lot of rot.

I’ve started to chip away the render inside but stopped as I’m not sure what’s actually holding the house up.

I’ve never replace a sole plate before, but was hoping that I could do in sections as and when budget allows, one room at a time. Is this possible or would I need to do all at once ?

Also, any recommendations of anyone who could advise in Suffolk ?

Thanks

M

 

[Andys]

I can't help with recommendations, wrong part of the country!

It sounds a little daunting, working out where to start, hopefully if you can sort out the drainage and lose some of the cement render it'll give you time to investigate everything else while it dries out. Any good pictures?

Our sole plate was replaced as two jointed sections, allowing the excavation to be done in two stages, building up the support with acrows and strongboys progressively. Two 3.5m timbers are a lot more liftable than one 7m one! It also could have allowed us to put in an angle if we wanted - the wall is a bit dished but in the end we kept the sole plate straight and allowed the posts to land where they wanted to go.

 

[livias]

You could phone Rick Lewis
traditionaloakcarpentry.co.uk
and ask him to come and do a site consultation. His company do timber frame repairs but tell him that you want to do it yourself and I am sure he would be very helpful with advice

 

[MikeG]

Whereabouts in Suffolk are you? I am an architect, and have spent 4 years rebuilding my timber framed cottage near Sudbury. If you are within sensible reach I'll happily come and have a look, gratis. This is very much "my thing".