No Sill Plates

[Scott Dana]

I was inspecting a 30+ year old home the other day and noticed in the crawl that there were no sill plates on top of the concrete block foundation. I had never seen this before, but it appeared to be causing no issues. The floor supports did not look pressure treated but maybe the way they USED to do things made this OK, or the type of lumber that was used was more resistant to rot. Anyway, I figured someone might have a good explanation. Thanks.

[Ted Menelly]

I was inspecting a 30+ year old home the other day and noticed in the crawl that there were no sill plates on top of the concrete block foundation. I had never seen this before, but it appeared to be causing no issues. The floor supports did not look pressure treated but maybe the way they USED to do things made this OK, or the type of lumber that was used was more resistant to rot. Anyway, I figured someone might have a good explanation. Thanks.


Its not the way to build anything. The standard for ever has been pressure treated to the concrete and the joists on top of it. The sill plates keep the framing supported around the perimeter not to mention something to nail the joists to. Write it up as unconventional framing and dfer it to a building contractor or structural engineer. Nothng will probably be done about it and the house has not fallen down yet but it is still not right.

[Matt Fellman]

I agree with Ted... in my area when I see block foundations like that it's often a retrofit from an origanl post and pier construction. There's definitely a higher instance of screwy stuff in these houses.

I find a A LOT of bug damage because often times the house was built really close to the ground and then lifted and put on blocks.

[Vern Heiler]

I see this all the time in NC older homes. Foundation anchores only became an issue after hurricane Hugo came thru here in 1989. The only reason to have sill or mud plates is to anchor the house to the foundation.

[Ted Menelly]

I see this all the time in NC older homes. Foundation anchores only became an issue after hurricane Hugo came thru here in 1989. The only reason to have sill or mud plates is to anchor the house to the foundation.

One of the only reasons

[Jack Feldmann]

I see it here from time to time in homes built in the 40's.

We talk about how things are not supposed to be built, yet "in the old days" they did many things that would not be allowed now, or even safe.

Case in point. They used to put ceiling joists and floor joists(for 2nd floors) in little pockets in the brick (unreinforced masonry) walls. When earthquakes happened, the walls would flex, and the joists would pop out of the pockets, and it would all come down. THAT was common construction practice THEN.