Thread: Concrete & Stud wall

Renovating basement. Need to create a new stud wall. What is the interface between the concrete and the bottom plate (2x4)? Treated 2x4 or what?
David

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Base plate for wall should be a PT plate, framing above plate can be non treated material.

i would use a good piece of REDWOOD lumber, pt wood may eat at the nails or brackets

Six mil plastic or heavier or foam sill gasket material.
FoamSealR - FoamSeal Sill Gasket - 3 1/2 X 82' X 3/16 - 193690 - Home Depot Canada

Originally Posted by mike huntzinger

i would use a good piece of REDWOOD lumber, pt wood may eat at the nails or brackets

Oh you silly West Coasters. Here in the Southeast we only grow yellow pine. To import Redwood from the West coast is not economically feasible. Galvanized fasteners work just fine.

Bruce, the redwood is so cheap out here, we use in the fence at .99ea board, good luck with that pine

has anybody tried the new plastic wood used mainly for decks
?

Originally Posted by mike huntzinger

has anybody tried the new plastic wood used mainly for decks
?

Sounds like a good idea to me.... it may not be "code" because it hasn't been tested or approved for the use but I can see no problem. The composite material is overall nice stuff to work with. It doesn't splinter or split and you can drive fasteners through very small pieces for temporary bracing, etc. They also make shims out of it that are really nice to work with (same reasons... no splitting, etc.).

The only downsides I really see are that it's generally a lot more expensive than lumber and is much heavier than lumber. Just out of personal preference I'd never build a deck out of it but for durability and rot resistance I think it's great.

Plastic/composite wood not usable for base plate ans anything with structural loads.

PT on concrete best method. New CU treated with galvanized fasteners is a problem especially if there is any moisture. Fasteners have to be hot dipped to begin to stand up to reaction that will take place. Stainless steel is the only real answer for the use of CU treated material. Something the reactionaries did not tell you about when they pushed for the CU treated wood. Yes SS fasteners are expensive and if you read the studies for fasteners and connectors you will find that anything other than SS is just a poor substitute. Every non SS product will have a list of qualifications for their use and longevity

The reasoning behind using PT is that the wood in contact with the concrete will have some moisture transference and also termite/ant barrier.