Thread: No sill connection on a log home???

Hello Gentlemen,

I inspected a 1983 log home without the sill under the floor joist and no visible positive connection to the foundation. There is a rim joist which is attached to the joist sitting on the foundation. The logs or structural exterior walls are on the foundation and are assumed attached to the foundation but this was not visibly verified. It seems the floor joist and rim joist were built in the foot print after the exterior walls were built. Does this type of construction require a sill attached to the foundation when it does not carry the exterior wall load? I’ve inspected many log homes but this is the first one I could actually see the interior of the foundation connection. Any opinions are welcome.

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Looking at the photo there should be an all-thread running up from the foundation bolting threw the joist and usually at least the first three courses of logs. However you would not be able to verify visually in this case.

Hard to tell absolutely from the photo but it appears that the floor framing members are setting directly on the concrete. There should be, at a minimum, one treated member sill plate on top of the concrete, then the other frame members attached, or setting on top of that. The sill plate would, of course, be properly attached to the concrete foundation according to standards in place at the time of construction.

So yes, there may be a concern.

A very common way to secure logs is to use long steel rods that go from the foundation up as high as the first floor but also as low as the first one or two logs. If done properly you will not see them, but sometimes you can find a top plate with a nut on the long rod. It all depends on the type of log home, as to how everything is joined together.

The floor joist need to be on a treated piece of lumber. So we know from the photo that is not the case, so it needs to be addressed.

I see shims under the joists.

Not sure whether or not the shims are pressure treated or not, or whether they themselves are on felt, metal, or some other material used to serve as a break between the concrete and the wood.

As far an anchoring goes, I know very little about log homes, so I defer that to the others above.

Thanks for the replies!

With this type of construction the lumber on the foundation was addressed for the absence of treated wood. All other components of the foundation were performing as intended. Gotta run thanks again for the replies.