Shopsmith Forums

Unlike farmer, my house does not have a 2x sill plate. So I have worked up a plan for how I can hang a tool storage system on the wall. I have not mastered sketch-up, but I did get it to show the way I plan to start my storage wall.
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So, the plan is to attach the OSB to a 2x4, back-up the OSB with a sheet of vapor barrier foam with some type of construction adhesive, and then attach the 2x4 to the floor joists. The block wall this will be against is bowed and I am not sure how best to locate the placement of the 2x4s on the underside of the joists. I think if I temporally put a 2x4 vertically in each corner, I can find the worst spot of the bow by stretching a string between them at various heights. Then measure from the string to wall. The difference between 2x4 offset and the measurement is what I need to work with to be vertical at most bowed point. When I have determined how much bow there is, I will decide how the much shim support I will need to put behind the foam to have vertical and straight setup. This wall is 28’ long, so I will stagger the seams between panels so the there is a foot of overlap between the foam and OSB layers.

I will use French cleats, probably from 3/4" plywood. This was suggested by readers in a blog on Lumber Jocks. I have posted this over there too, but feel like I know who is commenting here and enjoy your remarks and support.

If your block wall is bowed, you likely have issues that should be addressed before you coverthem up. Earth movement and hydraulic pressure can destroy your foundation.

Bowed walls aren't neccessarily a sign of a problem. Most houses, even high end new ones, don't have straight walls. Your bow very likely could have been there since construction if someone didn't get exact in their bracing while the concrete set. Or it could have occured during normal and expected settling. It's only a problem if the bowing grows over time.

But looking at the big picture....why is the bow a problem to begin with? I don't think you'd notice any change in utility.

Rather than doing shims and filling the void behind, which is much harder than it sounds, why not cover the wall in 4 ft increments? 4x8 ft sheet of osb, attach a 4ft 2x4, screw into the joists, then move on down the line. You may need to scribe the last section, but that's not a bad trade.

frank81 wrote:Bowed walls aren't neccessarily a sign of a problem. Most houses, even high end new ones, don't have straight walls. Your bow very likely could have been there since construction if someone didn't get exact in their bracing while the concrete set. Or it could have occured during normal and expected settling. It's only a problem if the bowing grows over time.This old house,1950 when new, has had its share ofsettling/foundation problems. 4 years ago when we bought it the bowed foundation was pointed out during the inspection. The room I am moving the shop to has had one time our 4 years that a corner got dampness in it. We had a record rainfall with area flooding that time. Another room in the basement gets wet every now and then and is more of a concern to me. The basement floor is very uneven and the room I am moving the shop into has at some point in the past had a skim coat put down. This skim coat has had cracks sealed, but no movement since we moved in. I think this room is now stable. The first year we lived here I did go around the foundation on the out side and add a distinct drainage away from the house for 4'. BTW a neighbor says the area our houses were built on used to be referred to as "the Methodist swamp.":eek:

But looking at the big picture....why is the bow a problem to begin with? I don't think you'd notice any change in utility.

Rather than doing shims and filling the void behind, which is much harder than it sounds, why not cover the wall in 4 ft increments? 4x8 ft sheet of osb, attach a 4ft 2x4, screw into the joists, then move on down the line. You may need to scribe the last section, but that's not a bad trade.

I want to measure how out of vertical the wall is at a minimum and also understand the severity of the bow before deciding on how I will deal with it, if at all.

videobear wrote:If your block wall is bowed, you likely have issues that should be addressed before you coverthem up. Earth movement and hydraulic pressure can destroy your foundation.

As I mentioned above, I think I am pretty stable in the room I am going to move to, but if the block wall later has to be addressed as part of some repair, tearing out a few sheets of OSB should not be a big deal...I hope.

There is one corner of the house that gets wet every now and then and it has what looks to be good drainage at ground-level in that area. Neighbor says PO had that corner of house's foundation reworked in the past. There is fresh evidence of blocks shifting a little in that corner. I will ignore it for now unless I have to deal with it.

We had a major rain event this a.m. Almost 5" in about 4 hours. The area below and inside from the A/C got damp to the touch. It is less than 2 sq. ft. The rooms that sometimes have standing water did again. I mopped in the current shop (floor drains away from the floor-drain:( ). The other room does drain.

Much less rain than the other time we noted dampness/wet in same area of the room I will be relocating the shop to. I am sure that when we have the A/C replaced, a little fill and a positive slope on the A/C's platform will cure this one.

Minor street flooding in Northfield and surrounding communities.