Pressure treated bottom-plate vs. mud sill

[Inetmonkey]

Guys, I could really use some opinions here. I was reviewing the plans for my garage's foundations and I noticed (very belatedly) that the slab had no mud sills. The bottom plate of all my walls will be double-stacked pressure treated 2x4s but how well will they hold up over time vs, a 4" mud sill? My concern is more that of moisture (or other things like oil or chemicals) introduced from the inside as opposed to outside, such as from a hose-out.

 

[bmwpower]

I would get the walls off the ground. Pressure treated wood will still rot out eventually if it is in a wet environment all the time. Not to mention the bottom of the inner wall, if sheetrocked, will hate you for it. I have 3 course of block above grade.

 

[drbill]

The way I did my garage with 9' side walls was to use 1/2" treated plywood across the bottom 1' then drywalled up from there. After I primed and painted it I don't think I'll have to worry about it.

 

[DynoDave]

When I lived in Illinois, all the garages I saw were built with the stud wall bolted right to the slab. I didn't know anyone who was having a problem with rot at the sill. But then, I didn't know anyone hosing out the inside of their garage either.

 

[wilbilt]

Heck Rob, it's California...you don't really need a double bottom plate, do you? That means you will have to buy longer anchor bolts....LOL

 

[May Pop]

Even in Illinois the only proplem would be if you left 2" of salty water on the floor the whole winter. My 35+ shack only has damage from the outside non pressure treated areas. Spend your time worrying about something else.

Ron

 

[Inetmonkey]

Whew! I'm glad I didn't get a lot of responses telling me how much I really need that mud sill. I think part of the problem is that it's been so long since I've been in a nice (non-commercial) garage that I'm a little gun shy of my new one ending up like the old within a few years. So, we're just going with the flat slab. It's funny, really; I never hose out my garage to clean it anyways, so I don't really know what I was worried about.

Will, the design of the prefab just comes with double bottom plates. I never thought to ask why. Maybe because they do their slabs this way and it might be unsuitable for wetter parts of CA? It would certainly make it easier to replace a single bottom 2x4 if it started to go bad after 20 years or so.

Spend your time worrying about something else.

Good advice Ron. Worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but doesn't really accomplish anything.