Pressure treated sill plate?

[HaiKarate]

Interior 2x4 wall going up on concrete slab - crushed stone/vapor barrier/5.5" concrete, and a grinder was used once cured and good polyurea(?) epoxy type coating was put down on top. Not a hint of moisture in the few years since finished.

So, with the VB *and* epoxy present, is a PT sill plate really necessary in this instance? If so, why? Code be damned - Asking for a friend.

 

[Rusty Musket]

It's worth it just for the occasional spill, leak, or flood. At some point in its life just about every sill plate will get wet for one reason or another. A PT plate can handle moisture for weeks or months at a time. Spills and leaks can be cleaned up but you can't really get under the wall so moisture tends to linger there and that could lead to mold, rot, or those gross Earwig things I always find under dap sill plates.

 

[gahrajmahal]

A few years ago I had a hand at real estate sales and was selling an owner built home. He had used regular pine in the finished basement without trouble. Two buyers, they had accepted their offers, the home inspection pointed out the code violation. The first buyer backed out, the second buyer wanted a $30,000 discount. If it was me, I’d put in the pressure treated sills.

 

[CTyankee]

Interior wall? If everything's been dry, I wouldn't bother. Sometimes, we would shim plates with pvc if moisture was a known problem. I've also used ice and water between the plate and the floor too.

 

[matt_i]

Cost of redoing it later is 50x to 100x that of right now, so....

 

[nadogail]

Pressure Treated and sealed with construction adhesive or caulk.

 

[cmandp]

Yep put down pressure treated for your bottom plates even though it's an interior wall. Even if you're running a long length of wall it won't be that much more.

If you have a powder actuated nailer that makes nailing fastening the plate down nice and quick.

 

[ace10]

The cost delta is less than $0.20 per linear foot of wall.

If that's what you're trying to save, then there's your answer. Otherwise, do it the right way.

 

[b-boy]

Why wouldn't you?

When I gutted my finished basement a few years back, all the wood that had touched concrete was black with mold and pretty much rotted. The basement was professionally installed 10 years earlier.

 

[HeadsUp]

Months ago pressure treated was cheaper kiln dried.

Now the difference <$1.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weather...Pressure-Treated-Wood-Lumber-274326/300526759

$7.47

https://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-...Whitewood-Framing-Stud-Lumber-96022/315592380

$6.55

 

[HaiKarate]

It's not a cost thing - I'm mainly wondering 'why' in this specific/edge case.

Final decision was actually just made this morning - scrap of vapor barrier is going under non-PT sill.

 

[southalabama]

I’ve got a toddler. She asks “why”.

Your grown. Follow code or not. Your money. Your project.

 

[HaiKarate]

I’ve got a toddler. She asks “why”.

Your grown. Follow code or not. Your money. Your project.

Sounds like she's already smarter than you!

 

[nadogail]

I agree with shooting a permanent sill plate to a slab, unless the slab is post tensioned.

 

[ford33]

Why not use metal studs? No issue with rot or mold. I have metal studs installed in my basement and 20 years later they still look good.

With the high cost of wood studs that are twisted and of poor quality, a steel stud is straight, strong and will not support mold growth or rot.