I believe the purpose of the sill sealer is to make the building more weathertight and add additional protection at this otherwise vulnerable interface. The shear resistance should be developed by the shear bolts - I hope the design does not rely on friction between the wood and concrete.
No one seems to pay too attention to building envelope issues in
Truitt Vance, P.E.
From: Alexander (Sasha) Itsekson [mailto:sasha@enginious-structures.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:32 AM
To:
Subject: Styrofoam seal at plywood shear wall sill plate
Dear list:
I came to inspect sill bolting installation at one of my projects and found that the contractor (he is a licensed architect too) installed a 1/8" Styrofoam seal. This material is usually used around windows at in concrete buildings. The architect/builder thought that he is improving things by installing at all the exterior walls.
Is there any concern about the sill plate shear resistance with having this new slip surface and a small gap? Please let me know you thoughts.
Here's the link to the product info:
http://www.dow.com/PublishedLiterature/dh_0032/0901b803800329ac.pdf?filepath=/PublishToInternet/InternetDOWCOM/styrofoam/pdfs/noreg/179-07153.pdf,/PublishToInternet/InternetDOWCOM/styrofoam_old/pdfs/noreg_old/179-07153.pdf&fromPage=BasicSearch
Alexander (Sasha) Itsekson, SE
Enginious Structures, Inc.