Metal Shims

cbandi

Last week I did a home repair for a customer trying to sell their house built in the 1980's. The inspector had discovered some tapered shims used to support several girders and floor joists. The inspector required the fix to be done with metal shims not ripped wood material. We went to Lowes and bought several thicknesses of metal stock and did the repair. Obviously, the tapered shims were a no-no but have you ever had this type of fix required? Just the material cost the customer almost $100.

neolitic

Always use metal for the permanent
shims.
If they get so thick that you are building
stacks, shim up a column base plate
and fill under it with non-shrink grout.

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(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

Gold Tie

A hundred buck's worth of flat stock steel (1/8" and 1/4") at a metal yard should last for at least a couple houses!!! We usually cut them up into 1" to 3" strips, spray a little primer on them, and keep them in a bucket.

SNC

There is a black plastic shim made for concrete work you can buy that is rated at 50,000 psi (i beleive). Ive used 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 " They may come in other sizes. We have used thousands of them in wood buildings as tall as 5 floors. The struc engineer loves them.
We get them from a company called form services out of Baltimore.

borat_borat1950

Any decent lumberyard, LOwes and Menards do not fit in this catagory, carry boxes of metal or plastic shims, varing from 1/16 to 1/2. I prefer paistic as they are easily glued together, metal needs to be welded when stacked and absorb moisture from both wood and concrete. However a cedar shim will last forever in any condition, so this guy is a kid who used to work at walmart, or just an idiot?

SNC

http://www.formservices.com/ they are about 2"x4" come in strips 12"x4" and snap apart.