There are a lot of framing contractors and carpenters who
don't understand the basics of sheer wall construction. This is a
perfect example of the concrete foundation contractor who left out two
anchor bolts at each end of the wall.
This is something that I was guilty of, before I found out from a
structural engineer that the hold down which are usually located at each
end of the structural sheer wall, don't replace the anchor bolts that
need to be located next to the structural hold downs.
Believe it or not, the building inspector might not have known either,
because this job passed its framing inspection without the inspector
noticing that these shear wall anchor bolts were missing.
Special Note to Home Builders: Make sure that you understand what is
required by the engineers, before you start construction. Something like
this is the perfect example of something that could turn into a bigger
problem in the future.
Here's a good example of an anchor bolts next to the
hold down. If you look at the picture, right next to the square washer,
you will see a small hole that was drilled in the bottom framing plate.
Something like this could create problems and shouldn't have ever been
used.
The structural engineer or the building inspector might consider this
structural framing plate damaged and if that was the case, the framing
contractor would need to replace it. This could cost the framing
contractor a lot of money.
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