A sill plate section has its nearest anchor bolt about three feet from the plate end. Why does the end distance matter?

Anchor bolts tie the sill plate — and through it the whole wood structure — to the foundation, resisting the uplift and lateral sliding that wind and seismic forces produce. Spacing along the run matters, but the distance from each end of a plate section matters more, because an unanchored end is a free cantilever. With the nearest bolt three feet back, that end of the plate has nothing holding it down or in place, and the framing bearing on it can lift or shift as a unit before any bolt is engaged. This is why the recognized practice is a bolt within a short distance of every plate end, including at splices and at each side of an opening, and why an inspector counts ends as carefully as spacing.

An anchor bolt near each plate end prevents that end from lifting off the foundation or sliding laterally. With the nearest bolt three feet away, the end is effectively unrestrained and can move independently of the anchored portion.

Sill plates are fastened to the foundation with anchor bolts at a specified maximum spacing and within a specified distance of each plate end and splice. The connection resists uplift and lateral displacement from wind and seismic loading rather than carrying gravity load.

Ends Before Spacing. A plate anchored every six feet but loose at the corner is still loose at the corner. Count the ends first.

Look for the related defects while you are there — missing washers, nuts backed off, or bolts set in concrete that has spalled away are all reportable and commonly tested.

• •Checking spacing while overlooking the distance from plate ends
• •Treating anchor bolts as part of the gravity load path
• •Missing plate splices, which need anchoring on both sides