SR357 Investigative pull-out testing of anchors near corners of concrete house foundations formed with masonry header blocks (December 2019)

It is likely that the framing in light timber-framed buildings will be altered in the near future so that less framing is required. One effect of this change is that hold-down bolts for the bottom plates of these structures will be placed closer to the corner of concrete foundations than they currently are. The effect could be particularly marked when the foundation is formed with masonry header blocks as the permanent formwork.

This report describes an exploratory investigation to determine the strength of anchors located close to the corners of such foundations. The exploratory testing has indicated that the strengths of these anchors is still more than is required for wall bracing elements that may be placed at the corner of light timber-framed building foundations.