Doorway spanning a pony wall won't trim out the concrete block on lower half.

[BigAl123]

 "Newish" user question.

I've read here that using pony walls as foundation elements isn't recommended but I dont' understood why exactly.

In my remodel, the basement stem wall has two wythes of bricks on top of the concrete masonary units.  There are no sill plates and the floor joists for the room above sit on top of the inner most wyth.

It's not common but this is a 1950s build and this neighborhood was built that way.  The joists and bricks are above grade at that elevation.

I assumed a pony wall was perfect for this and it seems to work well except for one doorway.

A door is at a landing mid-way to the basement.  The door spans three wall types.  The lower pony wall, the upper pony wall and the next floor up.

On the lower portion of the pony wall, there are no furrels or plasterboard, just a scratch coat and a finished plaster layer directly on to the CMUs.  The upper level of this pony wall is just two courses of bricks.

This seems to confuse the software.

I can't for the life of me figure out why the door opening won't trim out the concrete blocks for this one specific block wall.

 

See attached troubleshooting plan I've created to highlight my problem.  There are three doors.  On the left is the one with the problem.  The one on the right works and it's for a thicker wall.  I created these by adding them to the foundation level and adjusting their elevation.  The middle was created on the next level and adjusted down into position.  I can't cut the wall to make the opening for the middle door.

 

I've watched a lot of videos before coming here.

I sure could use some advice.

Regards

211_support.plan

[joey_martin]

When an opening goes into the foundation level you need to account for that. Look at this setting and adjust accordingly.

[BigAl123]

1 hour ago, joey_martin said:

When an opening goes into the foundation level you need to account for that. Look at this setting and adjust accordingly.

 

Thanks - got me into the right area.  The "rough opening" setting  actually resolved the issue from a visual perspective.

I didn't notice the framing being adjusted though even after I rebuilt the wall framing.  I tried adjusting the cutout value too but I guess this isn't a poured concrete wall and that could be the reason why it didn't appear to make any difference.

 

This helped me solve the problem.

 

Alain