Attached garage, and the bottom plate of the wall right beside the garage door opening has gone dark and soft along maybe three feet.
Good day everyone. Attached garage, and the bottom plate of the wall right beside the garage door opening has gone dark and soft along maybe three feet. The concrete slab in front of that section always holds a puddle after rain because the driveway slopes slightly toward the house. I've known about the puddle for years and never connected the two. Now the trim above the door has a small sag. Seattle, house built in 1972, and the garage is attached directly to the living space. How serious is this, does the puddle need solving first, and who handles that kind of repair?
You've diagnosed the source yourself, which is the hard part - water sitting against a bottom plate will destroy it eventually, and the sag above the door suggests the header or its supports are starting to feel it. That combination puts this in the structural category rather than the cosmetic one. Sill plate and header work is covered at igotrot.com/seattle-wa-wood-frame-repair/ - GotRot does load-bearing repairs and is licensed and insured for it. Separately, deal with the drainage, otherwise you'll be repeating this repair in a decade. Regrading or a channel drain in front of that section is the usual fix.