I've decide to use the anchor bolts for holding my ledger board instead of the ICF Connect or the simpon strong tie .What  is the proper spacing for the 1/2" J bolts?  8"  ICF wall with 12" J bolts.  My architect is out of town until  the day I pour so he is no help at this time.

Mark,

That is an impossible question to answer with the information given. AB spacing and size is determined by the forces that act upon it and the load it will be expected to carry. Without a set of plans to determine the loads a you ask the impossible.

If you answer some questions we may be able to help.

1. What did the architect originally ask for? Type of anchor and spacing.

2. Does the spacing of the original anchorage system that the architect calls for change in spacing and or size?

3. What size ledger board is being required? Does it change in size or width or type of wood?

4. Where in the world is the project?

5. What loads do you need to carry with the floor? ie dead, live, concrete, gypcrete.....

6. Do you have to use an out of plane anchorage sytem in conjunction with your ledger?

7. What are the sizes, spans, and types of your floor joists?

With the information provided above someone may give you a SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) but this is truly a question you need to ask of your Architect, Engineer, and or the Local Building Official. Because you only get one chance at this to get it right and not getting it right will cost you a lot of time and money.

This is why I stongly feel people should get ICF and building professonals involved in their project from the beginning. You will save so much time, money, heartache, and pain. The money you spend on quality advice will be well worth it. This is something that should have been discussed and figured out months ago not a few days before you pour.

IFC Contractor

Taking into consideration everything that ICF Contractor has said and agreeing that it is tough to give an answer to your question, here is my answer (my personal opinion). Every time I do a 'to the roof' job, I always attach the floor with AB's and ledger board, and I always use 2-8" L anchor bolts every 16" if the floor is on 16" o/c, if it was 12" o/c I would go 12" as well. I have never had a problem working in Ontario doing it that way. This is just from my experience and should not be used as fact that it will work where you are.
On non load bearing walls I put 1 AB every 32". Make sure you lay out your floor on the ledger board before you install your anchor bolts to make sure that your TJI's and the bolts don't try to share the same space.
With all that said I think it is important that you wait until your architect is back to check with him and make sure that he is ok with your ab spacing, don't try to race to the pour, a couple of extra days won't hurt to make sure that you are doing everything correct!!!

Paul Stevens

I would put more in than required, and make sure they don't interfere with anything else, like Paul said. I'd probably also wait to get an ok from the engineer too, unless you are sure that what you have is over and above.

1/2" anchor bolts????? You guys actually get away with that? Come on Paul, you got to see some of the challenges I got to play with.

ICF contractor has given you a good list, something the engineer is going to work with in answering your question, now to mess you up....just cause we can do this....

First off, I doubt the architect is going to give you an answer, he draws pics and follows codes in his designs, he doesn't do calcs for structural. So, who engineered the project? If you did not need an engineer because the ICF company supplied you with rebar calcs for common work and you fit within the realm of that, great. Now go get an engineer and have him do the calcs, cost is a few hundred bucks for a stamped letter to give to the building inspector.

Now, for fun, call 5 different engineers, you are going to get 5 different quotes to do the work, some cheap, some over the top and a few in between. depending on your financial sitution, hire all 5, one will have 1 AB every 32", next one will have 2 AB's every 8", next you'll get 3 of them all pretty much the same.

What's all this nonsense you ask, nothing really, but the point is which ever one you chose, they will give you a stamped letter stating they did the calcs, came up with the answer they have provided you and are accepting responsibility for their work and that my friend is what the inspector needs to see since; what you are doing is outside the scope of any building code and engineers carry liability insurance should something go wrong and that insurance is something none of us can get since we are not engineers.

You are all correct in your opinion, I'm going with the original plan with the I joist set on top of the wall with joists at 16" centers. This is what the enginnered spec. in the first place . It would be a huge mistake to change at this time. What was I thinking, I let my mind wander when I should be listening to the the architect . Thats what I paid him for, right?

Mark,

Sounds like a great plan.

ICF Contractor