Wood Stud Wall Bracing

By woodworks on 1 february 2018 wood studs used in light frame wall construction may require horizontally oriented blocking for a number of reasons including blocking at shear panel edges fire blocking and buckling restraint when subject to axial loads.

Wood stud wall bracing.

How to brace an interior wood stud wall. Diagonal wood braces fig. There are four common types of bracing. Simply comply with irc wall bracing requirements.

A house must be built to safely resist the lateral loads that result from high wind events and earthquakes. Only allowed at garage doors in a fully sheathed house the apa narrow wall bracing method figure 2 uses wood studs and osb or plywood sheathing but with some different framing details. The nails must not be over driven into the osb or plywood. An overlapping header headers must run past door openings all the way to the far edge of the braced wall section.

Just one sheet of this material at each corner of a wall will provide the same bracing as the single piece of wood you saw on the other wall so long as the osb or plywood is fastened to the wall studs with the correct nails in a distinct nailing pattern. What is considered adequate bracing for wood wall studs in their weak axis. Bracing is usually installed as the exterior walls are built. C usually 1x4s create stability and triangles when connected to vertical studs and horizontal nailing plates.

Understanding the irc international residential code wall bracing requirements can be a challenge but following them is of critical importance to a home s structural integrity. Wall bracing helps keep walls square during wind events and earthquakes. In some cases a wall might require temporary bracing until other walls are. Remodel projects often call for moving or adding interior wood framed walls.

Wall studs alone can t resist the racking forces.