Engineered Wood:

Wall Bracing

Engineered Wood Design

IRC code requires all exterior walls to be braced against wind forces:

Side to side Racking, uplift, over turning and sliding. The code is overly complex and analyzing a building is complicated by many factors.

The problem with bracing today’s building is that ratio between the size and number of windows to the actual amount of the walls. A Braced Wall Panel (BWP) has to be within 12.5' of each corner of the house/garage and the BWPs have to be no more than 25'oc. If a prescriptive solution (a solution prescribed by the code) can’t be used, then often we can use a Pre-Engineered BWP from Ilevel or Simpson Strong Tie.

To analyze the bracing of a building is very time consuming and if the most economical solution is missed, it can un-necessarily raise the cost of a building.

Wall Bracing has been a part of the Building code for years, but it’s only just starting to be scrutinized by Building Code Officials. Shaw/Stewart can assist you in analyzing your projects to help find the most economical option for wall bracing solutions.