Residential Braced Wall Design

A few members of Team Engineering recently had the opportunity to attend a specialized training on braced wall requirements for residential buildings. This conference was held by the New Hampshire Home Builder’s association and allowed us, along with many local contractors, to expand our understanding of braced walls.

Braced wall requirements are relatively newer to the International Residential Code (IRC) but are an important one none the less. Most contractors and/or building officials are new to the concept, which often lead to construction surprises when it is actually accounted for or enforced. Braced walls resist the force applied from lateral wind and seismic forces. When being considered, the designer must ensure the proper amount of braced wall length available to resist the required forces.

The design considers factors such as wind speed, wall and roof height, number of building stories, distance between braced walls and holes for windows/doors in the walls. Accounting for all these factors provides the designer with a minimum amount of braced wall that is required. If less than double the minimum amount of wall is available, then all panel edges must meet the specific fastening pattern and often requires blocking between studs to provide a more rigid frame. If the minimum amount of wall cannot be attained, then other avenues of design can be explored such as portal frames and steel moment frames.

These are important considerations for both homeowners to consider when designing additions or new construction homes. Many homeowners would like to maximize their number of windows, especially on lake front homes. By increasing the number of windows, you are also decreasing the amount of braced wall available, which could lead to the need for portal frames and/or moment frames at higher material and labor costs.