WallBracing.org

APA Makes Wall Bracing Easy

Understanding the code requirements for wall bracing can be a challenge, but following them is of critical importance to the structural integrity of a home. WallBracing.org, brought to you by the wall bracing experts at APA – The Engineered Wood Association, helps you easily understand, design, build and enforce wall bracing systems.

Sheathing for Profits

Three new APA publications describe economical systems that help builders achieve higher performance with plywood or OSB wall sheathing. These brochures are available as free downloadable PDFs from the APA Publications Library:

Build Profit with Wood Walls, Form J435, provides tips and resources on how to meet design, production, code, safety, energy and green building challenges while building residential construction profitably by fully sheathing with wood structural panels. Brace Walls with Wood, Form G440, provides guidance on how builders can use wood structural panels to meet code and maximize design flexibility. Build Energy Efficient Walls, Form J440, provides the five basic steps to constructing energy-saving wood wall systems that meet code, endure nature’s forces and save homeowners money.

APA, ICC Publish Wood Wall Bracing Guide

An illustrated Guide to the 2006 IRC® Wood Wall Bracing Provisions, co-authored by APA and the International Code Council® (ICC), is now published and available to purchase. The 10-chapter, 164-page book is designed to help building officials, designers and builders apply the bracing requirements of the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC).

The idea for the manual arose when it became clear during code hearings that the bracing provisions of the IRC are among the most common sources of confusion and misapplication. Although written to explain the prescriptive bracing provisions of the International Residential Code, the manual also can be applied to those bracing provisions of the International Building Code (IBC) Section 2308 (Conventional Light Frame Construction) that are similar to the IRC.

Copies are available for $39 ($31.50 to ICC members). To order, contact ICC at 1-800-786-4452 or visit the ICC store at iccsafe.org.

Why Bracing?

The load from gravity is easy to understand and constant on every house. Lateral loads are just as constant, but they vary in force and are not as recognized. The most common and universal lateral load is wind, with design velocities that vary from 85 to 150 miles per hour across the United States. The strongest wind loads, tornados, are not predictable and randomly occur in every part of the country. While it is not affordable or reasonable to design structures to withstand the strongest tornados, experience has taught us how structures can resist wind speeds of up to 150 mph and protect not only the inhabitants but also the integrity of the structure.

Similar experiences with seismic activity have helped building codes develop methods that enable structures to survive earthquakes that used to cause damage beyond repair.

Get Started

What do you need to know about wall bracing? Architects need to know how to achieve maximum design flexibility while maintaining the structural integrity of the home. Builders need to know how to build quality, cost-effective bracing solutions. Code Officials need to know how to recognize properly braced segments. Engineers need to know how to incorporate prescriptive bracing segments into an engineered design. Homeowners need to know why bracing is important for the security of the family.

Select your profession from the links at left, or choose Bracing Basics for an overview on what wall bracing is and why it's so important or APA Testing and Research for technical background information.