What provides the strength of a shear wall?
• The strength of the shear wall depends on the combined strengths of its three components: • lumber, • sheathing and • fasteners. • This section will discuss lumber and sheathing. The following section will discuss fasteners. • You will learn how each component affects the strength of the shear wall and how strength is lost by improper installations. • It is critical to install the correct length of shear wall for the particular strength of the material used • For shear wall sheathing, the 1994 Uniform Building Code (UBC) permits the use of • gypsum wallboard, • cement plaster, • fiberboard, • wood particleboard, • plywood and oriented strand board. • Previous editions of the UBC also allowed wood lath and plaster, horizontal and diagonal sheathing for shear walls. • All of these sheathing materials provide different strengths. The UBC shows these strengths in pounds per foot of wall length. • In order to correctly install a shear wall, the wall must be the correct length for the shea
