Types of Walls
Types of Walls
Types of Walls
In terms of their function, all walls are either load bearing or non load bearing walls. A load bearing wall
is part of the structure of the building - it holds the building up. A non-load bearing wall is only a
partition that divides the various rooms of a building. You can demolish a wall if it is a non-load bearing
wall; you cannot move or demolish a load bearing wall.
It is not easy for a layman to determine whether a wall is load bearing or not. You must rely on the
advice of an experienced, licensed structural engineer.
Most modern multi-storey buildings are constructed with structural frames and non-load bearing walls.
Most residential buildings in the US, and nearly all wood framed buildings are constructed with load
bearing walls of the platform frame or ballon frame types.
non-load-bearing wall
A wall capable only of supporting its own weight and (if it is an exterior wall) capable of resisting the forc
e of the windblowing against it; it cannot support an imposed load. Compare with load-bearing
wall; also called a nonbearing wall.
Fig: Header: A brick which is laid in a way that only the short end is visible in the wall
Fig: Stretcher: A brick which is laid in a way that allows only the longer side of the brick to be exposed.
Herringbone and diagonal bonds can be effective within an exposed framed construction, or contained
within restraining brick courses.
Fig: English Garden Wall Bond
An alternative version of English bond with header courses being inserted at every fourth or sixth
course. This is a correspondingly weaker bond. Suitable for free standing wall.
In this variant of Flemish bond, one header is placed at every third stretcher
SHEAR WALL
A framed wall designed to resist lateral wall. It is a vertical elements of the horizontal
force resisting system
It is used to resist wind and earthquake loading on a building.
It is typically a wood frame stud walls covered with a structural sheathing material
like plywood.
WALL FAILURE
Vertical bowing and horizontal bending or collapse of wall is usually caused by the wall not resisting
vertical pressures from foundation or upper floors & roofs or horizontal pressures from strong winds
and retained earth.
Usual cause for failure of wall are as follows:
– Overloading the wall, deflection of beam above the wall will affect the wall below.
– Foundation failure
– Earthquake
– Timber pest damage weakened the timber wall
– Poor workmanship (improper brickwork)