DIYbanter - View Single Post

aemeijers

wrote:
In a free-standing garage, where one wall is almost entirely absent to make
a door opening, what parts of the structure prevent the door wall from
racking?

I am second-guessing myself about my shed plan. One wall, a gable end wall,
is non-load-bearing but is a shear wall. Its plan has an 8x8 door opening
in a 12' wide by 9' high wall. I don't have the background to determine
whether such a wall will have sufficient shear strength. I'm using
conventional 2x4 framing 16" OC with APA-rated 7/16 OSB sheathing, no
interior sheathing is planned.

The obvious things would be to reduce the door opening, to use heavier
sheathing, and/or sheathe it inside and out. But first I would like to hear
any advice this august group has to offer, and with my thanks.

Traditional way, in addition to stiff sheathing, was to cut in angle
braces on all the corners. Try to create as many triangular sections at
right angles to each other as you can. A large header, corner post to
corner post, helps as well. On the addition to my house down south, we
actually used about 35 feet of glue-lam all the way from the original
house, over the open carport bay, and tied into the far corner of the
new garage beyond. It has worked out real well- no movement in 2
hurricanes since then. Carports in Louisiana hate hurricanes almost as
much as mobile home in Arkansas hate tornadoes.

I'd bump up the walls to 2x6 (so you can hang shelves on the walls), use
thicker sheathing (real plywood beats OSB), consider using adhesive and
nails on the sheathing, and use all recommended tie straps for your
area. Truss or stick-frame roof? If you aren't finishing the inside at
all, you can face-apply the triangular braces mentioned above on the
inside, including tying the adjacent walls together at the level of the
ceiling joists. That will make for very stiff corners.

Standard disclaimer- I'm not an engineer, but that is how I saw it done
as a wee lad, and how I would do it.

--
aem sends...