How do bracing and shear walls help a building?

But if you put too much pressure on its sides—a lateral force—and the square will twist and collapse on itself unless it is braced by supports. Shear walls have these braces and are designed so that they don’t collapse on themselves. In turn, they assure that no wind will blow your house down.

Which type of building structure would be more efficient in resisting the lateral loads?

Virtual outrigger system is more efficient than conventional outrigger in high-rise building which increases the strength and stiffness against the lateral load which is induced by earthquake.

Can I knock down a load-bearing wall?

If the wall is load-bearing, it doesn’t mean you can’t knock through, but you will need to replace it with a suitable supporting structure. Building Control will ask you to appoint a structural engineer to advise on the project.

Can I make a doorway in a load-bearing wall?

It is quite possible to knock a new doorway out of a loadbearing wall, but obviously more planning and experience is necessary. If the joists run in the same direction as the wall and are not supporting the roof structure, the wall cannot be loadbearing.

What is the purpose of cross bracing?

Cross bracing between joists or rafters strengthens the members by preventing sideways deflection. This bracing is known by many names such as herringbone strutting, blocking, bridging, and dwanging.

Where should hold down anchors be located?

Hold-downs are typically called for in pairs, located, for instance, at each end of a shear wall or on both sides of a window or door where the shear wall is interrupted by the opening (see Figure 1).

How do you extend a load-bearing beam?

Cut two side plates to fasten to the beam on each side. Each side plate should be equal to the height of the beam and ½ the width of the beam. The side plates should extend at least four times the width of the beam on each side of the joint.

Which way do beams run in houses?

An important thing to know about joists is that they usually run in the same direction throughout a house. If the visible joists in a basement or attic run east to west, for example, you can be fairly certain the invisible joists under the bedroom floor also run east to west.

Which type of building structure is more resistant to earthquake forces?

A ductile building is able to bend and flex when exposed to the horizontal or vertical shear forces of an earthquake. Concrete buildings, which are normally brittle (relatively easy to break), can be made ductile by adding steel reinforcement.

Which two of these building components may help resist lateral loads?

shear wall
A structural element that is typically used to resist lateral loads is a shear wall. In simple terms, lateral forces could push over parallel structural panels of a building were it not for perpendicular shear walls keeping them upright. For more information see: Shear wall.