Shear Wall
A wall designed to resist lateral forces (wind, earthquake) through the rigidity of its sheathing-to-framing nailed connection. Critical for preventing buildings from racking.
In Detail
Shear walls resist horizontal loads by transferring them to the foundation through panel-to-frame connections. Their strength depends on panel type (structural plywood/OSB), nail size (8d minimum), nail spacing (3", 4", or 6" OC at edges), and hold-down hardware. IRC provides prescriptive shear wall tables; engineered shear walls require design calculations.
Related Materials
CDX Plywood
This is a test description for CDX plywood as we work on the technical backend of the website.
OSB (Oriented Strand Board)
Oriented strand board (OSB) is an engineered wood panel made from compressed wood strands bonded with waterproof resin. It is the most widely used structural sheathing panel in North American residential construction, offering uniform strength properties and lower cost than plywood.