Thread: Diagonal bracing

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John,

In your first pic you circled the only portion of the wall that does not have diagonal bracing. Diagonal bracing is not required across the entire wall to be adequate.

In the second pic you point to the diagonal bracing. Is it adequate? I don't know. It may be and then again it may not be.

In your third pic the wall gets some lateral support from the wall that it is framed into. Does that wall have diagonal bracing on the other side of the window?

Other factors that come into play are the type of sheathing and siding that are or will be installed. Solid sheathing (e.g., plywood and OSB) can be used for lateral bracing when properly nailed. These are typically installed at corners. Panelized siding (sheets) provides some lateral support to the wall whereas vinyl siding does not.

John,

The answer to all three questions is, "It depends". See my response above.

This is obviously new construction. Instead of trying to design the bracing yourself (beyond the scope of most HI's SOP) why don't you check the plans and see what they specify for bracing? If the plans call for bracing and it's not there then certainly report that.

John,

Bruce is correct. When I am doing a framing inspection I will generally have a copy of the plans. Occasionally the builder will not release them and I will have to go the trailer to review them. In some cases I will ask the site super to explain the issue to me. Regardless I am not a framer or a structural engineer and defer to the architectural drawing for the correct way the structure should be.

//Rick

What Rick B. stated is the way to handle it. Do not get into the business of re-designing for the architect. If you have a question about the use and location, ask for the building plans and see if they were designed to be at that location, or not.

By the way, this is called a let-in brace.

Richard