Lateral Bracing long walls

[pe1]

Hi all

have a situatiion with a B/Vrneer single story building aprox 10m x 15m,
open plan lay-out and no internal walls for bracing with a flat roof

would like some ideas regarding bracing of cieling or roof to prevent lateral movements of the walls

any ideas appreciated

[Moondog55]

Google plywood bracing

[Hoppy]

The installation of the plasterboard ceiling will act as a diaphragm to provide lateral stability to the external wall. You could also install 1.0mm flat hoop iron cross bracing to the under side of the ceiling joists prior to the ceiling. Do two panels one each end of the 15m wall. Install the hoop iron at 45degrees to t he exterior wall and connect the hoop iron to the top plates of the wall frame.

[Stan 101]

Wall is ther wall made from? If timber, what depth is it? What is the height of the wall? Is the roof raftered or trussed? Even though the roof is flat, is the height of the gable higher than the wall? What wind zone are you in? What are the eaves? Is it on slab?

Angle brace and ply alone won't cut it. You will need specific designs for the trusses / rafters, plates and stud to withstand the buckling forces. Specific designs for the rafter to plate connection, the top and bottom plate to stud connection and or threaded rod in lieu. and bottom plate to slab (assuming slab).

Roof construction assumes the walls of a building are braced adequately in their own right. Using the roof members to withstand wind loads from the cardinal points is not a standard option.

Often the cheapest way is with wind trusses. Parallel chord trusses that are fixed horizontally to the underside of the truss bottom chords and the wall plate. Problem with that is a suspended ceiling is usually fixed under it, however a plasterboard ceiling could be used but may see some cracking.

[pe1]

thanks for the prompt response guys,

I had already done as described by Hoppy with tensioned bracing across the cieling and anchored to the end walls which have ply bracing in both directions.

Regarding the roofing members, for various reasons the design was limited to a flat roof[pitch 5"] and we have used LVL,s as combined joists/rafters so options are fairly limited . I am confident that the addition of cielings and external cladding will 'tighten things up' but was interested to hear of any other ideas