Any woodworkers?

Balloon goes from top to bottom in one length. Even though there are floors created in between. So you have these massive walls created on the outside that support everything.

 

I know what balloon framing is , just don't get how that is similar to a shear wall panel .

Typically our shear wall panels are still platform framing

 

or do you mean the load path of stacked and connected panels is like a balloon framed wall ?

 

I literally gutted the whole center of a house..two floors to be exact....that house never moved. The stairwell is the only part that needed to be supported.

 

The integrity

 

Typically a shear wall is a two story wall with no floor tie in. Or a heavily loaded wall with little to no sidewall, IE a garage door wall.

 

Right but the structural integrity is always there. It's for lateral strength...right?

 

All depends on how it's built and loaded. A window wall with few structural members can wobble big time. Just like a gable end on a really high roof like a 16 pitch.

 

Not here , typical residential shear wall panels are platform framing unless you are doing a multi story portal wall

Walls are stacked where need be and connected via hold downs and redi rod and / or straps , ie constant load path

 

And then resistance to racking is a whole other animal.

 

They are lateral restraint for the structure , wind loading can be a factor too

 

Gotcha. Garage door walls are sometimes called portal wall here. And that's what the code book calls them.

 

Last shear wall I built was not out of dimensional lumber...they do not have trees that big.

 

No 7 x 16 timbers in PA? Lol

 

Last one I was working on was a ski lodge. I was up 40'

 

They were using something similar to tji's but vertical.

 

PSL

 

That would work. I have used PSL posts a few times for it. And they were 7 x 16 on the one job.

 

Not sure oz...or that's a acronym for piece of shit laborer.

 

A shear wall is a brace panel that adds lateral restraint as a wall or part of a wall , a portal wall is generally a shear wall panel on either side of an opening with a drag strut element ( usually a header ) connecting them as one unit