Anyone recognize this wall brace?

bigfuz

I am adding a Pocket Door, and cut down some sheet rock..noticed the other side has this metal wall brace thing attached to the other side Sheetorck or studs. It runs at an angle, and the rib goes thru slots made on the studs. it is on a wall that a tile shower is also on.

Any thoughts? I need to cut away that part of the wall, so I need to remove part of it, but I want to know what I am removing?

See attachment for photo

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mae-ling

It's a let in metal brace. Kinda like using a 1x4 but quiker and easier as You just make a saw cut and that is it.

I'll let someone answer who know more about shear walls as we don't have much of that here.


Where are you located?

bigfuz

I am in Atlanta. If what you mean by shear walls, is that it is made to withstand big storms...we get some good thunderstorms, but nothing like Hurricanes or Tornadoes? Then again, the original owner was very involved with the builder, so may be they wanted it?

To the left is the shower wall, which is all tile...I was thinking maybe it was to make that more sturdy to hold the shower tile, but it just didn't make sense to me.

This is an inside hallway wall (between hall and bath)

thetalkingmule

If it's nailed into all the studs, I'd say it's cross bracing to keep the wall square and to avoid racking.

Joe Carola

Is that a bearing wall?

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Joe Carola

Willie T

I think you'll find that was only installed on a temporary basis to hold a wall or door square till covering was installed.

As sheer bracing, it is improperly installed, and would have failed inspection. Metal bracing is ineffective in compression (the 'flat' stuff just works in tension. The "T" is stronger, but still not all that good in compression.), and therefore has to be installed in pairs, at least 6" apart... and they have to wrap around BOTH plates. Sometimes an "X" will do.

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Willie T

bigfuz

No, it not a load bearing wall. It is right by the old door, so it may be as Willie T mentioned. Sounds like it is not going to be a problem to cut it back when I open this wall up on both sides. Thanks all! My first time here, but I do a lot of DIY, so I'll be back!

mae-ling

Better to get someone to come look at it on site, hard to give real good advice on this over the internet.

hand drive

it looks like a big beefy header to the right of the pic above the doorway, are you sure that is not a load bearing wall? please be careful removing studs until you are sure...

bigfuz

Yes, i am sure. The only thing above this in the attic, is a rafter running in the same direction as the wall, and there is nothing under this wall downstairs...just the middle of the living room. That "one of many" rafter is tied to the outside wall, and another large beam running perpendicular to this wall, on top of another wall under it which is running perpendicular and has a wall under it. That one is a load bearing wall.

tony.g

If there is nothing at all beneath this wall, it is unlikely to be a shear wall; to be effective, a shear wall has to be tied down to some other stiff element such as a wall or beam below. The metal 'brace' also looks a bit flimsy and possibly not at an approriate angle to provide meaningful lateral stiffness.
Can't see too clearly but the metal doesn't seem to be set into the stud.

mae-ling

Man not to be a pain but it really is best to get someone to look at it. I'd hate for something to happen.
Recently we had a post asking if a wall was load bearing or not. From the description many (if not all) including me thought it would not be.
The guy had an onsite inspection done and it was load bearing.

I believe from what you say that it is not load bearing, but that brace may have another purpose.

bigfuz

I am gonna have my father in law take a look before I cut it out. I think it must have something to do with the stability of the shower just to the left of the picture...but he is a PE who built his own house, so he has a lot more experience than I do. (I am, but EE...whereas he is Civil and had a lot more of those nasty Statics/Dynamics courses, yuck)

I am also thinking of doubling up the stud, behind stud I replace (so it will be 3 wide, including the cripple stud for the new header)

Better safe than sorry, right!

The metal is like "T" and the "rib" is inserted into a angled slot in the stud, and it is nailed in. I could see it providing a minimal sort of stability from a stud buckling, but like you guys say...it is very flimsy. When I remove it, I just need some tin snips.

mae-ling

IF it is not load bearing then no header is needed, although some put them in anyway.

Gary in WA

You have a Simpson TWB, structural angle brace: http://www.strongtie.com/products/co...cwb.asp#tables

They do not install in pairs to be effective, either "X" or side-by-side in a "V" as the link brought out. It may be there to give a gable-end exterior wall some shear resistance, keeping the wind from flexing that big span of wall steady. It was meant to be there, not a temporary thing. It is used alone for tension and compression,Table 6 (and footnotes) and fig. 6 show the loads and install: http://www.icc-es.org/reports/pdf_fi...S/esr-2608.pdf
The angle appears fine if 55* for the listed length. I should mention, that angle is close as the brace is not adjustable nor usable after cutting to shorten (the ends are flattened for face plate nailing- hence the different lengths). I would add a plywood shear panel (or another T-brace) with a solid header to transmit the shear forces to the greater wall length past the opening to restore the wall's value.

Gary

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