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Walls

Racking resistance

Racking resistance is a wall’s ability to resist sideways forces, such as wind, without distorting from a rectangle into a parallelogram.

Also known as racking strength, diaphragm action, wall bracing, shear wall, bracing

A frame of studs and plates on its own would fold sideways. Boards fixed to it, such as OSB, plywood or gypsum, act as a stiff diaphragm and give the wall its racking resistance; the wall then works as a shear wall that carries wind loads down to the foundation.

How much resistance a wall gives depends on the board type, its thickness and above all on the fixings: nail or staple type and spacing along the board edges are set by the structural design.

Related terms
Sheathing boardSheathing boards are the large sheets (OSB, plywood, particleboard, gypsum) fixed to a timber or steel frame to close it, brace it and form a surface. OSB (oriented strand board)OSB (oriented strand board) is a structural board made from layers of wood strands glued and pressed together, with the outer layers aligned for strength. PlywoodPlywood is a board made from thin wood veneers glued together with the grain of each layer at right angles to the next, giving strength in both directions.
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