Self-supporting walls. Wall materials. Small wall materials
one of the most widespread types of walls. The task of load-bearing walls is to withstand the load from floors and roofs, as well as provide the necessary thermal insulation. For the construction of load-bearing walls, materials with sufficient strength are used: natural stone, brick, cinder block, concrete blocks, monolithic concrete, etc. However, the greater the strength of the material, the greater its density and, accordingly, the lower its resistance to heat transfer. Therefore, the thickness of the bearing walls made of brick, natural stone or heavy concrete, sufficient for the strength and stability of the wall, is often insufficient to provide thermal insulation according to the latest thermal standards. If before the thickness brickwork outer wall 51 cm was considered enough for some climatic regions, but now even 77 cm of the thickness of the brickwork of the outer wall for the same regions is not always enough. Therefore, external load-bearing walls are increasingly being made not from one material, but at least from two. In this case, the first material provides the necessary strength and stability, and the second - thermal insulation. IN low-rise construction external load-bearing walls can be made of less durable materials, such as cinder block, lightweight, porous and cellular concrete.
Self-supporting walls
are made in frame buildings, often self-supporting walls are called enclosing structures. In frame buildings, the frame is calculated for the load from floors, overlying walls and roofs, so self-supporting walls are only loaded from the own weight of the material from which self-supporting walls are made. This allows you to use for the construction of self-supporting walls almost any materials that can withstand the wind load and the effects of precipitation. Self-supporting walls can be both brick and stone and heavy concrete, but for the reasons given above, materials with the necessary resistance to heat transfer are usually used for the construction of self-supporting walls. In addition, wall materials must have good frost resistance and low water absorption. The more water is absorbed by the wall material, the worse the thermal insulation will be in the end and the faster the destruction of the material can occur when the absorbed water freezes in winter. But as a rule, less dense materials due to their structure have a sufficiently high water absorption and therefore often need additional protection.
Well, now let's take a closer look at the most commonly used
Wall materials:
Building materials used for the construction of walls can be classified according to various criteria: by origin, by production method, by strength, by weight, by thermal conductivity, by size, by ease and speed of installation, by availability, by aesthetics, by environmental friendliness, by price etc. Each of the above signs is certainly important, so choose the most suitable option when building your own house is not so simple. One of the most revealing to me seems to be the classification of wall materials by size and weight, since most of the construction sites of private houses have a low level of mechanization, which implies that most loads are lifted manually. Further, the materials for the walls are considered from this position, while at the same time they are given brief characteristics materials on other specified grounds.
By size, wall materials are divided into:
Small wall materials.
Small pieces are materials that can be laid relatively easily by hand. As a rule, the weight of one element does not exceed 20-30 kg. Accordingly, wall elements made of denser materials are smaller than elements made of less dense materials. Small-piece wall materials include:
A natural stone
obtained from rocks.
Mud and earth walls are also built using formwork, but such walls are Lately- a rarity.
As you can see, despite the fact that people have long descended from the trees, left the caves and got out of the dugouts, the material for the walls is still wood, stones, and sometimes clay. So don’t believe after that in genetic memory ...
Those who decide to do construction or redevelopment in an already erected building should know what a load-bearing wall is and what threatens its destruction. The purpose of the load-bearing wall is the ability to take on loads from other parts of the building, ceilings and roofs. In order not to face the danger of destruction of the building, before starting work, you need to determine which walls are load-bearing and carry out all the planned activities without touching these structures.
What is the difference
Walls are the main structural part of a building, but not all of them are able to withstand the load coming from floors and roofs. For this purpose, each building is equipped with load-bearing walls. To divide the space in the built house, partitions help, which can only withstand the load from their own weight. Such walls are called self-supporting. The purpose of each non-bearing wall is to act as a space delimiter, if necessary, simply allocate a separate room.
Simply put, load-bearing walls are structures on which something rests. In each building, load-bearing and non-bearing walls play an important role, but if the load-bearing is a reliable support, a high-quality frame of the building, then it is not a load-bearing partition, which, if desired, can be demolished during redevelopment without causing damage to the building. All walls are divided into load-bearing, self-supporting and non-bearing. Already by the name it becomes clear which of them are being built in order to take on the main load.
Such a partition can be built from:
- brick,
- aerated concrete.
As self-supporting walls in panel houses install monolithic slabs. Such non-load-bearing walls can be used to create an additional passage by cutting openings into them and installing doors.
To correctly recognize which walls are load-bearing means to successfully carry out redevelopment without violating building codes and rules, without risking creating a situation, the end result of which will be the destruction of the building. , means to change the distribution of the load, and this will lead to a skew of the building, collapse of the ceiling and cracking of the remaining capital structures.
They provide security not only for the apartment in which repairs are underway or redevelopment is planned. The safety of dwellings located on the lower floors depends on their quality and integrity. The main difference between load-bearing structures and self-supporting structures is. Knowing the differences is not enough, you need to be able to correctly determine which wall is load-bearing.
It is necessary to know exactly which walls can be demolished during the redevelopment, and which should remain intact, at what thickness it is permissible to make an opening in the wall, and when it is too dangerous to perform such work.
There are certain requirements that I impose on load-bearing walls:
- Strength and stability.
- Compliance with all fire safety standards.
- High level of heat, hydro, sound insulation.
Another feature of the load-bearing wall, thanks to which such structures differ, is the uniform distribution of the horizontal load exerted by the floor slabs. An important criterion for strength, reliability and stability is the thickness of the bearing wall. This value is set for brick, solid and panel interior walls.
Strict adherence to established standards makes it easier to determine the load-bearing wall in any building or room.
Definition
Having learned what a load-bearing wall is, you can understand how important the construction of this structure is in strict accordance with all existing norms and rules. Such walls are a natural continuation of the building itself, the beginning of which is the foundation. To avoid great difficulties and troubles in the process of redevelopment, you need to know how to determine the load-bearing wall in the apartment. In most cases, it is enough to carefully study the technical documentation and determine the location of the load-bearing walls on the building plan. However, it happens that there is no plan and you have to independently establish the quality and purpose of the erected structures.
The peculiarity of the construction of panel buildings is that in monolithic house Reinforced concrete panels are used as a supporting structure. Their thickness is from 100 to 200 mm. The role of interior partitions are structures made of gypsum concrete panels, and their thickness does not exceed 80-100 mm. Thus, by measuring the thickness of the wall, it is possible to recognize the load-bearing wall, which is strictly forbidden to be demolished in such a building. Failure to comply with the established rules will lead to inevitable deflection and collapse of the floor.
One of key indicators is the thickness of the bearing walls in brick houses. To distinguish a load-bearing wall, you need to know its thickness, but it is better to have a building plan on which all load-bearing structures are marked. Self-supporting walls in an apartment are usually much thinner. capital structures. The thickness of the walls that take the load from their own weight varies from 5 cm to 400 mm. Such a partition can be built of drywall, but more often it is a wall built of brick (half-brick masonry).
An experienced craftsman will tell you how to find out if it is a load-bearing wall or not. brick house, but the size of the structure will also help to understand this. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the thickness of the brick wall is a multiple of this brick parameter, plus the thickness of the adhesive layer and finishing material. Thus, it is possible to find out which wall is in front of the builders. The thickness of the partition does not exceed 380 mm, and for a load-bearing wall, this size is minimal. The greatest thickness of the bearing wall in a brick house reaches 640 mm. The peculiarity of this structure is that it is possible to make an opening in such walls. This is justified by the ability to provide additional reinforcement to maintain a uniform distribution of the horizontal load.
To distinguish which walls can be demolished and which are strictly prohibited, their parameters will help:
- from 80 to 380 mm - an interior partition that can be demolished if necessary;
- from 380 to 510 mm - an internal load-bearing wall to be demolished, subject to high-quality strengthening;
- from 510 to 640 mm - external load-bearing wall.
Brick houses or were built according to a constructive plan, hallmark which is the presence of 3 longitudinal load-bearing walls (green on the plan) and transverse walls, called stiffening diaphragms (highlighted in blue).
The owners of apartments whose windows overlooked the front side of the house had the opportunity to build an extension or even make an additional window. You can get more detailed answers to all existing questions by watching the video.
When starting to carry out work on the redevelopment of housing, you need to carefully study the plan of the apartment, which indicates the dimensions and purpose of the walls, if there is no opportunity to familiarize yourself with the documentation, then you should not make responsible decisions without measuring the thickness of the walls.
During the construction of houses, both multi-storey and private country houses, load-bearing or self-supporting walls can be erected. The first type of enclosing structures experiences serious loads from floors and roofs. Self-supporting walls are vertical elements buildings on which nothing rests. During the operation of the house, loads in such structures arise only from their own weight.
What are they?
Basic distinctive feature self-supporting walls, in comparison with loaded ones, is that they have a small thickness. Material during their construction, respectively, takes less. The thickness of the walls of this variety, depending on what they were built from, can vary between 50-380 mm.
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During the construction of the rear, among other things, non-bearing enclosing structures can also be assembled. Such walls also do not perceive the load from the elements of the house located above. In another way, structures of this type are called hinged. They are always built within the same floor. However, if their height exceeds 6 m, they can already be considered self-supporting. Their design and calculation are carried out accordingly.
Self-supporting walls are basically only external enclosing structures. Such elements of the building simply protect its interior from wind and precipitation, adjoining the main frame. Ceilings to such walls are attached to the side on all floors in height. During the construction of houses, both single-layer and multi-layer self-supporting enclosing structures can be erected. If walls of this type are inside the building, they only serve as partitions.
Operation features
According to the SNiP standards, in such structures, when redevelopment is carried out in multi-storey and country houses it is allowed to make openings or expand them to the required parameters. Also, the walls of this variety, in some cases, can even be dismantled and rebuilt without the risk of collapse of other building structures.
Payment
Before the start of the construction of any house, of course, a detailed project is also drawn up. At the same time, such an operation as the calculation of walls of self-supporting, non-bearing and loaded for stability is also performed. For brick structures, for example, such calculations are made taking into account the data of several tables from paragraphs 6.16-6.20 of SNiP II-22-81. In any case, when calculating the stability of a self-supporting wall, the correspondence of the ratio of its thickness to height with a given geometry to standard values is determined.
Construction features
It is allowed to build such enclosing structures from almost any material. Self-supporting walls are building elements that can be built from wood, brick, blocks. In any case, such structures are assembled exclusively on strong supports. Their foundations are poured simultaneously with the foundation of the building itself.
Brick, block, etc. self-supporting walls are mated with other types of enclosing structures exclusively using flexible connections. When using rigid ones, due to the unequal degree of loading, the elements of the building may subsequently crack and deform. Accordingly, it will become unsafe to live in the house.
Self-supporting walls are structures that are supposed to be reinforced when laying bricks or blocks according to the standards. However, such enclosing parts of buildings are usually not as carefully strengthened as loaded ones. Rods in the construction of walls of this type are inserted through a greater number of rows of masonry. Reinforcement for such structures, according to the standards, is allowed to use a diameter of 1-2 mm.
Materials for multi-storey buildings
During construction high-rise buildings self-supporting external walls can be built from:
- ceramic bricks of hollow, porous, full-bodied;
- silicate brick.
When erecting buildings of not too high number of storeys, blocks are sometimes also used:
- arbolite;
- ceramic;
- from foam or aerated concrete;
- expanded clay concrete and any other large format.
A feature of such materials in comparison, for example, with the same brick, is a relatively low degree of strength. Therefore, their standards are allowed to be used, depending on the variety, when building houses with a height of no more than 3-5 floors.
In architecture, a load-bearing, self-supporting or carried-on structure is a very important criterion. Since they are very different in their functions. Walls are a structural element of buildings and structures, which has differences in technical indicators and in external architectural forms. In this article we will tell you what self-supporting walls are and why they are being built.
- Self-supporting walls - what is it? These are structures of small thickness, which are designed as external enclosing structures of a building (structure) capable of protecting an object from wind and snow loads.
During their construction, little material is required, but the thickness is a calculated value and is determined by the stability index in accordance with the ratio of thickness to height for a given geometry with standard values. On average, the thickness can vary from 50 to 300 mm. Thus, it is possible to determine self-supporting walls - that these are economical structures.
The calculation of self-supporting walls for stability in the project is just as important as non-load-bearing and loaded structures. This takes into account the material from which the walls are made. For brick self-supporting walls, the data are calculated using several tables from paragraphs 6.16-6.20 of SNiP II-22-81.
Self-supporting walls adjoin the frame system. Ceilings to such walls are attached to the side on all floors in height. In the construction industry, both single-layer and multi-layer self-supporting enclosing structures are used. Inside the building, offices and premises are partitioned off by self-supporting walls. It turns out that self-supporting walls - that these are frame elements on the outside, ordinary partitions on the inside.
- Since we define self-supporting walls - what is it, it is necessary to pay attention to the conditions of their operation. According to the SNiP standards, in such structures, when redevelopment is carried out, it is allowed to make openings or expand them to the required parameters. Also, self-supporting walls can be dismantled and rebuilt without the risk of collapse of other building structures.
Let's conclude that self-supporting walls are walls that have no function other than to carry their own weight. The higher these walls - the greater the weight, which brings these structures closer in properties to load-bearing walls that hold the roof structure (or balconies, or any other load) and is a structural element (part of a working structure), like a post or beam in a post-and-beam system.
Ideally, self-supporting walls made of stone and brick are the most even structures, the loads in them are distributed from top to bottom, taking into account the lower, the greater the load. If a self-supporting wall is additionally loaded, various stresses will appear in the structure, which will act vertically, due to which lateral shifts will appear and the density index will change. The accumulated stress in the structures of self-supporting walls is removed (redistributed) using arch structures, removing unnecessary loads from window and doorways, by thickening the corners of buildings (structures).
This situation is suitable for self-supporting walls made of traditional materials - stone and brick. The laying of them is complex, the corners are strengthened with dressings, the structure thickens at the bottom, since all the loads accumulate there. In modern buildings made of reinforced concrete and monolith, internal stresses are immediately distributed to reinforcement, whose strength is higher than that of stone or brick. But the very principle of erecting self-supporting reinforced concrete (monolithic) walls remains the same.
At the beginning of the article, we said that self-supporting walls are economical structures with significant differences in technical performance and in external architectural forms. For the architectural expression of self-supporting structures in the post-and-beam structure, rust is used - an aesthetic image of large masonry blocks in the wall. Rust can be made of stone, or carry a decorative meaning and be made of plaster. The more powerful the rust, the more pronounced the functions of self-supporting structures. Exaggerated decorative rust is often found on the bearing panels of the premises of the building, giving an understanding of the essence of structures and visually answering the question: self-supporting walls - what is it and how practical is their use in the construction industry.
On all issues of designing roof and wall structures, consult with the company's specialists by phone 209-09-40. Call! We look forward to collaborating!
Walls are called structural elements buildings that serve to separate a room from the outside (external walls) or one room from another (internal walls).
By the nature of the work, the walls are divided into: load-bearing, self-supporting and hinged .
load-bearing walls perceive the load from their own weight and other structures and transfer it to the foundations.
Self-supporting walls carry the load only from their own weight along their entire height and transfer it to the foundations.
curtain walls Walls are fences that rest on each floor on other elements of the building (framework) and perceive only their own mass within one floor.
The following requirements are imposed on the walls: they must have sufficient strength and stability, have the necessary heat and sound insulating properties, be fire resistant, durable and economical. Sound insulation requirements are mainly applied to the walls of residential buildings.
The optimal wall thickness should not be less than the limit determined by static and thermal calculations.
Since January 1997, the Amendments to SNiP 11-3-79 "Construction Heat Engineering" came into force: the required heat transfer resistance for residential premises has been doubled, and since 2000 it has been increased by 3.45 times. If you follow the letter of the law, then brick walls should be built with a thickness of 1.5 meters, so it is advisable to use combined structures of external walls: the bearing part of the wall, of minimum thickness, plus effective insulation and decorative trim.
According to the type of material, the walls can be stone, wooden, or combined (such as "sandwich"). stone walls according to the design and construction method, they are divided into masonry, monolithic and large-panel walls. Combined walls - various panel-frame houses.
Masonry is a construction made of separate wall stones, the seams between which are filled with masonry mortars. To create a solid monolithic system, the rows of masonry are made with a mismatch of vertical seams, that is, with their dressing.
monolithic wall. The wall structure consists of a reinforcing cage and concrete. To pour concrete, formwork must be set. Formwork can be removable and fixed.
Panel-frame Houses. Panel houses are usually manufactured in factories and assembled at the customer's site. Panel materials: core insulation (expanded polystyrene or mineral wool), “clad” on both sides with LSU or OSB sheets.
frame houses . Such houses have many options (manufactured at the factory or built on the site).
Bearing walls are erected in frameless and incomplete frame buildings. They are made of bricks, small and large blocks. Performing both load-bearing and enclosing functions, such walls perceive the load from the roof, ceilings, wind forces and sometimes loads from handling equipment. Load-bearing walls rest on foundations. Self-supporting walls carry their own weight within the entire height of the building and transfer it to the foundation beams. Wind loads acting on the walls are perceived by the frame of the building or half-timbered houses. The wall filling is connected to the frame with flexible or sliding anchors that do not prevent the walls from settling. The height of self-supporting walls is limited depending on the strength of the material and the thickness of the wall, the pitch of the wall columns, the magnitude of the wind load, etc. Self-supporting walls are made of bricks, blocks or panels.
Non-bearing (curtain) walls perform mainly enclosing functions. Their mass is completely transferred to the columns of the frame and fachwerk, with the exception of the lower window sill, which rests on the foundation beams. The columns take up the weight of the non-load-bearing walls through girders, half-timbered crossbars or supporting steel tables.
Light curtain walls, not being a supporting structure, they have one purpose - to protect the premises from atmospheric influences. The use of efficient heat insulators and thin sheet claddings makes it possible to ensure their high heat-shielding properties with a small mass of curtain walls, and their manufacture without wet processes determines a satisfactory humidity regime of premises from the first days of operation of buildings.
Curtain walls made of frame panels, two stories high, were used in the building of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information in Kyiv. The frame of the panels, measuring 2.8X7.2 m, is made of extruded aluminum profiles, the glazing is made of double-glazed windows. The blind sections of the panels are lined on the outside with stemalite, on the inside - with chipboard. Semi-rigid mineral wool boards are used as a heater. The joints between the panels are filled with mineral wool and covered with aluminum protective and decorative elements.
The thickness of walls with insulation made of foam glass, semi-rigid mineral wool boards, FRP-1 phenol-resol foam plastic is approximately 100-120 mm, which makes it possible to reduce the volume of the building (without changing the area of the premises) and, accordingly, the consumption of materials. Ceteris paribus, this helps to reduce the cost of 1 m 2 of buildings.
In buildings erected in the Far North, light panels are mainly used, consisting of two outer aluminum sheets 0.8-1.5 mm thick, between which there is a heater (polystyrene foam PSB, PSB-S phenolic FRP-1, Vilares-5 or polyurethane PPU-ES, PPU-308, with a density of 35-80 kg / m 3); such panels in most cases have framing ribs. In the conditions of the Far North, the use of light panels dramatically reduces their thickness - up to 150 mm, and hence the mass (for comparison: the thickness of lightweight concrete walls reaches 600 mm, brick - 770 mm)
Wall panels with dimensions of 1.3x3.5 m and 1.3x4.5 m with facings made of 1.5 mm thick aluminum sheet, with framing ribs that perceive transverse loads, made of bakelized plywood 10 mm thick and polyurethane foam insulation used in one-story residential buildings in the North .
