Installation

Windstorm OSB wall sheathing meets SSTD 10-99

Nailing Schedule Calculator

How a House is Developed to Resist Uplift and Shear

If your structure or location does not allow the use of prescriptive methods, only a licensed professional designer, such as an architect or professional engineer, has the training and expertise to calculate uplift and shear-resistance requirements for a wood-framed home. Designing for these forces requires detailed calculations using variables such as wall height, wall length, roof slope, wind-speed, and local municipal building codes.

Norbord OSB panels are certified by the APA – The Engineered Wood Association

For wood framed structures the IRC requires that one of the following be used:

  1. American Forest and Paper Association – AF&PA Wood Frame Construction Manual for One and Two-Family Dwellings (WFCM)

    Download the Wood Frame Construction Manual High Wind Guides

    90 mph | 100 mph | 110 mph | 120 mph | 130 mph

  2. Southern Building Code Congress International Standards for Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction (SSTD 10-99)
  3. Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE-7)

Once uplift and shear values have been determined, the licensed professional designer will detail the method of transferring these forces, or loads, to the foundation, ensuring the home’s integrity.

Engineered Resources & Testing Results

 

NAHB Research Center Shear and Tensile Test

We asked the NAHB Research Center to conduct full-scale performance testing of walls sheathed with Windstorm OSB panels. The results for uplift tests showed a safety factor of 3.9, while the shear wall test results showed excellent agreement with published values and were consistent with SSTD 10-99.

TN E510 Report

The APA has published a technical report showing details for floor-to-floor connections as well as raised floor and two-story applications.

H335 Report

The APA has published and excellent report H335 called the “Wood Structural Panel Sheathing or Siding, Used To Resist Combined Shear And Uplift”. This 8 page report takes the information and tables from several code documents and puts them into an easy, single report.

SR-101B Report

Design for Combined Shear and Uplift from Wind

The above documents are available for download from the APA Publications section.

Sheath around openings

 

ADD STRENGTH AROUND WINDOW AND DOOR OPENINGS

Cutting Windstorm around window and door openings instead of cutting and piecing parts together adds strength to the wall. This method not only adds strength but reduces the number of joints that allow air leakage. The walls are completed faster with less waste and less labor. See or download the APA “Full-Scale House Test Project report Form No 3D007” in the Resources section under APA Documents for details.

GREAT INFORMATION

“Wood Moisture Content and The Importance of Drying in Wood Building Systems”. This APA Technical Topics TT-111A is a great read for Builders, Designers, Engineers, and other end users. It has a lot of information that will help design and build better structures. Visit the Resources section under APA Documents for details.

Windstorm Sizes

Resources

Visit the resources page for more information on product documents, forest certification, APA publications, seminars & trade shows.