BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 4 Superstructure _ Wall
CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Purposes of wall
 Requirements of
wall
 Types of walls
4.1. DEFINITION
• Walls are vertical/inclined elements of a building that
enclose, separate and protect its interior spaces.
• A wall is a structure that defines an area, carries a load, or
provides shelter or security.
• Wall is a vertical member whose width, (i.e. length)
exceeds four times the thickness.

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  PURPOSE
• To provide shelter,
• Provide required level of enclosure and define space,
• To support other parts of the structure ( roofs, floors and
ceilings),
• To give privacy to the occupants from the outside building
and between compartments in the building,
• To modify the indoor climate and space quality,
• To define aesthetic character of a building,

• Wall may house various types of utilities such as electrical

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wiring or plumbing,
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 4.2. REQUIREMENT:

A.Structural stability (strength and stability)

The strength of material in resisting compression and tensile
stress and the way in which the materials are put together.
Strength : Resistance to:
 Stresses set up by its own weight,
 Superimposed loads,
 Lateral pressure (e.g. wind),
Stability : Resistance to:
 Overturning by lateral force,
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 Buckling caused by excessive slenderness(height/width),

.
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CONT….
B. Environmental control
• Thermal resistance,
• Sound insulation.
• Resistance to weather(wind, rainfall)
 Thermal insulation methods
• Increase thickness of wall

 Sound insulation methods

• Increase Density of wall

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CONT….

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 ….. REQUIREMENT
C. Dimensional stability
 Thermal induced movement,
 Movement due to changes in moisture content,
 Structural movement – bending, buckling, compression
and deflection,
D. Fire resistance
• Combustibility – how easily a material will ignite and
sustain ignition,
• Surface spread of flame – the rate at which flame will
spread across one material to ignite another surface.
E. Architectural character (aesthetic character)
 Texture,
 Color, 8

 Form and space,

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4.3. WALL TYPES:
Wall types can be categorized on the bases of:-

A.Location
 Sub-structure wall, (foundation wall, retaining wall)

 Super-structure wall,

• External walls,

• Internal /Partition walls.

External Walls :- Protection against wind and rain, insulate
heat, water repellent, fire resisting and sound
insulation, 9

Internal Walls :- Sound, heat and Water,

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PARTITION WALL
A partition wall is a thin internal wall which is constructed to
divide the space with in the building into rooms or areas.
A partition wall may be either non load bearing or load
bearing. Generally partition walls are non load bearing.
REQUIREMENTS TO BE FULFILLED
I. Should be as light as possible.
II. Should be as thin as possible
III. Should act as sound barrier, specially when it divides
two rooms.
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IV. Should be fire resistance.
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CONT..
Foundation walls(basement wall) ;- a wall in the external
side of a basement which is below ground level and
transmits the super structure load to the foundation or
ground below, in addition to resist the lateral loads.

Retaining wall :- a wall built to hold back and restrain the

earth, stone or water without cracking or falling out.

The main functions of retaining wall are:

• provide lateral support for mass of earth or other
material
• Keep earth (water) in a place,
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B. Structural usage
• Load Bearing walls,

• Non Load Bearing walls.

 Wall that supports the live and dead loads of floor and roof
systems is said to be loadbearing.

 Wall which supports only its own weight and resists only
lateral (wind, soil, or seismic) loads is said to be non-
loadbearing. 13

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WALL TYPES…..
C. Construction Technique (forms of construction)
 

• Masonry wall (e.g. brick wall)

• Monolithic wall (e.g. concrete wall)
• Frame wall (e.g. timber stud)

Masonry walls :- a wall built of individual units of

bonded together with some form of mortar.

Monolithic walls :- a wall built of material placed in

forms during construction.

Frame walls :- a wall is constructed as a frame at intervals

together with facing or sheathing on one or both sides. 14

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WALL TYPES…..
D. Material Used
 Brick
 Stone
 Wood
 Concrete Blocks
 Concrete
 Glass
 Metal …etc.

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MASONRY WALLS
Masonry is the term used to refer construction using pieces
of construction materials made into blocks and stacked
together using different binding mechanisms.

The properties and strength of such wall depend

on:
• Quality of masonry material
• Quality of mortar
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• Method of bonding used

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MORTAR
Used to bind masonry units together. Other binding
materials such as mud, lime and recently cement mortar
started to be used.

The advantages of using mortar are:

 Water exclusion: the mortar blocks passage of

water through masonry walls,
 Wind exclusion,
 Cushions the masonry units, to stand stable,
 They also emphasize the pattern in which the
masonry is arranged.
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Characteristics of masonry walls
• Strong in compressive strength and weak in
tension loads (because of the weak points at the
joints between blocks),
• It is labor intensive and time taking,

• Economical,
• It can be shaped in to different forms fairly easily,
• Mostly have naturally rich color and texture ,

• Most masonry materials are also durable. 18

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Masonry wall for building
construction is judged(select)
on the basis of:-
 Appearance,
 Durability,
 Strength,
 Economy, and
 Ease of maintenance.

Design and aesthetics will

determine the suitability of the
building's:-
• color,
• texture,
• aging characteristics, and 20
• general qualities
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 General practice during masonry construction:-
 Masonry units should be hard and strong, free from crack or
any other defects,
 Masonry units should be laid in its natural bed with proper
bond and formation of vertical joints should be avoided,
 No tensile stress should be developed,
 Masonry work should be raised uniformly whenever possible
so that uniform loading on the foundation occurs,

 Masonry units block should be soaked in water before use so

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that it does not absorb much water from the mortar,
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MASONRY WALLS (CONT…)

Based on materials usage masonry walls can be

categorized in to:-
 Stone wall
 Brick wall
 Glass block wall
 Block wall …

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I. STONE WALL

The most common stone constructions are the one that can most
easily be quarried and cut in to different shape and designs.

Classification of stone masonry

A.Rubble masonry- where stones of random shape and size are

used.

B. Ashlar - refers to squared building stone finely or roughly

dressed on all faces.
• stone is cut with a great accuracy and laid, as a result its more
expensive and commonly used as Facing material. 23

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STONE WALL

Random Rubble Coursed Rubble

Coursed Ashlars Random Ashlars

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Bond LOAD

The word bond has three different meanings on

masonry construction:
1. The adhesion of the mortar to the masonry
units to hold the wall together,
2. The interlocking or the overlapping of
Possible settlement
individual masonry unit in the wall, which LOAD LOAD

divides and distributes any load imposed on

it, which is named as structural bonding and
SPREAD OF LOAD
cause the entire wall to act as unified mass,
3. The variety of brick work patterns or designs, 25

which are creative and pleasing to the viewer.

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 II. BRICK WALLS

TERMINOLOGIES
 Course: A course is a horizontal layer of masonry units.
 Stretcher: A stretcher is the longer face of a brick as seen in the
elevation of the wall.
 Header: A header is the shorter face of a brick as seen in the elevation
of the wall.
 Lap: Lap is the horizontal distance between the vertical joints of
successive brick courses.
 Bed: Bed is the lower surface of the brick when laid flat.
 Head joint: A vertical bond between two consecutive brick course.
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 Bed joint: A horizontal bond between two consecutive brick course.

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 Basic Brickwork Terminology
• .
LAP

Head
Joint

Bed
Joint

Course - horizontal layer of brick 27

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 Basic Brickwork Terminology
• . Header - Bonds two withes together
Wythe: vertical layer 1 unit thick

Rowlock -
laid on face,
end visible

Stretcher - long dimension horizontal

& face parallel to the wall
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Soldier - Laid on its end, face parallel
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CONT…..

Brick masonry is sometimes preferred over other types

of masonry for the following reasons:
 Bricks are of uniform size and shape, and hence
they can be laid in any definite pattern.
 Bricks are light in weight and small in size. Hence
they can be easily handled.
 Brick do not need any dressing.
 The art of brick laying can be understood easily.
 Light partition walls can be easily constructed in
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brick masonry.
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CONT…..

Types of Brick Bonds

I. Running bond (stretcher bond)

II. Header Bond

III. Flemish Bond

 Double Flemish bond
 Single Flemish bond

IV. English bond

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V. Common or American bond
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CONT...

I. Running bond (stretcher bond)

 The simplest of all brick structures, this pattern consists
of all stretchers.
 Metal ties are used when this type of wall is used in
cavity-wall or veneer-wall construction.

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CONT….

II. HeaderBond:-

• It is normally used on brick thick wall. Every brick

shows a header face on each side of the wall. The
width of the Brick are thus along the direction of the
wall.

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CONT...

III. Flemish Bond;-

 In this type of bond, each course is comprised of alternate
headers and stretchers.
 Every alternate course starts with a header at the corner (i.e.
quoin header).
 Quoin closers are placed next to the quoin header in
alternate courses to develop the face lap.

Flemish bonds are of two types:-

 Double Flemish bond:

 Single Flemish bond 33

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CONT...

i. Double Flemish bond:

Each course presents the same appearance both in the
front face as well as in the back face.
Alternate headers and stretcher are laid in each course.
Because of this double Flemish bond presents better
appearance than English bond.

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CONT...

ii. Single Flemish bond:-

• Comprised of double Flemish bond facing and English
bond backing. This bond has the strength of English
bond as well as appearance. It is on walls having
thickness of at least 1 ½ brick.

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CONT...
IV. English bond
 This pattern consists of alternate courses of headers and
stretchers.
 The headers are centered on the stretchers and joints
between stretchers in all courses are aligned vertically.
 This is the most commonly used bond, for all wall
thickness. And it is considered to be the strongest bond
type.

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 V.Common or American bond

A variation of the running bond, this pattern introduces a

course of full-length headers at regular intervals,
generally every fifth, sixth, or seventh course.

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Common Bond

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. Joints in brickwork:
 Joints are the weakest part of a masonry structure and they require special care
in laying and finishing.

 The purpose of finishing joints is to improve the appearance of brickwork and

to make it more water proof.

 The finishing of joints as the brickwork proceeds is termed as jointing whereas

finishing of joints after the brickwork has been completed is called pointing.

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Concrete (HCBs)

These are used extensively for both load bearing and non-load
bearing walls, externally and internally.
 A concrete block wall can be laid in less time and may cost up to
half as much as a similar brick wall.
It is manufactured from cement and either dense or lightweight
aggregate as solid, cellular (HCB).
 Hollow concrete blocks are construction materials usually
produced at construction site for the purpose of:-
 wall construction
 Ribbed slab and 39
 Small size beams like lintel etc.
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 The common face dimension in the Ethiopian context is 200mm
height x 400mm long, while the depth/thickness varies
◦ t = 100mm
◦ t = 150mm
◦ t = 200mm.

Size of HCB 20* 20 * 40 cm

20* 15 * 40 cm
20* 10 * 40 cm

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 Tooled Joints

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 Types & quality of HCB;-
No Type Class Function

1 20 X 20 X 40 cm B Load bearing wall

2 20 X 20 X 40 cm B For beam / lintel

U-shape (for beam)

3 15 X 20 X 40 cm C Partition wall

4 10 X 20 X 40 cm C Partition wall

5 54.5 X 20 X 22 cm C Ribbed slab

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.

CAVITY WALLS:-

Cavity wall or hollow wall is the one which consists of two

separate walls, called leaves or skins, with a cavity or gap in-

between.


The thickness of the two leaves may be equal if it is non-load

bearing wall or the thickness of the inner may be increased to

meet the required structural strength.


The inner and the outer leaves of the wall should not be less than

10cm in thickness through out the height of the wall.

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PRECAUTIONS ON CAVITY WALL
CONSTRUCTION:-
i. Damp proof course should be built under each leaf of the
wall and divided by cavity.
ii. No mortar or any other thing should get accumulated in
the cavity.
iii. Cavity should be free from projections.
iv. Ties must be of rust proof materials.

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 ADVANTAGES OF CAVITY WALLS:-
.
i.Damp prevention: cavity walls are able to prevent dampness effectively.

ii.Insulation: cavity walls have about 25% greater insulating value than the

solid walls.

iii.
Acoustic: cavity walls reduce sound and noise pollution.

iv.Economy: they are cheaper and economical.

v.Load reduction: loads on foundations are reduced because of lesser solid

thickness.

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CONT….

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