BUILDING CONSTRUCTION II

Functional Requirements of Walls in Building Construction

The main purpose of walls in building construction is not only to protect buildings from damage
(structural) but also to divide them for different rooms or spaces (partitioning). There are various
functional requirements of walls that should satisfy to perform its functions adequately.
The following are the functional requirements of walls in a building construction:

1. Strength Requirements of Walls

Strength requirements of walls in building construction is governed by strength of material that is

employed to build the wall and how materials are fitted together. The strength of materials is
determined by its compressive and tensile strength which can be achieved from tests. Material
ultimate strengths at failure are obtained from testing samples and strength reduction factor is
applied for the ultimate strength to compute allowable material strength. This factor is used to
consider both material strength variations and their response under stresses. Stone, brick, steel and
concrete are examples of materials that could be used to construct walls. Generally, the entire
compressive strength of bricks and stones are not employed in small building such as houses by
functional stability of the building.

2. Stability Requirements of Walls

Stability of walls greatly depends on stability of its foundation, load eccentricity, temperature
effects, lateral loads such as earthquake and wind loads, and changing in moisture. Overturning
tendency of the wall is due to loads that are not acting on the center of the wall like loads from
roofs and floors and lateral loads. If both lateral loads and eccentric loads increases wall
deformation is increasing and thus the wall will be unstable. Building codes provide
recommendation for wall height and width to prevent instability resulted from loads. Moreover,
horizontal restrictions such as tie between walls and roofs and intersection between walls and piers
prevent deformation due to lateral loads. Furthermore, walls with irregular configurations as
shown in Figure-1 are more stable than regular straight walls because buttress actions come into

effect in the former.

Figure-1: Different irregular profile walls

3. Weather and Ground Moisture Resistance of Walls

Walls should have enough resistance against moistures (water vapor and liquid water) that might
penetrate through foundation walls by absorbing water from ground or by falling of rain on the
walls. Damp-proof layer with a thickness of 150 mm can be employed above ground level for all
foundation walls. This could prevent water absorption from the ground which could have a
detrimental effect if it is not dealt with properly. The water that might penetrate walls from the
rainfall depends on many factors such as quality of materials and the way of assembling those
materials together and prevailing winds. There are several solutions for situations such as using
greater thickness for walls, construction brick, stone, or block walls in two skins with 50 mm cavity
between them, protecting wall outer face by cladding or plastering, and utilizing a glass sheet as a
curtain wall. Moreover, environmental features such as hills, trees, or other constructed buildings
around should be taken into consideration in determining proper solutions, because these can
change severity of exposure conditions to prevailing winds that direct rain on the walls

4. Durability Requirements of Walls

Durability of walls is determined by frequency and the amount of work that is required to make
the wall meet the minimum requirements functionally and aesthetically acceptable. Functional
requirements might include the wall capability to resist rain and thermal properties. It is difficult
to specify standard acceptable appearance of walls especially in cases where unusual materials
such as glass and plastic sheets are used. This is because the minimum acceptable appearance can
be varied from person to another. However, this not the case when familiar materials are employed
such as high quality bricks or stones which are chosen with good judgments. The wall that is
constructed with bricks will be durable and need not be repairing over its lifespan if good burned
bricks and high quality mortars is used, proper attentions is paid to wall openings, and exposure
conditions is considered. When lime mortar is used for brick wall construction is will be necessary
to repoint the lime mortar to avoid moisture penetration and regain good appearance.

5. Fire Safety Requirements of Walls

The first and most important measure against fire is providing a convenient way to escape from it
because at early stages of breaking out life of occupant will be in danger because of fumes and
smokes. Safety against spreading of fire is the second measures which include restricting lining,
structural, external fire spread in addition to provide access for fire fighters. The restrictions are
carried out by providing fire resistance for walls and specify level of flammability of materials
used to cover inside walls and floors.

6. Resistance to Heat Passage

It is very important to contain heat and prevent its loss because it leads to obtain cost effective,
desirable, and comfortable thermal conditions in buildings. Therefore, it is recommended to
construct a wall that is thermally insulated to avoid too much loss of heat. The loss of heat can be
prevented by using light weight and low conductive materials. Moreover, dense high conductive
materials have great capacity for thermal storing compare with lightweight materials with low
conductivity. If a building has a continuous source of heating it would be useful to apply low
density materials for the outside face of the wall and high density material for inside face. In
contrary, using light weight material is advantageous when the building is heated intermittently.

7. Sound Resistance of Walls

Impact and airborne are the two ways of transmitting sounds. The latter is induced as cyclical
disturbances of air from a source such as radio while the former is generated because of an impact
on solid surfaces for example footsteps that induce floor vibration and in return the air around is
vibrated and heard as sound. High density materials can be used to resist airborne sounds such as
concrete walls, cavity wall, and solid wall. However, impact sounds are transmitted quickly
through dense materials therefore, materials which can cushion or interrupt path of the impact
sound should be employed.

Types of Openings in Walls, its Parts and Types of Lintels and Arches for Openings
Types of openings in walls, its parts and types of lintels and arches for openings with regard to
stability and strength of the wall is discussed. The size of openings (windows and doors) in both
solid walls and cavity walls are restricted by regulations for the sake of stability and strength of
the wall.
Openings in Walls and its Parts

Different part of the openings in walls such as opening head and jambs of openings and their
limitations to preserve stability and strength of the wall will be discussed and explained in the
following sections.

• Rebated jambs
• Head of openings in solid walls

Jambs of Openings

In solid walls, windows and doors opening jambs can be either rebated or plain. The latter is
employed for small section windows and door frame that is made from steel. It can be used for
large sections where the entire external face of frames is to be exposed externally. It is advised to
paint window and door frames that are created from soft wood. This is to protect the wood from
rain influences, and the wood would swell and decay when it is wet. Furthermore, it is
architecturally desirable to hide all or part of window and door frames. Because not only does
rebated openings jambs provide protection against weather but also it is more aesthetically
appealing. Figure-1 illustrates typical rebated of opening jambs. As it can be seen from the figure,
rebated jambs openings consist of different components such as inner reveal, outer reveal, and
threshold. Reveal is used to describe the thickness of brickwork which appear at jambs of openings
and rebated jamb separate outer and inner reveal. The thickness of outer reveal is mostly half of
wall width in order to facilitate and provide good bonding whereas the thickness of inner reveal is
based on the inner reveal thickness wall width. The depth of rebated jamb opening can be either
half or quarter of wall width. The former is employed to protect and mask box frames to vertically
sliding wood windows while the latter is utilized to protect and mask solid wood frames.

Fig.1: Rebated Jamb

With regard to bonding of bricks at rebated jambs, similar to angles and quoins in brickworks,
bricks have to be cut specifically to complete 1/4B overlap caused by bonding. Therefore, at jambs
brick with 1/4B width on face need to be employed. In case the outer reveal width is 1/2 and when
is 1/4B deep, the bonding at one jamb is arranged as shown in Figure-2, and in every other brick
course a header face and then a closer face of 1/4 wide need to appear at angle or jamb of the
opening. To avoid continuous vertical joint up the wall and producing 1/4 B deep rebate, two cut
brick are required to employ. These cut bricks are beveled bat and king close as shown in Figure-
2 and they are not specifically manufactured but cut from a brick. Finally, there are two other
bricks which are called beveled closer and are used behind stretcher brick to prevent vertical

joint.
Fig.2: Bonding at Rebated Jambs

Head of Openings in Solid Walls

Lintels or arches should be used to support solid brickwork over the head of openings. As shown
in Figure-3, the solid brickwork over either lintels or arches is an isosceles triangle with 60o degree
that is created by the bonding of bricks. If the solid brickwork inside the triangle in a bonded wall
is taken out the arching effect will take place which means the load of the wall above the triangle
would be transferred to the bricks of each side of the opening. Lintel is a term used for any single
solid length of stone, timber, steel, or concrete and which is constructed above the opening to
support the above brickwork as shown in Figure-3. Lintels are capable of transferring load to the
jambs if the lintel ends are built into the bricks properly. Moreover, the wall area on which the end
of a lintel bears is called its bearing at ends. As the width of opening is increase the load which is
required to be transferred by lintels is increased and consequently its bearing at ends are needed to
be must be larger. Furthermore, the depth of lintel is usually around 75 mm and its depth is
commonly not smaller than 150 mm.
Fig.3: Head of Openings in Solid Brickwork

Types of Lintels and Arches for Openings in Walls

What is a lintel?

A lintel is a beam placed across the openings like doors, windows etc. in buildings to support the
load from the structure above. The width of lintel beam is equal to the width of wall, and the ends
of it is built into the wall. Lintels are classified based on their material of construction.

Types of lintel in construction

Lintels are classified as:

1.TimberLintels
2.Stone Lintels
3.Brick Lintels
4.Reinforced Brick Lintel
5.Steel Lintel
6. Reinforced Concrete Lintel

Timber Lintels

This type of lintel was employed to support loads over the opening of solid brickwork and were
common up to the beginning of twentieth century. The application of timber lintels was decreased
because it has no proper resistance against fire.

What is a steel lintel?

These are used when the superimposed loads are heavy and openings are large. These consist of
channel sections or rolled steel joists. We can use one single section or in combinations depending
up on the requirement.
When used singly, the steel joist is either embedded in concrete or cladded with stone facing to
keep the width same as width of wall. When more than one units are placed side by side, they are
kept in position by tube separators.

Concrete Lintels for Openings in Walls

These are economical and practical lintel types and can be casted in different shapes and forms.
Concrete are considerably strong in withstanding crushing and will not deteriorate unless it
exposed to weather. The most outstanding disadvantage of concrete lintel is its low tensile strength
for which steel bars are introduced to compensate concrete disadvantage. The diameter of
reinforcing steel for lintels of 1.8 m span is 10mm or 12mm diameters and the end of the bars
should be either bent up at ninety degree or hooked as shown in Figure 4.

Fig.4: Ends of Reinforced Bars

Prestressed Concrete Lintels for Openings in Walls

This type of lintel is employed mostly for internal openings. There are two types of prestressed
lintel includes composite lintels and non-composite lintels. The composite lintels are relatively
thin precast lintels that are constructed over openings. If width of opening is higher than 1200 mm,
the prestressed lintels have to be supported until the brickwork over is set in order to prevent
excessive deflections. The non-composite prestressed lintels are used when there is large loads and
not adequate brickwork over to act compositely with the lintel.
Boot Lintels for Openings in Walls

These lintels are used to decrease the lintel depth which is exposed externally as shown in Figure-
5

Fig.5: Boot Lintel

Prestressed Steel Lintels

It is possible to use this type of lintel instead of concrete lintel to support both non-load bearing
and load bearing walls. Generally, hollow box form is used for lintel over door opening in internal
load bearing walls. Prestressed steel lintels with different length and section are constructed to be
used for standard openings, thickness of walls, height of brickwork course, and sufficient bearing
at ends. The crushing resistance of hollow prestressed steel lintels must be improved by filling it
with concrete when the width of the opening is large. Thin corrugated prestressed steel lintels are
produced to suit thin, non-load bearing brickworks over narrow door openings in partition

walls.
Fig.6: Steel Lintels in Internal Walls
Fig.7: Corrugated Steel Lintel Internal Wall

Brick Lintels

Brick lintels can be constructed as bricks on end, bricks on edge, and coursed bricks laid
horizontally over openings as shown Figure-8.

Fig.8: Brick Lintels

Brick Arches for Openings in Walls

different types of brick arches used over opening in solid walls are provided in the following
sections.

Semicircular Arch

This is the most beautiful, elegant, and efficient types of arch which is used above the small
openings for windows and doors. The semicircular arch transfers load directly to the brick on each
side of the opening.

Fig.9: Semicircular Arch

Rough and Axed Arch for Openings in Walls

There are two methods to construct rough and axed arch namely: brick laid with wedge
shaped mortar joints and wedge shaped bricks with uniform mortar thickness. Rough brick arch is
built with uncut and wedge-shaped mortar joints.

Fig.10: Rough and Axed Arch

WALL FINISHES
What are interior wall finishes?
Wall finishes are materials used on wall surfaces for decorative and protective purposes. These
wall finishes can protect surfaces from water, corrosion, frost and many other impacting factors.
They are also used to conceal imperfections in the block or brick work.

Interior wall finishes are usually applied in two layers- the base and the finish layers. There are a
variety of wall finish options for both the base and finish layers of an interior space. For the base
layer there are such options as drywall materials, plywood, particleboard, and solid wood paneling,
as well as plaster and cement board. The finish layer offers far more options – among them are
paint, plaster, tile, stone, carpet, cork, laminates, reinforced plastic, wall coverings made of vinyl,
textile, fibers or paper, etc

IMPORTANCE OF INTERIOR WALL FINISHES

Wall finishes provide a decorative skin to conceal building components such as wires, pipes,
insulation and ductwork. Good wall finishes are plumb and straight. Surfaces may be smooth or
textured and better wall finishes are durable. Some wall finishes are versatile, taking decorative
finishes such as stain, paint or wallpaper readily. In addition, interior wall finishes adds to the
overall beauty of the structure instead of leaving it plain.

VARIOUS TYPES OF WALL FINISHES MATERIALS

Actually, there are different types of wall finishes materials in the market. Some are cheap, while
some come expensive. The following types are readily available in the Nigerian market:
SAND TEXTURED FINISH
Sand textured walls are commonly seen in rental or commercial buildings. It’s also a more
durable surface than a smooth wall, and less affected by minor wear and tear. This type of
interior finish will enhance your home by adding depth and dimension with unique texture
patterns. Sand textured finish significantly hides imperfections on the wall.
STAINED GLASS WALL FINISH
Stained glass finish is a highly creative interior design work. The glass used for the finish is
decorated with itching, frosting, glass pasting and finally colouring with suitable colours
according to the theme. The stained-glass panels are usually used on walls and ceilings.
CORAL WALL FINISH
Coral finish is achieved by making use of “CORAL”, a plastering material. Its distinctive feature
is its rough appearance.

WOOD PANELING
This involves the use of wood panels to create decorative effects on the wall. The material used
can be plywood or wood covered with veneer or laminate.
TILE CLADDING
This is quite a common type of interior wall finishes in Nigeria. Various types of tiles are being
used to cover up the walls.The selection of tiles depends on the place where it is to be applied
EXTERIOR WALL FINISHES
Exterior walls can be finished with a wide array of materials and techniques. Exterior wall
finishes can produce significant savings for the contractor and building occupant alike, and many
options are available to protect from fire, extreme heat and cold.

Walls on Wildfire Zones

When an exterior wall ignites, the fire can spread to the roof, windows, doors, and other building
components resulting in substantial damage or total loss of the structure. The resistance of exterior
walls to burning and decay is directly related to the material used and the amount of fire ignition
components in the surrounding areas.

Gypsum Area Separation Walls

Gypsum separation walls provide a 2-hour fire protection and serve well as noise reduction
between neighboring units in multi-unit buildings. These walls can be used on constructions up to
four stories in height and are compatible with standard floor to ceiling heights

Insulated vinyl siding offers a good, low-cost alternative to consider when planning your next
construction project. Insulated vinyl was first introduced to the market in 1997. This type
of siding is made of vinyl panels that have been laminated with foam-core backing. The result is
a reinforced panel of siding that looks straighter after it is installed.
Tilt-Up Walls

Tilt-Up wall construction is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United

States.The methodology enables walls to be constructed elsewhere and transported to any project
site, or to be built onsite, reducing labor conflicts and logistics. The process is aimed at reducing
construction costs, speed the project and reduce labor congestion on site.

Optimum Value Engineering (OVE) framing

Builders and contractors are starting to use this technique, which might require special training so
can result in a decrease in framing speed until they become familiar with the system. The main
idea behind Optimum Value Engineering is to maximize material usage while still meeting
stringent code regulations and structural requirements.
Insulating concrete form or insulated concrete form (ICF)
This is a system of formwork for reinforced concrete usually made with a rigid thermal
insulation that stays in place as a permanent interior and exterior substrate for walls, floors, and
roofs. The forms are interlocking modular units that are dry-stacked (without mortar) and filled
with concrete. The units lock together somewhat like Lego bricks and create a form for the
structural walls or floors of a building. ICF construction has become commonplace for both low
rise commercial and high-performance residential construction as more stringent energy efficiency
and natural disaster resistant building codes are adopted.
Insulating concrete forms are manufactured from any of the following materials: Polystyrene
foam (most commonly expanded or extruded),Polyurethane foam (including soy-based foam).,
Cement-bonded wood fiber, Cement-bonded polystyrene beads and Cellular concrete

BRICKS AND BLOCK WALL

Bricks ~ these are walling units within a length of 337 5 mm, a width of 225 mm and a height of
112 5 mm. The usual size of bricks in common use is length 215 mm, width 102 5 mm and height
65 mm and like blocks they must be laid in a definite pattern or bond if they are to form a structural
wall. Bricks are usually made from clay (BS 3921, BS EN 772-3 and BS EN 772-7) or from sand
and lime (BS 187) and are available in a wide variety of strengths, types, textures, colours and
special shaped bricks to BS 4729.
Brick Bonding Principles

Typical Details ~

Bonding ~ an arrangement of bricks in a wall, column or pier laid to a set pattern to maintain an
adequate lap.

Purposes of Brick Bonding ~

1. Obtain maximum strength whilst distributing the loads to be carried throughout the
wall, column or pier.

2. Ensure lateral stability and resistance to side thrusts.

3. Create an acceptable appearance.

Simple Bonding Rules ~

1. Bond is set out along length of wall working from each end to ensure that no vertical
joints are above one another in consecutive courses.

2. Walls which are not in exact bond length can be set out thus

3. Transverse or cross joints continue unbroken across the width of wall unless stopped
by a face stretcher.