https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFua9U3avy0

Thanks for the link Jon, I love LVL or LSL studs, in fact, the last two balloons I framed were out of those. They still have quite the flex and wobble. And one of the walls was 8" o.c. layout and sheared with 3' gun nails. Crazy right?

Fred will be along shortly to tell us the building code standards for stud walls and heights. Once properly connected at the sill and top plate, no wall should be swaying 2"-6" at a two-finger touch...

Sometimes a little steel is your best friend.

Even with shorter walls and a large slider you typically need a substantial header over it. I've got double sliders and one has steel over it, the other LVL.

Of course, I also have a 45' door on the hangar. Yeah that's got one massive piece of steel over the top.

You don’t need redneckery. You need actual real engineering and better building practices. No wall should be movable as you describe. That is substandard framing happening if it is.

Anything that tall would require LVL's and/or achitectual elements that would function as stiffeners. ie an interior mid height soffit detail or a mid height overhang.

I agree with Summit. You could get some bar stock steel to attach to the studs. It would basically be like a flitch beam turned vertical. The other option would to frame those walls with 2x6 instead of 2x4, but if more strength is needed that leads back to steel.

This is a completely confusing thread because of the lack of information from the OP.

Is the wall "wobbly" because of the various openings in the wall? Or because of the height of the wall? Or because of the size of the studs? Or because it's vertically unbraced for some reason? Or something else entirely?

No stud wall should move 2"-6" anytime anywhere. Ever!

Everyone is guessing and offering a solution. But the only solution is to build according to the applicable building code and best practices of the trade.

Good luck!

Thanks for all your input and feedback. I greatly appreciate and welcome any thoughts and all wisdom.

To clarify, I’ll use the last such wall I just framed.
23’6” in length
20’6” in height
Engineering called for 5 1/2”LVL studs @ 8” o.c.
Bottom part of wall has a 6*8* entry door and a 5*5* window on either side of the door.
Above these three openings is two 5*5* windows and a 6*5* window in line with the openings below.
In total there’s about 12 studs that actually run the full height of the wall. Everything else is cripples, sills and headers.

I totally dig the idea of some structural steel to give some real rigidity to these walls. I’ll keep that in mind on the next rodeo.

This sounds like engineering is lacking. These wall should not be deflecting like this. With LVLs 8" o.c. the wall is as much wood as insulation. You can either do deeper LVLs or add steel. In either case it should be engineered.

My world wobbles and even spins sometimes too. (Nothing to do with engineering.)

What do you use for exterior sheathing?

^^Exactly. Sheathing can be as important as the framing members. It’s all a system to create rigidity.

Sheathing is 4x10 7/16" osb

I'll post a video soon of the deflection.

The 25ft tall walls in my new addition are made of 12” thick concrete with #4 rebar spaced 12” along the length of the wall and 6” along the width.

It won’t bend when being touched.

Hey Galore, are those ICF walls you speak of? It's the only way to build, IMO. It'd be nice if the customer base in S. Utah was educated enough to make a smart decision like building with concrete. I used to build with ICF up in Oregon

Yes, ICF

Before anyone gets all excited about building an ICF wall 25 feet tall, there are serious technical issues to resolve to get it to stand up until the concrete is cured. Even 9 foot walls require a ton of bracing just like any other formwork to keep the walls in place and to contain the pressure of liquid concrete until it cures.

That height is tilt-up panel height or pre-case panel technology. I'm guessing, in many cases, trying to pour in place a 25' high wall would be in two or even three steps/lifts, with floor and roof slabs for stabilization and bracing locations.

Sounds like someone's reach exceeds their grasp...!

Not sure who that last comment was directed toward. Anyways, thank you for your constructive feedback everyone, I appreciate it.

My comment was in response to Summit's comment...it was intended to be humorous in an ironic manner...or mebbe it was an iambic manner...where's Bob when I really need him?

I think both Virgil's and my comments were directed at the designers and engineers who are designing 20' plus walls that are deflecting like this. As far as I can tell you're doing what's called for on the plans. You seem concerned something's amiss. You're right.

This is the latest tall wall with wobbly engineering. This one doesn't deflect quite as much but it's still too much if you ask me.

see the video here:

https://youtu.be/C02ti-dHPLI

In the video, the "wall" doesn't appear more than a foot or so wide, and if I remember correctly, there's no horizontal mid-height beam or bracing. In other words, it's simply an isolated piece of framing about a foot wide and 15' high or more, unbraced. No wonder it moves. This is not good design. I couldn't tell the building materials or dimensions, but it may not meet building code minimums. Do you encounter this sort of framing condition often?

It is a 2x6 Wall. So 6” thick with sheathing. There are headers above two windows and a door that are close to mid height of wall. You are correct, there are no braces and the wall is isolated to give it the grand look and open and big feeling. And yes almost every other house I frame has some sort of big ‘picture wall’

The headers over openings, such as doors and windows do not help to stabilize the overall wall width. The unbraced stud wall in the video has an L/R ratio which is questionable.

Without seeing the entire wall, I'm guessing a much more stabile way to frame that wall is with a continuous plate line at 8' or 9' and another stud wall framed on top of that plate to the upper plate line. Clearly some horizontal continuous bracing is needed between the sill and the upper most plate line.

Don't you agree?