Double Wythe Brick Wall
Double Wythe Brick Wall
(OP)
I've got a customer who wants to build the bottom of his garage out of a cavity wall (2 bricks). Gives a "look" he's trying to achieve. Brick on the outside and the same brick on the inside. The wall will sit directly on a footing, be approximately 48" tall and support the floor above and the roof. The detail he provided me (one he drew) showed a 2x8 sill plate on top of both wythes.
I'm trying to find references on how to design this wall. I've read through the brick industry's tech papers and read some of ACI 530 but I'm having trouble figuring out the correct way to design it.
Thanks for any references. JEW
I'm trying to find references on how to design this wall. I've read through the brick industry's tech papers and read some of ACI 530 but I'm having trouble figuring out the correct way to design it.
Thanks for any references. JEW






RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
A properly bonded wall can be extremely valuable, strong and stable, but if it acts like two individual 4" wythes the properties are very different.
A 2x8 does not always give a uniform load distribution, especially if the upper portion of the wall is not symetrical (physically and load-wise) with the lower portion.
Dick
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
Dik
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
Dik
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
You will be hard pressed to really count on normal joint reinforcement (even extra heavy)to provide real structural bonding of the wythes without a solid collar joint. That concept could work if you could find something in ACI 530 and the cheat a bit to get a reasonable area/width for rebar and grouting. It appears you have load bearing wall and cannot take chances iif that is the case.
Your sketch looks a little out of scale since a tradition double wythe brick wall is made up of 2 - 3-5/8" wythes with a 3/8" joint giving a 7 5/8" overall thickness and is about the width of a 2x8 laid flat.
There are some "cheater" face brick that are actually 3" thick that could be fudged enough to get more space for rebar/grout, but they are not available in all colors and textures if there is an attempt to match a selected brick appearance.
Dick
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
This partial masonry wall will have to support all the lateral wind loads.
The thing to do is provide a minimal space between the wythes to allow proper placement of vertical rebar, doweled into the footing and extended up the center of the wall. The whole space between the wythes should be filled with grout. Anchor bolts can then be set in the grout for the 2x wood plate (treated of course)...so the bolts should be galvanized properly for resistance to the wood treatment.
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall
RE: Double Wythe Brick Wall