×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

designing a wall assembly

designing a wall assembly

designing a wall assembly

(OP)
Let's compare the following two wall assemblies listed from exterior to interior: 1. concrete, insulation, and gypsum board and 2.stucco, insulation, and concrete. Therefore, in case one, the insulation is inside, and in case two, the insulation is outside.  Case one is good because the insulation may not fall where the dew point temperature is.  Case two is good because the concrete is not exposed to freeze-thaw conditions.  So, which is the more practical wall assembly to use?  

RE: designing a wall assembly

1 is best because gypsum is not at all good for any exposition to humidity or water, which will take from its outer placement.

RE: designing a wall assembly

The answer to your question is, "It depends."  The first option will work in most, if not all, climates - but isn't particularly attractive (unless a brick veneer or other surface treatment is used.)  Stucco allows a lot of possibilities from a cosmetic point of view, but may not work well in cold climates when the insulation layer is compromised by moisture.  And a stucco finish, if done poorly or mated with the wrong materials, can fail miserably.

Each structure has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis -



Please see FAQ731-376  by VPL for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

RE: designing a wall assembly

In the USA there is an abundance of gypsum so we have always addressed this building material instead of what the rest of the world can manage with.  I am aware of a product import from China that replaces the gypsum complete with multiple freeze thaw cycles, water resistant and mold resistant.  I am sure they have not passed UL specifically, but they have passed the same tests with another laboratory and did receive New York City's MEA so they are being used in NYC.  So, the limitation of the gypsum may some day be as much a memory as the pollution from coal burning heating fires in London....

RE: designing a wall assembly

Option 1 provides the most durable exterior to the building and can be have a variety of good looking finishes with the use of form liners.  It may also be the least expensive, if you compare the cost of a form liner with the cost of EIFS.  I have built a number of buildings like this using cast-in-place and precast concrete.

Option 2 allows you to add color to the exterior. However, it is not as durable as the concrete when it comes to vandals and weather. It also is very dependant on correctly installing the detail accessories like flashing and caulking.

In the end, it is a matter of architectural tast.  I happen to like the variety of cast-in-place concrete with form liners.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources