How Thick Should A Concrete Wall Be

Increasing the strength of the concrete mix or the thickness of the wall increases the wall s capacity.

How thick should a concrete wall be.

In general poured concrete basement walls that are 8 feet tall or less and have no more than 7 feet of soil pressing against them from the outside function well at a thickness of 8 inches. At this thickness 1 cubic yard of concrete covers about 80 square feet of walkway. To keep the house and the room from being sucked into the air during a tornado large footings that work like anchors are added to the walls to hold the room in place. The thickness of the concrete and rebar depends on the environment because the pool has to be able to withstand the forces pushing against it soil outside and water inside.

In addition to basic structural requirements wall dimensions generally member thickness are also affected by the required minimum reinforcement cover. To be structurally sound a concrete pool shell should generally be 6 inches thick. The thickness of interior walls is dictated by stud width and wall covering. Table 4a is based directly on the aci method but for table 4b the author has applied a reduced strength reduction factor a factor of safety.

Structural concrete work is planned to bear loads or hold weight but transfer the weight to the soil base beneath the structure. The thickness of concrete is an important factor in load bearing strength but to conserve resources and avoid over building other factors are also taken into consideration. So here s how thick walls should be to be soundproof. So taller walls in heavier soils should be made thicker or with stronger concrete.

When a taller wall or a higher level of soil or both come into play the thickness should increase to 10 inches. Properly cured concrete is hard durable and water resistant. A concrete wall would have to be around a foot thick to be completely soundproof. A web of steel called rebar frames the concrete so that it can flex.

In order for a concrete room to effectively resist high winds and flying debris most rooms built with precast concrete walls rely on 12 to 16 inch thick blocks. This can add several inches to the wall s thickness dimensions and can vary depending on the severity of exposure soil type and reactivity etc. As soon as you go higher or have greater depths of soil pushing against the wall you need to increase the thickness to 10 inches. Exterior wall thickness depends on siding material.

A standard stud wall built properly and consisting of 2 sheets of drywall with an air cavity 5 to 6 inches thick is good enough to make the wall soundproof. Standard 2 by 4 studs are 3 1 2 inches wide and drywall is 1 2 inch thick so interior walls are usually 4 1 2 inches thick. The recommended maximum is 12 inches. Depending on the.