Adhesive-Bonded Shear Walls for CCA-Treated Wood Foundations

A gap-filling phenol-resorcinol adhesive and an alkali surface pretreatment can strengthen the racking resistance of treated wood foundation walls without the need to rely on mechanical fasteners. Wall sections were constructed with CCA-treated lumber and plywood and fastened together with adhesive-bonding techniques and by nailing. Before testing, some walls were subjected to severe cyclic water-soaking and drying treatments. Racking resistance was determined primarily from load at failure. Comparisons show that the alkali surface treatment more than doubled the strength of adhesive-bonded walls as well as reduced variability in strength. Nailed walls had less than half the strength of bonded walls. The water-soak treatment reduced wall strength by 20 to 30 percent–depending on the construction technique used. Bonding walls only around their perimeters appeared as effective as bonding along all lumber members and about half as much adhesive was needed. Constructing foundation walls by adhesive-bonding techniques promises resistance to high racking loads, elimination of costly corrosion-resistant fasteners, and more efficient structural use of wood.

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