Masonry Wall Dead Load
Wall dead load = hollow (NCMA) weight + grout adder prorated by grout spacing (capped at full).
Example
You enter
- Hollow wall weight (psf, NCMA) 39
- Full-grout weight adder (psf, NCMA) 47
- Grouted-cell spacing at full grout (in; 8 CMU) 8
- Grout/rebar spacing (in; 0 = ungrouted) 48
- Wall height (ft, for line load) 10
You get
- Wall (psf) 46.833
- Line load 468 lb/ft
Checked against published worked examples from: NCMA.
Details, formula, and sources
Scope8 in CMU of 135 pcf units (NCMA TEK 14-13B: hollow 39 psf, grout adder 47), grouted 48 in o.c. -> 46.8 psf (468 lb/ft at 10 ft); fully grouted -> 86 psf, more than double the hollow wall. Line load and total from height/area. The NCMA tables and engineer of record govern.
Formula or tablegrout_term = grout_adder x min(cell_spacing/grout_spacing, 1) (0 if ungrouted); wall_psf = hollow_psf + grout_term; line_load = wall_psf x height; total = wall_psf x area.
Source and editionThe NCMA (National Concrete Masonry Association) TEK wall-weight tables and the grout-proration method, by name.
Free accessThe NCMA TEK wall-weight tables (by unit thickness and density) are published free at ncma.org. The NCMA tables and the engineer of record govern.
What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
API field nameshollow_psf, grout_adder, cell_spacing, grout_spacing, height_ft, wall_psf, line_load_plf
- Grout proration grout_term = adder x (cell/grout spacing), capped at the full adder; 0 if ungroutedNCMA TEK
- NCMA weights hollow weight and grout adder from the NCMA table for the unit thickness/densityNCMA TEK tables
- Wall only the masonry wall dead load; no veneer/floor/roof loadsscope of this tile