GuidelineRecommended
End-of-shear-wall hold-down anchors required where uplift exceeds dead-load offset
HUD RSDG §6.6Description
At each end of a shear wall, hold-down anchors connecting the end stud / king stud to the foundation are required where calculated overturning uplift exceeds the resisting dead load. Hold-downs are sized by computed uplift; common residential sizes range 1500-4000 lb capacity.
Why this exists
Without hold-downs, the shear wall rotates / racks instead of resisting lateral load. Most modern residential failures in seismic events trace to missing or undersized hold-downs.
Categories
Structure
Source
HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development)no manifest entry
Residential Structural Design Guide, Second Edition (2nd ed)
Section: Chapter 6, §6.6
Published 2000-01-01 · last verified 2026-05-10
Solver enforcement
Browsable only — the solver does not currently enforce this directive (no spec-level data to check against). This entry exists so the architect personas can cite it in conversation and the user can read what the rule says.
Related directives
- Continuous load path from roof to foundation · HUD RSDG §2.4
- Residential structural reliability targets 1-in-100 to 1-in-1000 annual probability of failure · HUD RSDG §2.5
- Residential floor live load: 40 psf minimum (30 psf sleeping rooms) · HUD RSDG §3.4
- Wind load design uses ASCE 7 basic wind speed for the locality · HUD RSDG §3.6
- Ground snow load for Virginia: 25 psf eastern, up to 40 psf western mountains · HUD RSDG §3.7
Last reviewed 2026-05-10.