While newer gable walls rarely have problems, older gable walls do and can be notoriously unpredictable. In theory, their construction should be straightforward. They are generally not designed to be structural or load bearing and usually comprise the same materials and techniques as the rest of the property. However, gable walls are larger, more complex, more exposed and are more susceptible to the vagaries of recent improvement works than other walls in a property. Not surprisingly, issues with gable walls tend to revolve around two things: the construction methods employed and how these walls have been looked after.
Gable Wall construction
Although the gable wall or gable end would have utilised the same materials as the rest of a property’s construction, many of these walls are regarded as infills or even as stop ends. They rarely comprise the front of a property, are usually perpendicular to the main roof construction and are often hidden from view down a passage, against a neighbour or facing a side road. Hence the main load bearing walls tend to be the cavity walls at the front and rear of the property. The gable wall may even be a solid single-course wall, supporting only a small part of the load carried by the ridge beam, purlins, rafters and the ends of the wall plates.
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