'Z-wall' was used at the Kula Lei project in
West Oahu and will be used at Waikele.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin

This is Z-wall
that ‘carpenters love’

It's called the "Z-wall" because the steel frame for home walls looks like a Z in a two-foot by eight-foot dimension.

Schuler Homes Inc. is using the steel as a new way to stiffen walls and get away from plywood which carries problems if the home is subjected to heavy winds or an earthquake. Once a home has rocked and racked in a disaster, the plywood actually causes nails to weaken at connection points, says Peter Aiello, Schuler's vice president for design and development.

Aiello worked with structural engineer Jim Adams to get the Z-wall. The steel is placed in the wall (replacing studs) and has two bolts into the concrete slab and two bolts where the first floor meets the second floor or the roof truss.

The heavy 11-gauge steel Z-walls are manufactured on the mainland, and shipped to Hawaii for less than $10 each.

"Carpenters love them because its so easy to install and they don't need to put on any plywood," says Aiello.

So far, the Z-walls have been used for about six months, in about one-third of the 196 homes being constructed at the Kula Lei project in Ewa.

The system also will be used at Schuler's "Classics" home project in Waikele.

By using the Z-wall, Aiello says the homes can take sustained winds of 105 mph, which is the Honolulu building code's upgrade guideline.

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Jerry Tune, Star-Bulletin