Wall ties question- slanted or level, does it matter

[ab12]

If wall ties are place at a bit of slant so inner leaf blocks are 20mm higher than outer leaf bricks  when the wall ties are placed at 450mm centres and so wall ties slant downwards from the inner block to outer brickwork does this compromise the structural integrity of single storey extension measuring approx 5.8m by 4m?

 

Essentially is it best to get both inner blocks and outer bricks level so wall ties can be placed level OR is the scenario mentioned above OK as well?

 

Thank you for your help.

[Mike]

Wall ties are supposed to slope gently towards the outer leaf...

[ab12]

Excellent. Thank you Mike.

[Super_Paulie]

You want any liquid to run towards the outer leaf so you'll be alright. My ties had a double dip in the centre anyways to stop moisture travelling all the way along them and back to the inner, but if they slope down then water isn't going to travel up!

[Brickie]

11 hours ago, Mike said:

Wall ties are supposed to slope gently towards the outer leaf...

Gently being the keyword. 
20mm inside to out exceeds ‘gently’ in my book. 

[SteamyTea]

Structurally, they will not be as strong in compression.

In reality, as wall ties will buckle quite easily when compressed, it won't make any difference I suspect.

Probably near enough that same in tension.

 

Maybe @Gus Potter can answer more in detail (I find his long responses brilliant).

 

[saveasteading]

21 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I find his long responses brilliant)

And the answer will be in there. 

 

My short response is that I never thought of ties working in compression, only in tension.

And yet there has to be a reason for sometimes using twisted flats rather than wire.

 

Plus I had never heard of putting them on a slope. Any water ingress will be from outside to in, then it drips off the twist or bend and the problem is gone

Structurally I can't see that it matters.

 

I await the 2.00 am article.

[SteamyTea]

6 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

never thought of ties working in compression

If they are there to 'help' stabilise the wall in very windy weather, then they are most likely dealing with higher air pressure outside than inside, so compression, mainly.

They are probably there for failure mode, than any real contribution to overall structural integrity.

9 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Any water ingress will be from outside to in, then it drips off the twist or bend and the problem is gone

And into CWI maybe.

Though if your wall is leaking enough water to drip if the bend on a wall tie, then the wall needs sorting, this is not the 1960 after all.

[Gus Potter]

On 08/04/2025 at 18:08, saveasteading said:

I await the 2.00 am article.

 

This is a tricky question. Time? The internet allows you to work in some places in the world as I've done for a long time. USA is a no, AU is ok... for now.

 

We have large cavities due to say blown cellulose insulation.

 

On 08/04/2025 at 17:39, SteamyTea said:

Maybe @Gus Potter can answer more in detail (I find his long responses brilliant).

 

Thank you for the compliment, I like to have a chat as you know! Seriously though..

On 06/04/2025 at 22:23, ab12 said:

compromise the structural integrity of single storey extension measuring approx 5.8m by 4m?

It's a very good question. I'll mull it over and try and come up with a coherent, reasoned and justifyable answer for folk to discuss.. I'm learning too folks about wide cavities, how they behave and how you insulate and so on! It not just the cavity width.. its the way the roof loads are transferred to the walls that is often changing, the way the floor joists / floors are connected in to avoid cold bridging is changing and on top of that we need to get it buildable, the works sequenced and cost effective.

 

One of the things is that a lot of the masonry design codes are based on; calculation, partly emprical (call that Grandads rights) and partly based on test results. As soon as you go off "piste" in terms of the design codes you often need to go back to first principle design and that can be conservative and too conservative can add a lot of cost.