Wind-Induced Cracks in Gypsum Board Wall Panels

The author has evaluated hundreds of commercial and residential properties for insurance claims investigation purposes. This includes investigations related to nearly all major hurricane and tornado events that have occurred in the United States within the past decade. During the claims process, it is not uncommon for building owners to claim that excessive wind forces have cracked brittle finishes. This is especially true for single-family residential property owners. In the author’s experience, insurance professionals (claims examiners, adjusters, etc.) sometimes maintain that foundation movement caused the cracks and the cracks are unrelated to wind. This can be a major point of contention between the carrier and insured. Is it possible for wind pressures to crack brittle finishes, such as gypsum board? This paper will explore the answer to that question. A structural analysis will be performed on a representative residential wood-framed structure. In the analysis, the provisions given in ASCE 7-10 for determining design wind pressures will be reverse-engineered to determine the wind gust speed necessary to exceed the shear capacity of gypsum board wall panels. The findings from this analysis will be presented. The author recognizes that this is a static solution to the above posed question and several assumptions will be made. As such, the limitations of this analysis will be discussed. Additional testing and research that may be beneficial to this study will also be discussed.