Building components
Wall Leaves & Backing
The distinct vertical layers that make up a wall — outer and inner leaves, the cavity between them, and the backing that supports what is fixed to the face.
22 entries in this category.
Overview
About this category
A wall is rarely one thing. It is commonly two or more leaves with a defined space between, each doing a different job, and the words for those parts — outer leaf, inner leaf, cavity, backing wall — describe positions rather than products. The same outer leaf may be brick, block or stone.
These entries explain what each leaf contributes and what depends on it. They do not say how wide a cavity should be, how leaves should be tied, or whether a given wall is adequate.
Boundaries
What this category covers, and what it does not
- Covers the vertical layers of a wall build-up and the elements that back or subdivide them.
- Does not cover wall SYSTEMS — cavity walls, solid walls, timber-frame walls and veneer-over-frame walls are building systems.
- Does not cover wall ties, lintels or masonry units, which are published material entries.
- States no cavity width, tie spacing, leaf thickness, bonding pattern or fire-resistance period.
Browse
Forms and roles in this category
Descriptive labels for what is here. They are a way of reading the list, not a filter and not a ranking.
Forms:Board or sheetConnector or supportContinuous layerLinear memberProfile or trimUnit or moduleVoid or cavity
Roles:Air controlAttachmentDrainageFinishMoisture controlProtectionSeparationStructureSubstrateSupportTerminationWeather control
Entries
Wall Leaves & Backing components
Every entry in this category. Each explains what the element is, what it depends on, and how it relates to materials, systems and junctions.
Board or sheetBacking Wall →The wall behind a cladding or facade system that supports it, carries the control layers and separates inside from the construction outside.Profile or trimCavity Barrier →An element installed within a concealed cavity to interrupt it, so that the cavity does not form a continuous path through the construction.Unit or moduleInner Leaf →The inner masonry layer of a cavity wall, commonly carrying the floors and roof and forming the backing for internal finishes.Unit or moduleMasonry Pier →A thickened section of a masonry wall that stiffens it against sideways forces or carries a concentrated load.Unit or moduleOuter Leaf →The outermost masonry layer of a wall, exposed to weather and commonly separated from the structure behind by a cavity.Board or sheetSheathing Board →A board fixed across the face of a frame to close it, provide a continuous surface, and give the layers outboard something to bear on.Unit or moduleSolid Wall Body →A wall built as one continuous thickness rather than as separate leaves, which handles water by absorbing and releasing it rather than by draining a cavity.Void or cavityWall Cavity →The deliberate space between two leaves of a wall, which breaks the path water and heat would otherwise take across it.Connector or supportArch Springer →The masonry unit at the base of an arch ring, where the curve leaves its support and the arch's thrust is delivered into the wall beside the opening.Continuous layerBed Joint →The horizontal mortar plane between one course of masonry and the next, through which load passes from the wall above into the wall below.Unit or moduleCorbel →Masonry projecting from the face of a wall, formed by each course oversailing the one below, to create a seating or a ledge where the wall itself provides no support.Linear memberFurring Channel →A folded metal profile fixed across a wall or a ceiling frame to form a fixing plane for boards and a gap behind them.Linear memberLining Batten →A timber member fixed to the face of a wall to form a flat fixing plane and a gap between the wall and the lining in front of it.Unit or moduleMasonry Arch →A curved assembly of masonry units that spans an opening by acting in compression along its own geometry, pushing outward at its supports.Unit or moduleMasonry Course →One horizontal row of masonry units within a wall, laid on a bed joint and overlapped by the row above according to the bond.Unit or moduleMasonry Infill Panel →Masonry built within the openings of a structural frame, enclosing the building without forming part of the frame's load path.Unit or moduleMasonry Plinth →The differentiated base of a masonry wall, commonly thicker, projecting or in a denser unit, where exposure to splash, ground moisture and impact is greatest.Continuous layerPerpend Joint →The vertical joint between two masonry units within a course, staggered from course to course so that no continuous vertical line runs through the wall.Unit or moduleQuoin →The masonry at the external corner of a wall, where two faces meet and, in bonded construction, where the courses of each face are tied into the other.Unit or moduleSoldier Course →A course of masonry units set upright on end rather than laid flat, commonly used over openings and as banding, with almost no bonding overlap of its own.Unit or moduleString Course →A horizontal band running across a wall face, commonly projecting or in a contrasting material, with masonry continuing above and below it.Unit or moduleVoussoir →One of the individual wedge-shaped units that make up an arch ring, each bearing on its neighbours so the ring acts in compression.
Related reference libraries
Components are what materials become and what systems are made of. The three libraries answer different questions and are kept deliberately separate.