Patent ID: 7299596

Claim:
A shear wall comprising: an upper channel; a lower channel; a plurality of spaced-apart studs connected between the upper channel and the lower channel, the plurality of studs including a first stud connected to the upper channel near a first end of the upper channel to form a first corner and connected to the lower channel near a first end of the lower channel to form a second corner, a second stud connected near a second end of the upper channel to form a third corner and near a second end of the lower channel to form a fourth corner, and a plurality of interior studs spaced between the first and second studs, each of the interior studs having at least two holes formed therein and having a front face and a rear face; a first rod connected to the wall near the first and fourth corners; and a second rod connected to the wall near the second and third corners; wherein each of the first and second rods pass through one of the two holes in each of the interior studs such that neither the first rod nor the second rod extend past the front face or the rear face of any interior stud; and wherein each end of the first and second rods is attached to an upstanding plate at each of the four corners of the wall with blocks corresponding to the first rod being attached to a first side of a respective upstanding plate and blocks corresponding to the second rod are attached to an opposite side of a respective upstanding plate such that the first and second rods do not interfere with each other where they cross.