TYPES OF PARTITION WALLS FOR HOME AND OFFICES

Depending upon the material used partition walls may be divided into the following different types:
1. Brick partitions
2. Hollow block partition of clay, terracotta or concrete
3. Glass partitions
4. Concrete partitions plain or reinforced
5. Metal lath and plaster partitions
6. A.C. sheet or G.I. sheet partitions
7. Timber partitions
1. Brick Partitions:
This may be constructed with plain bricks, reinforced bricks or bricks nogged.
Plain brick partition
This type of wall is constructed by laying bricks as stretchers in cement mortar. Thus the wall is
generally 10cm (half brick) thick and plastered considerably on both faces. If properly constructed,
it is considerably strong and fire resistant.
Reinforced brick wall (figure 1)
This type of wall is similar to plain brick partition wall except that at every third or fourth course,
the bricks are reinforced with iron straps 25 to 28 mm wide and 1.6mm thick. Mild steel bars 6mm
spaced at every third course of wall may be used as a substitute for iron straps.

Fig.1: Reinforced Brick Wall
Brick nogging type partition wall (figure 2)
It consists of brickwork built within a framework of wooden members. The framework consists of
vertical posts called studs spaced at 60 cm to 150 cm apart and held in position by horizontal
members called nogging pieces. The nogging pieces are housed into the studs at 60 cm to 90cm
apart vertically. The function of the wooden framework is to increase stability of the wall both
along the length and height and to make it more right to withstand vibrational effect produced on
account of careless opening or closing of the window or door leaves. The brickwork is built by
laying the brick flat or on edge and the surface is plastered from both sides. Thus the size of the
studs and nogging depends upon the thickness of partition wall. For 10cm thick partition wall, the
studs and nogging should be 15 cm wide so that after the brickwork is plastered from both the
faces, the timber framework may finish flush with the wall face. This type of partition wall suffers
from the drawback of the timber getting delayed. Moreover, the mortar used may not stick well to
the timber members and thus the brickwork is likely to become loose after sometime.

Fig.2: Bricknogged Partition Wall
2. Hollow brick partition of clay, terracotta or concrete (figure 3)
Hollow blocks moulded from clay, terracotta or concrete are now commonly used for
theconstruction of partition walls. Such walls are light, rigid, economical, strong and fire resistant.
They have good sound insulating properties. The sizes of the blocks differ with the texture of the
material. The thickness of this type of partition wall varies between 6 cm to 15 cm. these walls are
constructed in similar manner as structural load bearing walls.

Fig.3: Hollow Brick Partition wall
3. Glass partition walls (figure 4)
These may be made from sheet glass or hollow glass bricks. In case of sheet glass partitions,
sheets of glass are fixed in the framework of wooden members dividing the entire area into a
number of panels. The panels may be square or rectangular and their size varies with the choice of
the individual. Glass partitions are cheap, light, and easy in construction and provide reasonable
privacy and sound insulation. The cost of maintenance of such partition is much more as glass is
liable to break when struck hard by anything. With the introduction of reinforced glass sheets, this
danger is greatly minimized. Three-ply glass and armour plate glass are some of the varieties of
sheet glass.

Fig.4: Glass Partition Wall
4. Concrete Partition Plain or reinforced (figure 5)

Fig.5: Concrete Partition Wall
Partition walls construction in concrete, plain or reinforced may be cast in situ or built from panels
or blocks, precast wall in advance of the commencement of work. Generally for cast in situ walls,
10 cm thick and below, the reinforcement consisting of mild steel bars or B R C fabric is placed in
the centre of the wall thickness. Concrete mix usually adopted in the work is M15 (1:2:4). The wall
is cast monolithically with the intermediate columns so as to be rigid and stable both along its
length and height. In case of precast concrete partition walls, precast concrete slab panels and
special shaped concrete post are used. The slabs are generally 32 mm thick and are inserted in the
grooves of the precast post and the joints are subsequently filled with mortar.
5. Metal lath and plaster partitions:
Metal lath and plaster when properly laid forms a reinforced wall which is thin, strong, durable and
is considerably fire resistant. The metal lath is available in variety of patterns and it generally
requires a framework of steel or timber for the purpose of fixing it in position. In case of partition
walls with steel frames, lath is generally tied by galvanized iron wire to mild steel bars or channels
spaced 15 to 30 cm apart. The latter is fixed on one side and the plaster is applied on both sides of
the lath. This type of partition wall may be 5 to 7.6 cm in thickness.
In order to achieve improved insulation against heat and sound, metal lath and plaster partition
walls can also be made with a cavity between the wall thickness. This type of hollow partition wall
is constructed by fixing the metal lath on both sides of specially shaped steel channels spaced at
30 to 45 cm apart. Depending upon the width of cavity desired, the channels are generally 3 to
10cm deep.
6. A.C. Sheet or G.I. Sheet partitions:
Partition walls constructed from asbestos cement sheeting or galvanized sheet fixed to wooden or
steel members are mostly adopted in works of temporary character. These walls are economical,
light and fairly rigid if constructed properly.
For superior type of asbestos cement sheet partition walls, specially manufactured slabs of the
above said material are used. Each slab consists of core or corrugated asbestos cement sheet with
the plain asbestos cement sheet attached to it on either side. The use of such slabs renders the
partition wall more fire-resistant and makes it have good heat and sound insulation properties.
7. Timber partitions:
This type of partition walls consists of a wooden framework either supported on the floor below or
by side walls. The framework consists of a rigid arrangement of timber members which may be
plastered or covered with boarding etc from both the sides. Such partitions are not fire-resistant
and the timber forming the partition is likely to decay or be eaten away by white ants. With the
introduction of new building materials, the use of timber partitions is getting gradually reduced
these days