TYPES OF WALLS

In terms of their function, all walls are either load bearing or non load bearing walls. A load bearing wall
is part of the structure of the building - it holds the building up. A non-load bearing wall is only a
partition that divides the various rooms of a building. You can demolish a wall if it is a non-load bearing
wall; you cannot move or demolish a load bearing wall.

It is not easy for a layman to determine whether a wall is load bearing or not. You must rely on the
advice of an experienced, licensed structural engineer.

Most modern multi-storey buildings are constructed with structural frames and non-load bearing walls.
Most residential buildings in the US, and nearly all wood framed buildings are constructed with load
bearing walls of the platform frame or ballon frame types.

MASONRY WALLS

These are walls made of brick or cement blocks held together with cement mortar and are often
plastered with cement plaster on both surfaces. Cement blocks can also be called Concrete Masonry
Units or CMUs, and come in a variety of types, including

 Solid Concrete Blocks

 Hollow Concrete Blocks

  Lightweight Aerated Concrete Blocks

 Flyash Concrete Blocks

Traditionally, masonry was made with stone. Some of the world's oldest buildings are made with stone,
which is an exceptionally hardy building material.

Masonry walls are heavy, and require lots of skilled labour, which means that they are falling out of
favor in most countries in which labour is expensive. Their weight is also a problem in high-rise buildings.
In concrete or steel buildings, engineers will place beams below all masonry walls, as their weight is too
much for a slab to bear. This means that heavy masonry walls cannot be moved around once they are
constructed, as they must rest on beams designed to carry their weight.

Other materials for walls include stone or furnace (ceramic) bricks. Stone that is cut into cuboids with
smooth faces is called dressed stone, and walls constructed with this type of stone are called ashlar
masonry walls. Walls that are made with rough (undressed) pieces of stone are called random
rubble walls.

For brick walls, a common thickness is 230mm(9"), and for concrete block walls, common thicknesses
are 200mm(8"), 150mm(6") and 100mm(4"). In the building trade, the thickness of the
walls excludes the plaster, so if a wall is plastered on both sides, its actual thickness will be 1" or 1.5"
more than its stated thickness in an architectural drawing or contract.

To run electrical, or any other wires or pipes in a brick wall, you have to first chase the wall. Chasing is
cutting a long groove in the wall in which you can install your services. Then you can install a conduit - a
plastic pipe - in the wall, fill in the gap around the conduit with cement plaster, and then pull your
electrical wires through the conduit. This takes time and effort.

Masonry walls cannot be constructed to an unlimited height - broadly speaking, most are considered
stable only to a height of 10-15 ft (3 - 4m). To construct a masonry wall higher than that, you have to
design a special wall that has intermediate structural members to support the wall.

One problem with masonry walls is that they rely mainly on their weight to keep them in place; each
block or brick is only loosely connected to the next via a thin layer of mortar. This is why they do not
perform well in earthquakes, when entire buildings are shaken horizontally. Many collapses during
earthquakes occur in buildings that have load-bearing masonry walls.

LIGHT PARTITION WALLS

As the name indicates, these walls are light and quick to construct. This means that they do not need to
rest on pre-planned beams: they can be placed anywhere (as long as engineers have accounted for this
in the slab design). This means that they allow for great flexibility in layouts, unlike the heavier masonry
walls. They are clearly non-structural in nature.
As their construction is dry, meaning that it does not use cement or water, they are quick to construct,
and cause minimal disturbance. This is why these are also called drywall partitions.

Light partition walls are constructed by first building a frame, and then covering this frame with sheets
or boards. The gap between the sheets can then be filled with insulating material if desired, or left as is.

The frame is most commonly made of light galvanized steel sections, but can also be made of wood.

Galvanized Steel Sections used to make framing for a light partition wall. These will be covered with
sheeting. Note that wooden surrounds have been installed around door openings. Image courtesy Tin
Box (http://somigreenhouse.blogspot.in/)

Pre-punched holes in the metal sections allow electrical and plumbing conduits to pass through.

The most common type of sheeting used to finish the frame is gypsum sheeting. This is inexpensive
mass-produced sheeting that is easy to cut and make patch repairs to. Gypsum sheet is not very strong,
however, so a powerful kick can crack or break it. Most manufacturers recommend using two layers of
sheet for each side of the wall, with a total of 4 layers per wall. Gypsum is also not a water-resistant
material, so use in toilets is not recommended.

Another type of sheet that can be used is a fiber cement sheet. This is stronger and highly resistant to
water - it can be used outdoors. As its name indicates, the sheet is made up of wood fibers, cement,
binders, and fillers. It is denser (heavier) then gypsum sheeting.