BUILDING MATERIALS – II

PARTITION WALLS
INTRODUCTION
 PARTITION WALL– a wall or division made up of bricks, studding, or other material and

provided for the purpose of dividing one room or portion of a room from another

 Provide privacy from consideration of sight or sound or both

 Generally non load bearing walls

 May be foldable, collapsible or fixed type

 A good partition wall should be

 Cheap,
 Light
 Thin
 Fire resistant
 Easy to construct
BRICK PARTITIONS
 May be constructed with plain bricks,
reinforced bricks or bricks nogged

PLAIN BRICK PARTITION

 Wall constructed by laying bricks as

stretchers in cement mortar i.e. wall
thickness = half brick thick and plastered on
both surfaces.

 Considerably strong and fire resistant

REINFORCED BRICK PARTITION WALL

 Similar to brick partition wall – except bricks

at every 3rd or 4th course - reinforced with iron
straps 25-28 mm wide and 1.6 mm thick

 MS bars 6 mm c/c at every 3rd course –

substitute for iron straps
 BRICK PARTITIONS
BRICK NOGGING PARTITION WALL

 Brickwork built within a framework of wooden members

 Framework consists of

 Vertical posts called studs – 600-1500 mm c/c

 Horizontal members called nogging – housed into studs @ 600-900 mm c/c vertically

 Wooden framework increases stability – more rigid to vibrational effects by careless opening/ closing
of doors or windows

 Bricks laid flat or on edge on frame and surface plastered from both sides

 Size of wooden members depends on thickness of wall. For half brick thick wall, framework should be
175 mm thick so that brick surface plastered on both sides may finish flush with the wooden members

 DRAWBACKS

 Timber may get decayed over a period of time

 Mortar may not stick well to timber members – may become loose over time
BRICK PARTITIONS
HOLLOW BLOCK PARTITIONS
 Hollow blocks moulded from clay, terracotta or
concrete – commonly used for construction of
partition walls

 Light, rigid, economical, strong & fire resistant

 Good sound insulation properties

 Size of blocks differ with nature of material

 Wall thickness-60mm – 150 mm

 Constructed similar to structural load bearing

walls
GLASS PARTITIONS
 May be made of sheet glass or hollow
glass blocks
SHEET GLASS PARTITIONS
 Sheets of glass fixed on framework of
wooden members dividing the wall area
into panels
 Panels – square or rectangular, sizes –
choice of individual
 Cheap, light, easy to construct, provide
reasonable privacy and sound
insulation
 Maintenance cost-more as glass is
liable to break
 Using reinforced glass sheets minimizes
this danger greatly
 3ply glass, armour plate glass, etc. also
possess good shock resisting properties
GLASS PARTITIONS
GLASS BLOCK PARTITIONS
 Glass blocks available in various
sizes and shapes
 Blocks made from structural glass-
well annealed for rigorous use
 In addition, this glass is impervious to
grease, moisture, change in color
with age
 Blocks may be hollow or solid
 Glass block panels should never be
made to carry loads other than their
own weight
 Laid generally in 1:4 cement lime
mortar
 When block size > 300mm, every
horizontal joint should be reinforced
with galvanized expanded metal
strips
GLASS PARTITIONS
GLASS BLOCK PARTITIONS - ADVANTAGES

 Attractive in appearance

 Great insulating value for heat & sound –

room with glass block walls – improved
acoustical effects

 Non-porous, non absorbent and impervious

to moisture

 Easy to clean – more hygienic

 Diffuses light passing through it – with

proper selection of patters, a wide range of
light and decorative effects can be
produced

 Best suited where window openings or clear

glass partitions cannot be provided
 CONCRETE PARTITIONS
 Partition walls may be plain or reinforced concrete
 May be cast in situ or pre-cast
 Generally, in case of cast-in-situ walls, 100 mm thick & below, reinforcement of MS bars or BRC
fabric is placed at the centre of wall thickness
 Concrete mix=M15 (1:2:4)
 Wall-cast monolithically with intermediate columns – rigid and stable both along length & breadth
 In case of pre-cast concrete partition walls-pre cast concrete slab panels and special shaped
concrete posts are used
 Slabs-32 mm thick
 Inserted in grooves of pre-cast post and joints-filled with cement mortar
BRC FABRIC

CONCRETE
PARTITION
CONCRETE PARTITIONS
METAL LATH & PLASTER PARTITIONS
 Forms a reinforced partition wall
 Thin, strong, durable and is considerably fire resistant
 Wall thickness – 50-76 mm
 Metal lath-available in variety of patterns
 Generally requires a framework of steel or timber for the purposes of fixing it in position
 In case of partition walls with steel frames, lath is tied with GI wires to mild steel bars or channels
spaces 150-300 c/c
 Steel bars/ channels fixed on one side
 Plaster applied on both sides of lath
METAL LATH & PLASTER PARTITIONS
 For better insulation against heat & sound, wall can be constructed with cavity between the wall
thickness
 Metal lath fixed on both sides of specially shaped steel channels spaced 300-450 mm apart
 Depending upon width of cavity desired, channels are generally 30 – 100mm deep
AC SHEET OR GI SHEET PARTITIONS
 Wall constructed from AC or GI sheets fixed to wooden or steel members
 Adopted for mostly temporary structures
 Economical, thin, fairly rigid
 For superior construction, specially manufactured slabs of AC used
 Core of corrugated AC sheet, with plain AC sheets on either sides
 Such slabs – more fire resistant, improved heat & sound insulation properties
TIMBER PARTITIONS
 Partition either supported on floor below or side walls
 Framework – rigid arrangement of timber members which may be plastered or covered with
boarding, etc. from both sides
 Not fire resistant
 Timber prone to decay
 Hence, with new materials, timber partition losing popularity
 Two types
 Stud or common partition
 Trussed or braced partition
STUD/ COMMON TIMBER PARTITIONS
 Light vertical members called studs – 100 mm X 50 mm – placed 300 – 450 mm c/c
 Fixed to 2 horizontal members
 Horizontal member at foot of stud – called sill
 Horizontal member at top of stud – called head
 Ends of sill and head – embedded in side walls for a short distance
 Studs stiffened by horizontal members called nogging
 Door posts – sufficiently strong studs capable of withstanding impacts due to door usage
 Shorter length vertical members used between door head and wall head – called puncheons
 Entire weight of partition borne by floor – so a solid support for sill to be provided – support may
be wall or a girder/ beam below.
TRUSSED TIMBER PARTITIONS
 In case solid support below sill is not
possible, wooden trussed partitions to be
employed

 Weight of walls – to be borne by side walls

 Structure consists of triangulated framework

of horizontal, vertical and inclined wooden
members

 In addition to head, sill, studs, and noggings,

inclined members called braces are used

 Ends of head and sill made to rest on stone

template embedded in wall at ends

 Joints further strengthened by MS traps and

bolts
WOOD WOOL SLAB PARTITIONS
 Slabs prepared from a mixture of Portland cement and wood wool or wood shavings
 Small quality of gypsum sometimes added
 Sufficient heat & sound insulating properties
 Light in weight
 Surfaces – rough – good base for plaster
 Slabs can be sawn and nailed
 However, due to changes in moisture content, have large movements – to be properly restrained
STRAW BOARD PARTITIONS
 Slabs prepared from compressed straw and covered by thick paper and hardboard
 Good heat and sound insulation
 Easy to construct
 Useful where frequent movement/ removal of partitions is anticipated.