3) a) What is a WALL? What are the different types of walls and their functions?

 In continuation with the earlier article on ‘the various stages in construction of a house’, after laying the slab, the next step is construction of walls and roof structure.

In this article we will be discussing on what is a wall, types of walls and their various functions!

Wall:

A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an-

• Area,
• Carries a load, 
• Provides security/shelter/soundproofing, 
• Is decorative

Based on its functions walls are divided into the following types-

• Load Bearing Walls
• Non-Load Bearing Walls
• Cavity Walls
• Shear Walls
• Partition Walls
• Panel Walls
• Veneered Walls
• Faced Walls

• Load Bearing Walls:

• Load bearing wall is a structural element 
• It carries the weight of a house from the roof and upper floors, all the way to the foundation 
• It supports structural members like beams, slab and walls on above floors above
• A wall directly above the beam is called load bearing wall 
• It is designed to carry the vertical load
• Load bearing walls also carry their own weight
• Load bearing walls can be used as interior or exterior wall 
• Concrete is an ideal material to support these loads

Pre-CastLoad Bearing Walls

Load Bearing Stone wall

Pre Panellised Load Bearing Metal Stud Wall

Load Bearing Masonry wall

Load Bearing Retaining wall

Types of load bearing walls-

• Precast Concrete Wall
• Retaining Wall
• Masonry Wall
• Pre panelized load bearing metal stud Walls
• Engineering brick Wall
• Stone Wall

• Non-Load Bearing Walls:

• A wall which doesn’t help the structure to stand up and holds up only itself is known as a non-load bearing wall 
• It doesn’t support floor roof loads above 
• Mostly they are interior walls whose purpose is to divide the structure into rooms 
• They are built lighter and hence cost effective
• We can remove any non-load bearing walls without endangering the safety of the building 

Types of non-load bearing walls-

• Hollow Concrete Block
• Façade Bricks
• Hollow Bricks
• Brick Walls

Brick Walls

Facade Bricks

Hollow Concrete Block

• Cavity Walls:

• It is a wall constructed in 2 leaves or skins with a space or cavity between them
• A type of building wall construction consisting of an outer wall fastened to inner wall separated by an air space
• Cavity walls helps to prevent the penetration of rain to the internal surface of the wall
• Cavity wall gives better thermal insulation than any other solid wall because space is full of air and reduces heat transmission. Therefore these walls are fire resistant
• It is economically cheaper than other solid walls
• Cavity wall helps to keep out from noise

• Shear Walls:

• These are framed walls 
• They are designed to resist lateral forces 
• These lateral forces come from exterior walls, floor, and roofs to ground foundation 
• The usage of the shear wall is important, especially in large and high-rise buildings
• They are typically constructed from materials like concrete or masonry. They have an excellent structural system to resist earthquakes 

• Partition Walls:

• It is used in separating spaces from buildings 
• It can be solid, constructed from brick or stone 
• It is a framed construction and resists impact
• It is enough strong to carry its own load 
• It is stable and strong to support wall fixtures 
• The partition wall works as a sound barrier and it is fire resistant

• Panel Walls:

• It is a non-bearing wall between columns or pillars 
• The panel is installed with both nails and adhesive
• The paneling design choices include rustic, boards, frames
• Paneling can be from hardwoods or inexpensive pine
• One should paint the space before installing panel walls

• Veneered Walls:

• Masonry veneer walls are a single non-structural external masonry wall made of brick, stone or manufactured stone 
• It has an air space behind and is called as anchored veneer
• It is light weighted and the construction takes less time to complete

 

• Faced Walls:

• Faced walls has the facing and backing of two different materials that are bonded together to ensure common action under load
• It creates a streamlined look
• These are easy to install

Therefore these are the different types of walls used for construction of a house.

In the next part of this article, we will be discussing on the ROOF structures of a house

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PK,

PKC Realtors.