Types of Partition Walls for Apartments and Houses
Ever wonder why in your apartment you can hear your neighbour’s TV and hi-fi through the walls? Or at night, you can clearly hear them talking loudly or carrying redecoration (like hammering nails) even though your balcony sliding door is closed? And ever wonder why this never happens in other people’s houses or apartment, just yours?
The answer lies in how the wall between two apartments or houses is constructed. The dividing wall is called the party wall. It is derived from the word partition, and has nothing to do with birthday parties or UMNO.
There are many types of party walls, I have listed down below the most common types found in Malaysia. The general rule here is the better the higher in the list, the better the quality, the better the sound insulation and of course the higher the costs. So starting from the best to the lowest quality:
Double skin wall – this is made by two layers of brickwalls, separated by a gap of about 6 inches. The layer of void in between serves as insulation for heat and noise. Only the outside faces of the two walls are plastered and painted. Understandably, this is very common in cold countries like England. In Malaysia, it can still be seen in some pre-war buildings. The only drawback is that the void serves as a refuge for vermin and other undesirable residents.
Shear wall – basically it’s a solid reinforced concrete wall of about 4-6 inches, found only in certain high-rise apartments (where they have a column-free ballroom or swimming pool on the lower floors). This luxury is not given intentionally, it is a necessity of the structural design. So the apartment owner gets solid wall that gives peace and quite. One disadvantage, though, you’ll find difficulty in hammering a nail in the wall to hang your painting.
Clay brick wall – this red colour fired brick used to be the standard for homes in Malaysia, sadly now it is only used for premium bungalows only due to the cost factor. Local regulations require all party walls to be a minimum of 225mm thick (to prevent fires from spreading), so they lay the bricks in such a way that the width = 2 bricks thick. The main benefit of clay bricks over normal cement sand bricks is that it makes the house cooler (although I doubt this ‘construction fact’).
Cement sand bricks – the problem with this is material is that the quality can range from ‘acceptable’ to ‘crap’ (and I have seen some that disintegrate when scratched). This is the most common type of wall material here, although in advanced countries, they only use this for drains and temporary toilets.
Drywall partition – there are two types of this, either it uses lightweight concrete (to save costs) or it uses lightweight bricks. Either way, with this type of wall, you can hear your neighbour flush his toilet while you are eating dinner. Some local councils do not allow this type of material to be used for party walls, but as you know, some developers can get away with murder. Not only are they faster to erect, they cost far less cheaper than conventional bricks.
Gypsum board – the worst kind. Actually, I’m just joking. Thankfully they only use this as your office cubicle partition.
Thanks for the informative post!
What about walls in condos and apartments that show cracks after a few years? This seems to be very common. It is very irritating and seems very shoddy.
Comment by aw3 — July 28, 2005 @ 2:02 am
cracks on your apartment wall? Well, there are many types of cracks. Maybe one day i’ll write about it.
but generally if the crack is only on the plaster & brick wall, its not a big problem, its only a workmanship quality.
However, if its on CONCRETE, be afraid. be VERY afraid.
If you think its serious, just get a friend who is an engineer or contractor to look at it. they can tell you immediately.
Comment by Administrator — July 28, 2005 @ 2:13 am
Shear walls makes a house very very very hot, as the thermal mass absorbs the heat during the day and release it during the night. Not a good choice for Malaysia.
Comment by sexymum — August 3, 2005 @ 3:30 am
sexymum,
but most condo developers want the column-free hall or swimming pool, so buyers have no choice…
Comment by Administrator — August 3, 2005 @ 4:10 am
Actually, usually lightweight concrete blocks are better, and if used for partition walls, they block the sounds better also. In Singapore, drywalls are used for internal walls for some condos too. Makes the overall building lighter.
Swimming pool used shear wall is okay. But there are better methods of making the living hall column free than using shear wall.
House buyers generally have no choice if they’re buying from developers. But that will change eventually. Keep your eyes and ears open for energy efficient homes. Then you’ll see my face for real
Comment by sexymum — August 4, 2005 @ 3:11 am
sourcing for the operation theater wall( bilik bedah hospital)
-Spec -Hygienic
-Odorless
Can recommend someone?
Comment by lavacodesign — March 7, 2007 @ 10:19 am