Early timber stud partitions

Timber stud partitions were an alternative to brickwork and could act as both loadbearing and non . loadbearing walls. If they were supporting a load of any significance, they were likely to be built on brick sleeper walls which terminated at ground floor level. The diagram below shows a typical non loadbearing stud partition supported by a timber ground floor. If acting as a loadbearing partition, extra diagonal bracing timbers would be added – see photograph overleaf.

Before the invention of plasterboard, the studding was usually covered with timber lath or infilled with bricks on edge. The latter is heavier and therefore less suitable for upper floors where a supporting wall underneath may not exist. It does, however, offer improved sound insulation.

In practice, it can be difficult to establish whether a partition is loadbearing and careful examination is always necessary before alteration works take place. Before removing what is assumed to be a non-loadbearing partition, it is always worth lifting a couple of floorboards in the room above, or checking in the roof space, to determine whether joists or roof struts are supported by the wall. Mistakes can be very expensive to rectify.