We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Robert

"RobertL" wrote in message
...

We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Most people would install a stud partition in these circumstances (timber
and plasterboard).


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not

On 6 Nov, 10:27, RobertL wrote:
We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. *It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. *I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. *We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? *It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. *opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Robert

Think suitable-thickness aerated Thermalite blocks and ordinary mortar
would do fine and you can cut them fairly precisely with a bowsaw or
similar - much better thermal / sound insulation than stud infill and
a competent plasterer will neatly cover up all your unsightly
blocklaying !
Ideally you should 'key' at least some block courses into the existing
masonry in order to avoid any possibility of slight movement and
cracking but can't see that it's totally necessary for opening as
described although certainly belt and braces.

On Nov 6, 11:06*am, David wrote:
On 6 Nov, 10:27, RobertL wrote:

We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. *It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. *I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. *We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? *It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. *opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Robert

Think suitable-thickness aerated Thermalite blocks and ordinary mortar
would do fine and you can cut them fairly precisely with a bowsaw or
similar - much better thermal / sound insulation than stud infill and
a competent plasterer will neatly cover up all your unsightly
blocklaying !
Ideally you should 'key' at least some block courses into the existing
masonry in order to avoid any possibility of slight movement and
cracking but can't see that it's totally necessary for opening as
described *although certainly belt and braces.


Thank you both for yoru replies. yes sound insulation is important.


Robert

"RobertL" wrote in message
...
On Nov 6, 11:06 am, David wrote:
On 6 Nov, 10:27, RobertL wrote:

We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Robert

Think suitable-thickness aerated Thermalite blocks and ordinary mortar
would do fine and you can cut them fairly precisely with a bowsaw or
similar - much better thermal / sound insulation than stud infill and
a competent plasterer will neatly cover up all your unsightly
blocklaying !
Ideally you should 'key' at least some block courses into the existing
masonry in order to avoid any possibility of slight movement and
cracking but can't see that it's totally necessary for opening as
described although certainly belt and braces.


-Thank you both for yoru replies. yes sound insulation is important.

A solid wall will be quieter but you can pack the stud wall with rockwool or
double layer the plasterboard. For reception rooms this is usually more than
adequate. For bedrooms sometimes not so, as the house is very quiet at night
and people can be kept awake by small noises (IMHO).


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

Robert

On Nov 6, 11:24*am, "Bob Mannix" wrote:
"RobertL" wrote in message


-Thank you both for your replies. *yes sound insulation is important.


A solid wall will be quieter but you can pack the stud wall with rockwool or
double layer the plasterboard. For reception rooms this is usually more than
adequate. For bedrooms sometimes not so, as the house is very quiet at night
and people can be kept awake by small noises (IMHO).

That's true, and also a stud wall can be made more sondproof using
staggered 'interleaved' studs so that the plasterboard on one side is
not attached to the same studs as the one on the other side. In our
case its not just the sound insulation though: I prefer to use the
same meterials as the rest of the wall - it just seems 'right'.

Robert

On Nov 6, 11:06*am, David wrote:
On 6 Nov, 10:27, RobertL wrote:

We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. *It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. *I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. *We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? *It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. *opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Robert

Think suitable-thickness aerated Thermalite blocks and ordinary mortar
would do fine and you can cut them fairly precisely with a bowsaw or
similar - much better thermal / sound insulation than stud infill and
a competent plasterer will neatly cover up all your unsightly
blocklaying !
Ideally you should 'key' at least some block courses into the existing
masonry in order to avoid any possibility of slight movement and
cracking but can't see that it's totally necessary for opening as
described *although certainly belt and braces.

Blocks are quicker than mortar. The block wall should be attached to
the existing walls along the side. Use of bits of ss stud (ssthreaded
rod) is a lot simpler than interleaving brickwork.

Medium weight blocks give better sound reistance than aerated, and can
be used on concrete ground floors.


NT

RobertL wrote:
We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

I'd use lightweight blocks for this. Damn site easier to chase for
cables etc.


Robert

RobertL wrote:
On Nov 6, 11:24 am, "Bob Mannix" wrote:
"RobertL" wrote in message

-Thank you both for your replies. yes sound insulation is important.


A solid wall will be quieter but you can pack the stud wall with rockwool or
double layer the plasterboard. For reception rooms this is usually more than
adequate. For bedrooms sometimes not so, as the house is very quiet at night
and people can be kept awake by small noises (IMHO).

That's true, and also a stud wall can be made more sondproof using
staggered 'interleaved' studs so that the plasterboard on one side is
not attached to the same studs as the one on the other side. In our
case its not just the sound insulation though: I prefer to use the
same meterials as the rest of the wall - it just seems 'right'.

Robert


Even lightewight block is way better than stud sound wise.

In message
,
writes

Blocks are quicker than mortar. The block wall should be attached to
the existing walls along the side. Use of bits of ss stud (ssthreaded
rod) is a lot simpler than interleaving brickwork.

I acquired a box of left-over spacer tabs from my sister's timber frame
house build. I don't know the proper name but these are stainless and
are normally nailed to the inner leaf with the pierced tab cemented into
the masonry.

Simply drill, plug and screw to existing wall......

regards

--
Tim Lamb

Bob Mannix wrote:
"RobertL" wrote in message
...
We are planning to brick up an opening in an internal wall in our
Victoran house. It is where the two main rooms have previously been
knocked into one in the 1960s. I am assuming that there is a beam
across the opening. We will eventually have a professional plasterer
to plaster it at the same time as all the other plastering jobs around
the house are done.

What do people advise to use: bricks or blocks? It will not be load
bearing and will be built on the pre-existing victorian brickwork
which comes up as far as floor level. opening is 2.2m high and 2.6m
wide (~4" thick)

many thanks for any aadvice anyone cares to give.

Most people would install a stud partition in these circumstances (timber
and plasterboard).

If it's an opening in an existing solid wall (ie a doorway) that may not
work well though - it's very likely that the different underlying wall
composition will end up causing cracks in the skim plaster demarking
where the old opening was.

I'd definitely go for lightweight blocks - much quicker and no real
disadvantage here compared with bricks.

David