A frame of timbers, clad both sides, usually holding nothing up
A stud wall is a partition built as a frame rather than as a solid mass. Vertical timbers, called studs, run between a horizontal timber on the floor and another on the ceiling. Short pieces go between the studs to stiffen them. The whole thing is then boarded on both faces, usually with plasterboard, and the middle is a void.
That is the entire concept, and it is why partitions are built this way: it is fast, it is light, it needs no foundation, and the void is somewhere to put the wiring.
The parts, and what everybody calls them
- Studs. The vertical timbers. Everything else is named in relation to them.
- Sole plate. The horizontal timber on the floor that the studs sit on. Also called the bottom plate or the floor plate.
- Head plate. The same thing at the top, fixed to the ceiling joists. Also called the top plate.
- Noggins. The short horizontal pieces between studs. Called dwangs in Scotland and blocking in America, which is worth knowing if you are reading anybody else's instructions.
- The void. The gap in the middle, which is where the cables, pipes and insulation live.
Names vary more than the construction does. If somebody says bottom plate, dwang and blocking in the same sentence they are describing exactly the same wall as somebody saying sole plate and noggin.
Partition or structure, and how you can tell
Most stud walls hold up nothing but themselves and the boards on them. Some hold up the floor above, and the difference matters enormously the moment anybody wants one gone.
The tell is never the wall itself. It is what happens above and below it:
- Is there support underneath? A wall carrying weight usually has something beneath it: a beam, a wall on the floor below, a thickened slab. A partition standing on a floor with nothing under it is very unlikely to be carrying anything.
- Which way do the joists run? Joists landing on the wall are being carried by it. Joists running past it, parallel, generally are not.
- Does it line through? A wall stacked directly above another one, floor after floor, is usually there for a reason.
- Is it thicker than the others? Not conclusive, and worth noticing.
None of that is proof, and this is the one place on this page where the honest answer is to stop and get somebody. The stud wall calculator declines the question outright for the same reason: it can count studs from your dimensions and it cannot see your house.
What is in the void, and why it decides where you can drill
A stud wall is hollow, and the hollow is full of the things nobody wants to hit. Cables run vertically and horizontally from sockets and switches, and there are conventions about where they run but no guarantee anybody followed them. Pipes cross it. On an external or party wall there may be insulation.
Which produces the most practical fact about living with one: the board holds almost nothing. Anything with weight has to reach a stud, and anything heavy needs two. That is why finding the studs is the first job of every shelf, every radiator and every television, and why the fixings that promise otherwise are rated for a picture frame.
Building one
The arithmetic is genuinely the easy part and it is worth doing before you buy timber. The stud wall calculator works out the studs, the noggins and the cutting list, including the stud at the end that most calculators forget. The plasterboard calculator covers the boards and what goes with them, and the timber quantity tool turns the cut list into lengths to actually order.
Common questions
How do I know if a stud wall is loadbearing?
You look at what is above and below it rather than at the wall. A wall carrying something normally has support underneath it, so a partition sitting on a floor with nothing beneath it is very unlikely to be structural. Joists running INTO the wall rather than past it is the other strong sign, as is a wall that lines up with one on the floor below. None of those is proof, and the only safe answer for anything you intend to remove is somebody competent looking at it, because the cost of being wrong is not a wall.
Can I hang a television on one?
On the studs, yes. On the board, no. Plasterboard on its own will not hold a bracket carrying a television and the fixings sold for it are for pictures and shelves rather than for something with a lever arm. Find the studs, fix into two of them, and if they fall in the wrong place the honest fix is a timber batten or a plywood pattress spanning several studs, then the bracket onto that.
Is a metal stud wall worse than a timber one?
Different rather than worse, and metal is the norm in commercial work for good reasons: it is dimensionally stable, it does not twist as it dries, it is lighter to carry, and it does not burn. What it is not is easy to fix heavy things to, because a steel C section has nothing much to screw into, so pattresses get built in before boarding. Timber is more forgiving domestically and far more common in houses.
What is a noggin actually for?
Two jobs, and they are often confused. It stops long studs twisting and buckling, which is the structural half. And it gives you something solid where you need it: behind a board joint that would otherwise land in mid-air, behind a radiator bracket, behind a rail. That is why a noggin line at a fixed height and noggins placed where fixings will go are different decisions.
Do I need to insulate an internal stud wall?
Not for heat, usually, and often yes for sound. An internal partition separates two heated rooms so there is no thermal reason to fill it, but an empty stud void is a very effective drum. Mineral wool between the studs makes a noticeable difference for very little money, and it is the cheapest upgrade available at the point when the wall is open. Once it is boarded both sides the opportunity has gone.
How thick is a finished stud wall?
The stud depth plus the board on both faces, plus any skim. That is why a wall that looks slim on a drawing eats more floor than people expect once it is built, and why swapping to a deeper stud for services or acoustics is a decision to make before the layout is fixed rather than after.