Old partition wall-any ideas on material?

[rubberneck]

Hello.

I have a partition wall in my house that I have started to take down but am puzzled over what material it is. I am hoping it is nothing too sinister (I.E. asbestos)

Here are the details:
1. the panels are approximately 36"wide x 12"high x 3" thick.
2. they are smooth-faced.
3. they use a tongue and groove system to lock together, in a similar fashion to the concrete panels used in post and panel fencing.
4. they are a pinkish off-white colour.
5. They give of very little dust when drilled.
6. The texture of material looks like a cross between plaster and concrete, with flecks of black stone through it.
7. the weight of a panel is about half, maybe a touch more, that of a similarly sized concrete panel.
8. there are NO visible fibres in it.
9. they are quite brittle and break cleanly.

I will attach a photo ASAP

Any ideas what these are. I thought that maybe they are formed from a low density concrete-maybe a forerunner to aircrete blocks?

Thanks
G

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Lets have some pictures,
how old is the house, do you think this was part of the original build?

 

[rubberneck]

I think the house was built around 1910. I reckon that the partition wall was probably put in during a later refurb. The houses used to have outside toilets, so perhaps the wall was put in to create the space for an internal bathroom?

Here are some photos. Maybe these will shed some light.

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• rubberneck
• 8 Feb 2010
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• rubberneck
• 8 Feb 2010
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• rubberneck
• 8 Feb 2010
• 1

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• rubberneck
• 8 Feb 2010
• 1

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• rubberneck
• 8 Feb 2010
• 1

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Just looks like precast concrete slabs to me, the black bits likely to be just part of the agreegate mix. Could be grano and limestone.
Something I've seen used for floors.

 

[rubberneck]

Thanks for that.
I suspected that they may be some kind of pc concrete slab. It seems like a pretty effective system for constructing walls.

 

[stuart45]

Siporex used to make blocks like that.

 

[noseall]

It is a fairly typical, proprietary, lightweight internal partitioning masonry block. Commonly used from '60s through to mid 80's.

Is this an upstairs or bungalow partition?

 

[rubberneck]

Thanks.
After searching Siporex on the internet it appears that these are pretty much what I have. Aerated autoclaved concrete panels the general term for them seems to be. Still seem to be very popular overseas.

The partition was dividing the upstairs bathroom, back bedroom and the landing.

 

[noseall]

The partition was dividing the upstairs bathroom, back bedroom and the landing.

Was it also built off a timber sole plate?

 

[rubberneck]

The partition was dividing the upstairs bathroom, back bedroom and the landing.

Was it also built off a timber sole plate?

No, there was no sole plate. The wall was built directly off the floorboards. A timber strip (15mm wide x 10mm high) ran along the length of the base of wall and had a bed of lime mortar on it. This timber bead created a tongue in the mortar bed and wall panel located itself on to this, if that makes any sense.