In most buildings with a reinforced concrete frame, the weight is carried by the columns, beams and slabs. The brick walls built between them, outside or inside, are infill walls: they enclose and divide the spaces.
Because they aren't load-bearingLoad-bearing wallA wall that carries part of the building's weight, such as floors, beams or the storeys above. It must not be removed or opened up without an engineer's design and the required permit., infill walls are usually the ones that can be knocked downDemolitionKnocking down or stripping out whatever has to go before a renovation: walls, tiles, render, bathroom fittings, old floors or old insulation., opened up for a door or built anew in a renovation. A lintelLintelThe beam over a door, window or opening in a wall, which carries the bricks above it and passes their weight to the sides. goes over a new opening so the bricks above are supported.
By eye, though, an infill wall can't always be told apart from a concrete wall, and in old stone or brick houses the walls are often load-bearing. Before any wall comes down, an engineer decides what it is. An infill wall also often hides pipes and cables, which have to be found first.
Related terms
Load-bearing wallLoad-bearing wallA wall that carries part of the building's weight, such as floors, beams or the storeys above. It must not be removed or opened up without an engineer's design and the required permit.LintelLintelThe beam over a door, window or opening in a wall, which carries the bricks above it and passes their weight to the sides.DemolitionDemolitionKnocking down or stripping out whatever has to go before a renovation: walls, tiles, render, bathroom fittings, old floors or old insulation.Wall chaseWall chaseA groove cut into a wall so pipes or cables can run inside it. Afterwards it is closed with mortar or render and, once finished, cannot be seen.
