GB2345071A

GB2345071A - Masonry walls : insulation

Info

Publication number: GB2345071A
Application number: GB9927282A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Victor Joseph Wigley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-11-21
Filing date: 1999-11-19
Publication date: 2000-06-28
Anticipated expiration: 2019-11-19
Also published as: GB2345071B; GB9927282D0

Abstract

A masonry wall has a solid load - bearing outer skin and an interior plasterboard skin, this being supported on a bridging stud adhered to both skins with plaster dabs, there being insulation supported in the space between the skins. Also disclosed are a flat rib strengthened mesh, a thinner than conventional brick with attached insulation, a pre-rendered building block, a cast - in - situ reinforced lintel, and a crimped or pleated insulation material.

Description

Improvements relating to masonry walls Cavity walls have certain complications and shortcomings in design and implementation that will become more problematic as performance standards, particularly in respect of insulation and air tightness are upgraded. For instance, in a cavity wall the loadbearing is taken on the inner skin which also, in conjunction with any cavity fill, is the main insulation component of the wall. Many materials used in the inner skin construction, for instance, aerated or lightweight concrete blocks have reached their limits of insulation compatible with their loadbearing requirements.

A solid wall acts in a different manner.

Air tightness and weather protection are provided by the mass of the wall, using diffusion and evaporation to prevent rain penetration. Loadbearing is distributed throughout the full thickness of the wall.

The lower compression characteristics of the solid wall combined with the ever increasing requirements for improved thermal insulation give opportunities for improvement over traditional solid wall such as stone, mud and brick.

(1) Fixing insulation and plasterboard in n masonry walls (As illustrated on attached drawings Nos 1 & 2) This invention relates to plasterboard support and fixing in masonry walls.

There is a need to improve the thermal efficiency of external walls. To achieve this, most walls are constructed of a composite nature incorporating insulation material in the cavity or on the inner face behind the plasterboard.

The common practice for fixing plasterboard to the inner face of masonry walls is by applying plaster or adhesive'dabs'to the wall and pressing the plasterboard into place. Where insulation is positioned behind the plasterboard, the practice is to insert this within timber studs or metal studs (timber and steel frame) and the plasterboard nailed or screw fixed to the frame.

This invention relates to replacing or substituting such frames that are usually separate and independent of the masonry wall and provide a support and fixing mechanism that can be applied to the masonry wall using the practice of'dab' fixing to both the substrate and the applied plasterboard providing a cavity behind the plasterboard for the accommodation of insulation such as flexible or semi rigid fibreglass or rockwell bats or similar. This invention obviates the need for nail or screw fixing of plasterboard normally employed in such situations. The invention can provide middle or edge support for plasterboard.

This invention will be designed and comprise of such materials to minimise any cold bridging between the masonry substrata and the plasterboard inner face.

The invention may be used in combination with other plasterboard support and fixing methods such as thickened or protruding masonry (around window and door openings for instance and at floor level for skirting support) and timber battens or similar where appropriate.

This invention will be constructed from extruded UPVC, nylon, galvanised metal expanded mesh or similar or a combination of such materials.

The form shall comprise an I Section on plan consisting of a central rib and two perpendicular faces of mesh formation that will act as a'bed'seating and fixing for the plaster or adhesive'dabs'as shown on attached drawing No 1.

The inner face junction of the central rib and mesh face may be thickened or another material such as timber lathe inserted to provide additional fixing either for the plasterboard or other finish material or fixtures and fitting subsequently applied to the wall (fig 3).

A further invention relating to a similar purpose in masonry walls consists of a flat, rib strengthened mesh strip that will support plasterboard by acting as a bridge support between protruding or thickened masonry on the inner face as shown in fig 4 again fixed by means of plaster/adhesive dabs again with the main purpose of accommodating insulation in the void created.

Drawing No 2 is an illustrative drawing of a cut away wall showing typical situations where both inventions are to be utilised.

(2) Improvement relating to brick facing to masonry walls (As illustrated in attached dwg No 3) Solid walls constructed using wide lightweight concrete blocks or a compound of thinner blocks or other materials are usually made weatherproof by externally applied render or brick facing skin.

Standard bricks are 100mm (4") wide, which is the width of bed required for them to form an independent one brick thick wall as is the general case in cavity walls.

This bed width is more than required when used primarily as a facing tied into, up against and integral with a solid block wall. Furthermore, this thickness is more than required (in normal conditions) for weatherproofing.

Brick slips 10-15mm thick are available but these act in the manner of applied tiling, too thin to facilitate brick ties with the backing wall and thus do not act as a cohesive, integral part of the solid wall.

Brick slips are used, applied to a polystyrene backing sheet that is mechanically fixed to the substate wall in the patented system known as 'Eurobrick'. Again this is an applied system not designed to integrate with and maintain the cohesive characteristics of a solid wall.

This invention relates to the design of a brick, or brick face or group of bricks that can be bedded and laid in the normal bricklaying manner, can be tied in with the main body of the wall but are thinner than standard bricks. Because they are thinner and thus lighter, a number of brick faces may be incorporated in one mould thus facilitating faster laying.

It is envisaged that the brick will be approximately half the thickness of standard bricks. The back of the brick will be indented or serrated, which will leave air voids between the backing wall and the brick facing, which will improve the overall insulation of the wall but also act as draining vents in the event of build up of excess moisture (heavy wind driven rain) in the wall.

The brick clusters will be arranged in brick bonds as shown on attached drawing No 3. Stretcher or half brick bond clusters will require a corner brick to complete coursing around corners and reveals. Use of quarter bond, flemish or English garden wall bond in a cluster, half the normal brick thickness ie. a quarter thick, will enable bonding and interlocking around corners and reveals as illustrated on drawing No 3 fig 5.

A brick cluster consisting of one header and one stretcher above two stretchers in a quarter bond will, when handed and inverted, form flemish bond brickwork with an interlocking quarter bond at corners and reveals.

Additional insulation could be applied to the back of the bricks, polystyrene or similar. The back of the insulation would be indented or serrated to accommodate mortar, to allow a close, solid and snug fit with the backing wall and ensure'solidness'of the entire wall.

The insulation would be in line with the bottom of the bricks and the right hand perpend but could project a joint's thickness at the top and left hand perpend to ensure continuous insulation behind the joints. Brick ties projecting from the backing wall would penetrate the insulation and tie the facing brick in the normal manner.

(3) Factory applied render to solid wall lightweight blocks (As illustrated in attached drawing No 4) As with wet plaster on the inside of the walls, wet site applied render on the outside can involve Health and Safety problems, is dependant on weather conditions (too hot and dry and the render will not set properly, whilst too wet and smearing and slumping can be problems) and is an additional delayed operation often involving extended use of scaffolding.

This invention relates to a factory applied render face to the blocks which will do away with these problems. Render can be applied to the blocks under controlled factory conditions, ensuring that the moisture content of the mortar and block applied are ideal for thorough and consistent setting and curing of the render. To avoid damage in stacking and handling the render finish would be bevel edged with these edges being scored or keyed to provide firm keying with on site jointing and flushing to create continuous render finish to the entire wall surface.

Furthermore, the wide face of the joint facilitated by the bevelling would enable the site applied joint finish to be firmly pressed into the joint and the relatively wide joint would smooth out and fade in any slight alignment discrepancies of the blocks and with a'bagged', flushed or brushed finish will fade in with the applied render finish on the block to provide a continuous attractive finish in itself or with applied decoration.

(4) In situ cast lintels utilising lightweight/aerated block or similar (As illustrated in attached drawing No 5) The integrity, cohesion and insulation of solid walls is invariably compromised by the inclusion of steel or precaste concrete lintels within such walls. Some lightweight/aerated concrete block manufacturers have overcome this by manufacturing lintels out of the same lightweight/aerated concrete with the inclusion of metal reinforcement rods and cage cast within the lintel. Such lintels are relatively expensive and not universally available and not always compatible with other lightweight block materials.

This invention relates to a method of forming lintels from lightweight block in situ and in the ongoing process of block laying. The object is to place and bond in continuous steel reinforcing rods to the bottom of block course to enable the combination to act in tension below and compression above.

Method A rigid formwork of timber is constructed within the opening required. Side supports are firmly fixed to the jambs of the opening and stout temporary opening support corresponding to the block thickness is firmly fixed to these supports.

This temporary lintel or formwork contains an upstanding bead or similar corresponding to a recess in the preformed/preshaped lintel blocks which fit over the beading and are thus firmly held in position and can resist the lateral thrust applied when the grout/mortar is firmly trowelled into the recess and around the reinforcing rods.

The preformed lintel blocks are thus placed in position and required steel reinforcing rods are positioned in the recesses created, by plastic snap on spacers. (As illustrated in attached drawing No 5). The recess surface of the blocks are scored and indented to provide a firm key to grout/mortar pressed in and around the reinforcement rods. Lintel blocks and reinforcement straddle the opening and extend over support blockwork to provide support for the lintel. Grout/mortar of designed consistency to provide maximum adhesion to the reinforcement rods and keying to the lintel block is then firmly pressed into the chamfered recess.

Blocklaying can then continue over. If required steel mesh joint reinforcement can be added to upper courses to provide added strength to the lintel formation. Temporary support formwork can be removed when the grout/mortar has set and hardened to the required strength.

(5) Pleated/crimped insulation lining to plasterboard dry lining to include insulation in wet plaster. (As illustrated in attached drawing No 6) Wet plastering to walls is becoming less popular because of the Health and Safety problems associated, also because of the drying out problems and because it does not aid the thermal insulation of the wall.

Whether in cavity or solid wall construction plasterboard dry lining, either plain plasterboard applied to the wall on plaster dabs, leaving an air space between wall and plasterboard thus improving insulation or plasterboard factory backed and bonded to insulation board, polystyrene or similar again applied with plaster dabs is increasingly employed to comply with increasing thermal performance standards required under the Building Regulations.

To reduce the wet plaster content and thus reduce subsequent drying out, and to improve insulation whilst maintaining the solid characteristics and fixing qualities, this invention is to insert a vertically crimped or pleated insulation material, polystyrene or similar within the body of the plaster.

The rolled out or sheet of crimped/pleated insulation material would be fixed to the substrate wall by plaster or adhesive dabs or in addition or alternatively holes or slots would be provided in the indents of pleats abutting the wall giving widespread and continuous mini dab support by the wet applied plaster squeezing through to create suction and adhesion as illustrated on attached drawing.

The profile of the pleats/crimps would be rectangular or parallelagram jigsaw or dovetail as shown on attached drawing No: Insulation backed plasterboard is relatively expensive and can be a source of subsequent fixing problems ie. screws/rawplugs not reaching and getting support from backing wall. Plasterboard on dabs with air gap, whilst improving insulation, is somewhat hit and miss in doing so and thus it is difficult to assess and include in SAP ratings.

This invention relates to the insertion of a crimped/pleated insulating liner between the wall and the plasterboard lining. The confined air pockets created by the folds would contain the air and prevent the convection effect and heat losses associated with the unfettered air spaces of existing plasterboard and dab practice as well as adding insulation values of the insulating lining itself.

The flexible, deformable nature of the pleated liner would accommodate any irregularities, defect, misalignment or mortar projection of the backing wall.

(One of the problems with factory applied rigid insulation backed plasterboard is that inner face alignment has to coincide with the full extent of any projections or irregularities in the backing wall leaving considerable gaps behind large sections exacerbating'hollowness'and fixing and support strength problems.) The liner would be applied in the conventional manner of plaster dabs ie. plaster dabs on the wall, liner pressed into position, and in the same operation, plaster dabs applied to the inner face of the liner and the plasterboard pressed and tamped into position. Should the adhesion of the plaster dabs to the face of the insulation liner be a problem, or the result is too slippy to support the plasterboard in position, whilst the dabs are setting, then the liner could be perforated at dab positions to facilitate continuous plaster contact between backing wall and plasterboard as in existing practice. The liner is illustrated on drawing No Alternatively, the lining could be applied firstly, either factory applied or on site, to the plasterboard and the combination applied and pressed to the plaster dabs, applied to the wall.

KEY SHEET DRAWING NOS: 1,2,3,4,5, & 6 Drawing No 1 Fig 1 Isometric drawing of bridge Fig 2 Plan section of bridge fixing showing plaster/adhesive dabs fixing to substrate wall and plasterboard and insulation in cavity Fig 3 Plan section of bridge fixing showing thickened inner face junction with timber insert for additional fixing and strength Fig 4 Isometric drawing showing flat ribbed support dab fixed to protruding masonry Drawing No 2 Isometric drawing of typical masonry wall showing bridge support and flat ribbed support to plasterboard and insulation in cavity formed Drawing No 3 Fig 1 Plan of brick showing plain brick, indented brick and indented brick with applied insulation Fig 2 Isometric drawing showing cluster of 4No stretcher bond with indents and applied insulation insitu Fig 3 Alternative clusters Fig 4 Corner brick for stretcher bond Fig 5 Isometric drawing of corner showing 2No clusters of stretcher and header over 2No stretchers inverted and bonding at reveals Drawing No 4 Section of aercrete block wall showing pre applied render, bevelled reveal and site applied joint filling to form continuous render finish KEY SKEET Drawing No 5 Fig 1 Isometric drawing of part assembled in situ lintel showing formwork, pre formed blocks sitting over location and stabiliser lathe on formwork, reinforcing rods held in place by snap fixing plastic spacers and mesh joint reinforcing in bed course over Fig 2 Section through lintel showing formwork, location and stabiliser lather, reinforcement bars grouted and jointed Drawing No 6 Fig 1 Isometric of vertical pleated/crimped insulation material showing possible slotting and cut away wet plaster applied squeezing the slots to create adhesion of composite Fig 2 Plan section of wall showing bedded insulation material at a right-angle/parallelogram, jigsaw and dovetail profile Fig 3 Isometric drawing of wall showing pleated/crimped liner fixed by plaster/adhesive dabs either each side of liner or continuously through holes or slots and plasterboard similarly fixed.

Claims

CLANS Improvements relating to masonry walls (1) A masonry wall incorporating a bridge mechanism for fixing and support to plasterboard, fixed to the substate masonry by means of plaster or adhesive dabs with the plasterboard similarly fixed and providing accommodation and support for insulation material within the cavity.

(2) A bridge support as claimed in claim 1 with inner face thickened and strengthened or material such as timber inserted to provide additional support and fixing for the inner lining material or fixture and fittings applied to the wall.

(3) A flat rib strengthened mesh strip that will provide plasterboard fixing and support that can be fixed to protruding masonry by means of plaster or adhesive dabs and the plasterboard can be fixed and supported by similar means.

(4) An I section bridge and flat section plasterboard support claimed in the preceding claims which is made from plastic, nylon, metal, expanded mesh or similar, incorporating timber or from a combination of these materials.

(5) An I section and flat section plasterboard support and fixing as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings Nos 1 &
2.

(6) A masonry wall incorporating an outer skin comprising of one or more brick material faces, grouped together to form various brick bonds, thinner on bed than conventional bricks and applied to the body of the wall with mortar and ties in normal bricklaying manner.

(7) A thinner brick cluster facing as claimed in claim 5 with the back face indented or serrated to create voids which will improve insulation and provide draining cavities to drain away excess moisture.

CLAIMS (8) A brick cluster consisting of one header and one stretcher above two stretchers quarter bonded, approximately half the thickness of conventional bricks which when handed and inverted will form flemish bond brickwork with interlocking quarter bond at corners and reveals (9) Brick facing cluster as claimed in any preceding claim which has pre applied insulation material, polystyrene or similar bonded to the back face, the back face of which is serrated or indented to facilitate bedding to the substate and which at the top and one side extends or protrudes by mortar joint thickness to provide continuous backing insulation.

(10) Brick facing clusters as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing No
3.

(11) A masonry wall incorporating aercrete blocks that has an outer render finish pre applied or factory applied to the outer face.

(12) Aercrete blocks as claimed in claim 9 where the pre applied render face is bevel edged to reduce damage and chipping during handling.

(13) Aercrete blocks as claimed in claims 9 and 10 where the bevel edge is scored and serrated to provide a key for site applied joint filling.

(14) Aercrete blocks as claimed in claims 9,10, and 11 where the bevel edge provides a wide face to the site applied joint which would smooth out and fade in slight alignment discrepancies in the laid blocks, and provide a smooth and flush continuous render finish.

(15) The applied or factory applied rendered aerate blocks as herein described and illustrated on the accompanying drawing No 4 CLAIMS (16) A masonry wall of aercrete blocks incorporating a lintel formed in situ from a combination of preshaped aercrete blocks, steel reinforcement, spacers and formwork.

(17) Aercrete blocks as claimed in claim 13 that have on the bottom face, tapered edge recesses to accommodate reinforcement bars and a central rectangular recess to fit over a upstanding timber bead on the formwork to securely hold the lintel blocks in place and resist lateral pressure when applying mortar or grout around the reinforcing bars.

(18) Wedge shaped plastic or similar material spacer supports that correspond to the tapered recesses of the aercrete blocks that have holes that correspond to the positioning of the required steel reinforcement bars and that are split into these holes so that they can be snap fitted onto the reinforcement bars and the combination pushed into the block/formwork recess and the reinforcement held securely and accurately in position.

(19) A combined in situ lintel as claimed in any preceding claims, which with the formwork is self supporting and where the blocklaying courses over can proceed without interruption or delay whilst the reinforcement is being placed, grouted, cured and the formwork struck.

(20) A combined in situ lintol as claimed in any preceding claims where steel mesh joint reinforcement can be added to upper joint courses to add strength to the lintel formation.

(21) An insitu aercrete block lintel as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing No 5 CLAIMS (22) A masonry wall where a vertically crimped or pleated insulation material, polystyrene or similar is bedded in the wet plaster inner finish to reduce wet plaster content and subsequent drying out and to improve insulation, whilst maintaining the solidness and firm fixing characteristics of a masonry wall.

(23) A pleated or crimped insulation material as claimed in claim 18 which will be fixed by plaster dabs to the substrate or will contain a series of holes or slots to provide fixing and support to the applied wet plaster by this plaster squeezing through the insulation to bond with the substrate wall.

(24) A pleated or crimped insulation material as claimed in any aforementioned claims where the wet plaster pressed into the vertical recess will, on setting provide strength and rigidity to the combined formation.

(25) A masonry wall where a vertically or horizontally pleated or crimped insulation material polystyrene or similar is situated behind the plasterboard inner face, to accommodate irregularities in the substrate wall, provide improved insulation and contain air movement and convection in the cavity.

(26) An insulation liner as claimed in claim 25 that can be fixed by plaster or adhesive dabs to the substrate wall and the plasterboard applied to the insulation line by similar means or where the liner is perforated or slotted at dab support positions to allow a continuous bond between substate wall and plasterboard through dabs.

(27) An insulation liner as claimed in preceding claims that is pre applied or factory applied to plasterboard.

CLAIMS (28) Pleated or crimped insulation material set in wet plaster or positioned behind plasterboard as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings No 6 (29) A masonry wall comprising of any combination of any two or more of the above claims.