GB2419899A

GB2419899A - Fascia board assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2419899A
Application number: GB0424412A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Simpson
Original assignee: SBP Ltd
Current assignee: SBP Ltd
Priority date: 2004-11-04
Filing date: 2004-11-04
Publication date: 2006-05-10
Also published as: GB0424412D0

Abstract

A fascia board assembly for mounting fascia boards (30) to building structures comprising a fascia board (30) with a rear mounting surface (32) provided with fastening means (34) and at least one mounting means (36) for mounting the fascia board (30) on the structure. The mounting means (36) have cooperating means (38) adapted to engage the fastening means (34), and further comprise fixing means (40) to fix the fascia board assembly to the building structure.

Description

FASCIA BOARDS

The present invention relates to roofline fascia boards, in particular a system for concealably mounting a fascia board on buildings.

Conventional roofing structures for buildings include rafter beams for supporting a roof covering such as tiles. A fascia board is typically positioned along the ends of the rafter beams to help prevent damage to the roof, for example by weather and animals. Fascias can also add a decorative aspect to the building.

Traditionally, fascia boards are manufactured from wood. Plastic roofline fascias have now taken the majority of the housing refurbishment market from wooden materials and are now commonly also specified for new housing construction by most major UK housebuilders. Such plastic fascias are typically manufactured from extruded cellular PVC.

Such plastic fascias have visible surface nails or screws, unlike wooden fascias where the fixings are countersunk, filled, sanded and painted over to provide a flush finish. Plastic fascia boards are most commonly fixed with ring-shanked metal nails of 2-3mm diameter, whose heads are weatherproofed with a frustro-conical plastic cap of around 12mm diameter, injection moulded over the nail head.

Using nails to mount the fascia board on the rafter beams has several drawbacks. The capped nail is highly visible and strongly detracts from the appearance of the fascia board and suffers from a number of known defects. The plastic cap of the nail can be a different shade to the fascia board, whereby it is visibly more prominent. This is caused by the difficulty in matching colour of extrusion and moulding compounds for this application and the diversity of colours on sale.

The colour of the plastic cap of the nail can also to change relative to the fascia board colour under the effects of weathering over time. This can happen as a result of its manufacture from a different process, typically injection moulding, which uses a different base polymer and a different ingredient mix of colour pigments, weathering stabilisers and processing additives to the fascia board, which is a thermoplastic extrusion.

The fixing nail can also corrode, causing a brown ring to form around the circumference of the plastic cap. This is particularly noticeable on white fascia boards exposed to salt laden winds in coastal areas. Similarly, it is known for a grey ring to form around the circumference of the plastic cap due to retention of atmospheric dirt precipitated by rainfall. Again, this is particularly noticeable on white fascia boards in areas of greater air pollution.

Also, it is known that there are specific colour matching problems between the plastic cap of the fixing nail and the coloured or woodgrain effect of cellular PVC which has been decorated with a multi-layer, multi- colour printed foil laminated to its visible surfaces. As these woodgrain fascias are growing in popularity and are at the top of the market price range it is important to be able to mount fascias without spoiling the fascia finish, which not only detracts from their aesthetic value and so the value of the building, but also detracts from the desire to use this type of fascia on buildings.

Furthermore, it is known for the plastic cap to be cracked or detached as the nail is hammered home. Similarly, the fascia board itself can be damaged by hammer blows when driving the plastic capped nail fully home.

Therefore, conventional nail mounting of fascia boards by nails can lead to time Consuming and expensive repairs.

Furthermore, it can be difficult and time consuming to secure the fascia to individual rafter beams uniformly and in a straight line. For example, the rafter beams may be of different lengths or otherwise out of alignment. If the fascia panel is not fixed uniformly along the length of the building then problems can arise such as bends in the fascia, which not only is unsightly but also can cause problems in the guttering, which is often attached to the fascia. This can lead to, for example, problems with poor drainage in the gutter, as will be the case if the fascia deforms through thermal variations.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved assembly for mounting a fascia to a building.

In a first aspect of the invention there is provided an fascia board assembly for mounting fascia boards to building structures, said assembly comprising: a fascia board with a rear mounting surface provided with fastening means; at least one mounting means for mounting said fascia board on said structure, wherein the mounting means has cooperating means adapted to engage said fastening means; wherein the mounting means further comprises fixing means to fix the fascia board assembly to the building structure.

Preferably, the cooperating means for securely engaging said fascia fastening means allow movement of the fascia relative to the mounting means.

An advantage of providing such a fascia board assembly is that it may be concealably mounted, removing the need for using plastic capped nails and screws through the face of the fascia board.

Furthermore, mounting plastic fascia boards using nails or screws means that there is little or no provision for thermal expansion and contraction of the boards. Restricting such movement can cause permanent deformation of the fascia board. The problem is particularly acute with darker colours and wood grained fascia boards, which can absorb more heat, and these may reach temperatures of around 70 C when exposed to prolonged sunshine. As an example of the possible problems faced by not providing for thermal expansion and contraction, if a fascia was first fixed to a building during the winter months at 0 C then a 10 metre run of fascia will expand by 35mm, given that the thermal coefficient of expansion for PVC is 5x105m/ C.

The fascia board assembly described above addresses problems caused by thermal expansion by providing for the effects of expansion to be catered for, but still providing a secure fixing means for the fascia board to a building.

The fascia board may be manufactured from plastic. In particular, the fascia board may be manufactured from cellular PVC.

Preferably, the fastening means are machined from the fascia board after the fascia boards have been formed by extrusion tooling.

Typically, features in cellular PVC boards would be formed using the extrusion tooling. However, the formation of such features can lead to reduced output speeds, higher scrap and more tooling machine downtime as the tooling is difficult and time consuming to clean after the extrudate has broken and molten plastic has solidified. Furthermore, such cleaning often leads to damage of the highly polished surfaces necessary for the extrusion process. It is a common occurrence for the extrudate to break during the extrusion process.

Accordingly, by machining the features of the fastening means in the fascia boards, it is possible to avoid the disadvantages of forming them in the extrusion tooling.

Preferably, the fastening means comprises profiled inset slots.

Alternatively, the fastening means comprises profiled raised rails.

Preferably, the mounting means may comprise a triangular portion.

Preferably, the fixing means may be elongate slots arranged in the mounting means.

Preferably, the fixing means may be arranged symmetrically about a rotational axis of the mounting means.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mounting bracket for a mounting a fascia board on a building comprising at least one cooperating means adapted to securely engage the fascia board and provide for movement of the fascia relative to the mounting bracket.

The mounting bracket is provided with fixing holes to fix the fascia board to a building structure.

Preferably, the mounting bracket comprises a triangular portion and has the fixing holes arranged symmetrically about a rotational axis of the mounting means such that a second such mounting bracket can be inverted and rotated through 1800 to be laid over the first mounting bracket so that the fixing holes of each mounting bracket are aligned over each other.

By providing the mounting bracket with such symmetrical configuration, it is possible to use more than one bracket to fix a fascia board to a building. With this arrangement a secure fixing can be obtained with any roof pitch.

The fixing holes in the bracket can be elongated slots. This provides for the level fitting of a fascia board onto a building despite irregularities in the rafter end the bracket is to be attached to.

The mounting bracket can also be mounted on either side of a rafter end rather than overlaid on top of each other.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of concealably mounting the fascia boards described above, wherein a first mounting means is securely engaged to a fascia board by the cooperating means, a second mounting means is rotated and inverted with respect to the first mounting means, and the second mounting means is laid over the first mounting means such that at least some of the fixing means of each mounting means are aligned. The fascia board assembly can then be fixed to the structure by nails or the like.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing PVC fascia boards wherein fastening means are machined into a surface after the fascia boards have been formed by extrusion tooling.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows schematically a side view of a known form of fascia assembly; Figure 2 shows schematically a side view of a fascia assembly according to the invention; Figure 3 shows schematically a side view of a fascia assembly fitted to a building according to the invention; and Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a fascia assembly according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows schematically a known form of fascia assembly attached to a building, viewed from the side. There is shown a building wall 10, roof 12, and rafter end 14. A fascia board 16 is fixed to the rafter end 14 by means of nails 18. Also shown is soffit 20 and gutter 22. The gutter is also attached to the rafter end 14 by nails 18.

As can be seen in Figure 1, nails 18 fix the fascia board 16 to the rafter end 14. The nails have to pierce the fascia board, which can lead to splitting and other damage. If the rafter ends are not well aligned or are different lengths then it can be difficult to mount the fascia boards squarely.

Figure 2 shows schematically a fascia assembly according to the present invention. Like reference numerals indicate like features. There is shown a fascia board 30 with a rear mounting surface 32 and fastening means 34, a mounting means 36 with cooperating means 38 and fixing means 40.

As shown, the rear mounting surface 32 has fastening means 34 for fastening the fascia board to the mounting means 36. The fastening means 34 is here shown as an inset slot with a substantially T cross-section. The slot extends along the whole length of the rear mounting surface 32 of the fascia board 30.

The cooperating means 38 of mounting means 36 is a projection with a profile substantially matching that of the fastening means 34, again in this example a T cross-section. The cooperating means 38 can securely engage the fastening means 34 in the fascia board 30 so that after engagement one edge of the mounting means 34 is substantially at right angles to the rear-mounting surface 32 of the fascia board 30.

Once the fascia board 30 is securely engaged to the mounting means 36, the mounting means 36 can be fixed to a side of the rafter end 14. For example, the mounting means 36 can be screwed, bolted or nailed to the rafter end 14.

The cooperating means 38 of mounting means 36 is fabricated to give a secure fit with the fastening means 34 of the fascia board but has a margin of travel that allows a degree of movement of the fascia board 30 in relationship to the mounting means 40. Because the fascia board 30 is not rigidly fixed between any two points, as would be the case if mounted using, for example, nails, this degree of freedom compensates for effects of thermal expansion and contraction. The fascia board is therefore not constrained along its length by the cooperating means 38.

The fixing means 40 can be in the form of slots to provide for the level fitting of the fascia board 30 where there are irregularities in the length of the rafter ends they are to be fixed to. The slots allow the fascia board 30 a degree of movement to align with the building on which they are to be fitted.

The fixing means 40 are arranged about a rotational axis of symmetry 42, here indicated by an "x". When rotated through 180 from an initial position and then inverted, the transformed position of at least one fixing means aligns with at least one of the fixing means in an initial position.

The profile and direction of the fastening means 38 will remain unchanged. In the example shown in Figure 2, the mounting means is triangular, but any suitable shape allowing the symmetric distribution of the fixing means 38 while maintaining the same relationship to the cooperating means is possible.

Figure 3 shows schematically a fascia assembly fitted to a building according to the invention. Building wall 10 and soffit 20 have been omitted for clarity. Like numerals indicate like features.

Two mounting means 36, 50 are shown. Each mounting means is securely engaged to the fascia board 30 by cooperating means 38 and 52. The second mounting means 50 is rotated 180 and inverted with respect to the first mounting means 36. The second mounting means 50 is laid over the first mounting means 36 such that at least some of fixing means 38, 52 of each mounting means are aligned.

The position of the two mounting means 40 can be adjusted to provide securing fixing of the fascia assembly at any roof pitch.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a fascia assembly according to the invention. As discussed above, the fastening means 32 of the fascia board can take the form of a slot running the length of the fascia board.

Alternatively, as illustrated in Figure 4, the fastening means can be in the form of rails 60 extending from the rear mounting surface 34 of the fascia board 30. In this case the cooperating means 62 of mounting means is shaped as a slot to securely receive and engage the rail.

As discussed above the profile of the fastening means 60 and cooperating means 62 can be substantially T-shaped, or whatever profile allows for securely engaging the fascia board 30 to the mounting means 36. This is true for the slot-based arrangement shown in Figures 2 and 3, and the rail based arrangement illustrated in Figure 4.

The fascia board can be manufactured from any suitable plastic, for example extruded cellular PVC. The mounting means can be moulded from a suitable polymer, or manufactured in metal.

Because the mounting means 36 only has one point of engagement with the fascia board 30, it is possible to twist the mounting means 36 into position on the provided fastening means 32 rather sliding it along the full length of the fascia board 30, as would be the case for other types of mounting means with multiple engagement points. In such a case it is possible to have closed panels pre-fixed or moulded on the ends of the fascia board.

The mounting means can be used in pairs, for example one fixed to either side of the rafter end 14. This would occur where the design of the rafter ends restricted the area available for fixing to the extent that the area of the inverted overlaid mounting means could not be accommodated.

Fascia boards manufactured from extruded PVC can have the appropriate slots or rails machined into the rear-mounting surface 34. This approach is advantageous as forming them during the plastic extrusion stage leads a to reduced output speeds, higher scrap and more downtime as the tooling is difficult to and time-consuming to clean after the extrusion has broken and molten plastic solidified.

Claims

1. A fascia board assembly for mounting fascia boards to building structures, said assembly comprising: a fascia board with a rear mounting surface provided with fastening means; at least one mounting means for mounting said fascia board on said structure, wherein the mounting means have cooperating means adapted to engage said fastening means; wherein the mounting means further comprise fixing means to fix the fascia board assembly to the building structure.

2. A fascia board assembly according to claim 1, wherein the cooperating means for securely engaging said fascia fastening means allow movement of the fascia relative to the mounting means.

3. A fascia board assembly according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the fascia board is manufactured from plastic.

4. A fascia board assembly according to claim 3 wherein the fascia board is manufactured from cellular PVC.

5. A fascia board assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the fastening means are machined from the fascia board after the fascia board has been formed by extrusion tooling.

6. A fascia board assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the fastening means comprise profiled inset slots.

7. A fascia board assembly according to any one of claims 1-5 wherein the fastening means comprise profiled raised rails.

8. A fascia board assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the mounting means comprise a triangular portion.

9. A fascia board assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the fixing means are elongate slots arranged in the mounting means.

10. A fascia board assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the fixing means are arranged symmetrically about a rotational axis of the mounting means.

11. A mounting bracket for mounting a fascia board on a building comprising at least one cooperating means adapted to securely engage the fascia board and provide for movement of the fascia board relative to the mounting bracket.

12. A mounting bracket according to claim 11 wherein the mounting bracket is provided with fixing holes to fix the fascia board to a building structure.

13. A mounting bracket according to claim 12 wherein the mounting bracket comprises a triangular portion and has the fixing holes arranged symmetrically about a rotational axis of the mounting means such that a second such mounting bracket can be inverted and rotated through 180 to be laid over the first mounting bracket so that the fixing holes of each mounting bracket are aligned over each other.

14. A mounting bracket according to either claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the fixing holes in the bracket are elongated slots.

15. A method of concealably mounting the fascia board assembly of any one of claims I to 10, wherein a first mounting means is securely engaged to a fascia board by the cooperating means, a second mounting means is rotated and inverted with respect to the first mounting means, the second mounting means is laid over the first mounting means such that at least some of the fixing means of each mounting means are aligned, and the fascia board assembly is fixed to the structure.

16. A method of manufacturing PVC fascia boards wherein fastening means are machined into a surface after the fascia boards have been formed by extrusion tooling.

17. A fascia board assembly for mounting fascia boards to building structures substantially as described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying Figures 2 to 4.

18. A mounting bracket for mounting a fascia board on a building substantially as described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying Figures 2 to 4.

19. A method of concealably mounting a fascia board assembly substantially as described herein and as illustrated in the accompanying Figures 2-4.

20. A method of manufacturing PVC fascia boards substantially as described herein.