GB2114626A

GB2114626A - Supporting brick panels

Info

Publication number: GB2114626A
Application number: GB08233085A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Fordham Speaight Pryke
Original assignee: Pynford Ltd
Current assignee: Pynford Ltd
Priority date: 1981-11-19
Filing date: 1982-11-19
Publication date: 1983-08-24
Also published as: GB2114626B

Abstract

A beam (3) is attached at or near the bottom edge of a wall panel (1) by means of a hard setting synthetic resin, to support the wall whilst an opening is formed therein below the beam. This method of wall support can also be used when moving buildings. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Supporting brick panels The present invention relates to a method of supporting a brick panel and in the context of the present invention the term "brick" includes masonry, concrete and lightweight building blocks, and other similar block materials used in building walls.

The requirement to support a brick panel arises frequently in underpinning and other reconstructional building techniques. A particularly well-known technique of ours for providing a high level lintel beam or a low level underpinning beam in a wall involves the construction of a beam by inserting stools at horizontally spaced positions in the wall and with the intervening wall between the stools cut away and the wall above temporarily supported by the stools, inserting reinforcement, erecting formwork, and casting an in situ reinforced concrete beam in the wall.

Although very successful the construction of such a beam is a lengthy operation requiring firstly the cutting out of a number of apertures in the wall, the insertion into the apertures of the stools, the removal of the remaining brick areas between the stools and the positioning of considerable amounts of formwork prior to the casting-in of the concrete beam.There are other building operations which also require the provision of a support for a brick panel such as a wall, for example when re-levelling buildings which have slipped due to subsidence, where the normal technique is to cast an in situ reinforced concrete beam as described above and thereafter, by placing jacks at suitable points along the beam, adjust the position of the beam and thus the wall on top of it to a new position, thereafter new footings or packing up between the beam and existing footings being provided underneath the beam.

When a beam is used to support a brick panel it is primarily required to act as a tie and it is not necessary for the beam to be able to stand bending stresses of the order of those generated by independently movable loads at beam level, due to the supporting effect of the "arch" above the beam. This is because the load of the panel on the beam is not uniformly distributed along the length of the beam, but is concentrated at its ends, 1 lower weight concentrations towards the centre of the beam resulting from the arch support effect of the interlocking brickwork above.

With these considerations in mind therefore and in accordance with the present invention a method of supporting a brick panel comprises attaching a beam to the face of the brick panel at or near its bottom edge by means of a hard setting synthetic resin.

The term "beam" is used in its broadest sense to mean any rigid elongate element which can provide tensile strength and local resistance against bending. Preferably, however, the beam is a simple elongate metal plate one face of which is bonded to the face of the brickwork by the synthetic resin.

Such a method of supporting a brick panel has many uses and in particular it is envisaged that the method may be used to provide a temporary support for a brick panel which is to be permanently supported by an in situ reinforced concrete bean or steel I-beam for example. Thus, the method of the invention may be used in place of the well known existing technique mentioned above, by avoiding the requirement for the insertion of stools at horizontally spaced positions in the wall, so that, for example, the whole length of the brickwork which is to be replaced by the concrete beam can be cut out in one operation rather than in several as is presently the case, and also avoiding the need for extensive amounts of formwork over and above that required simply to form the faces of the beam, and expensive stooling.

Preferably, the method of the invention will be used on both faces of a brick panel, the beams or plates on either side of the panel being pre-coated with the hard setting synthetic resin and then held against the faces of the panel until the resin has cured. This may be done by means of nuts screwed onto bolts positioned in holes drilled through the panel. The plates or beam do not require to be highly tightened against the face of the panel, but there must be sufficient force to ensure a highiy tenacious bond between the beam or plate and the face of the panel.Thus, it is envisaged that when the panel to be supported is a panel in a cavity wall, a single beam on the outside of each of the skins of the wall would be sufficient, and could be provided in the same way, that is to say tightened against the outer surfaces of the skins by bolts passing through the wall, without disturbing the spacing of the cavity.

The technique may be used in the formation of a high level lintel beam or a low level underpinning beam for example, or it may be used to provide temporary support for the wall of a building which requires to be repositioned after slippage, the method of the invention being used to support the wall whilst jacking operations are carried out to level the wall and whilst the foundations are made good beneath it, the method thus taking the place of the conventional method of constructing an in situ reinforced concrete beam. Again, where a building is to be moved from one position to another, the method of the invention could be used, avoiding the need for expensive construction of in situ concrete beams.

Whilst it is envisaged that the technique of the invention will have its greatest application in the provision of temporary supports for brick panels, the same technique could be used to form a permanent support in which case it may be required to provide an outer shield to the beam if the particular synthetic resin used is affected by heat, the outer shield providing any required degree of fire resistance.

Depending on the length of the brick panel to be supported, in some cases it may be desired to support the centre of the beam either from below or from a point above the arch line in the panel by means of ties acting either in compression or tension depending upon position or by a Pynford stool, thus substantially reducing the number of such stools which would otherwise be required.

When the beam is supported from above it may be supported from a similar beam positioned higher up the panel.

Whilst the method of the invention has generally been described with reference to a simple plate forming the beam, it is envisaged that beams of different sections could be used similarly, particularly where for example jacking of the brick panel is required, in which case an L or C-(Channel) section beam might be attached to the face of panel or slightly recessed from it.

One example of a method according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view on the face of a part of a wall; and, Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-section on the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

The drawings show a single-skined conventional brick wall 1 in which it is desired to form an opening between lines 2 for a door, window or the like. In order to support that part of the wall which will lie above the opening a mild steel metal plate 3 of sufficient width to span the opening and to be supported by a column suitable thickness on either side of the opening is offered up to the wall. The metal plate or beam has holes 4 drilled through it at, for example, substantially 3 foot centres, and the wall is marked through the holes (the wall having been suitably cleaned of any paint or other surface coating prior to offering up of the beam) and the plate than taken away from the wall.

Holes 5 are then drilled through the wall and bolts 6 inserted.

The beam can then be coated with a hard setting synthetic resin such as Pynford Blue Resin which is a two part synthetic resin having an epoxy resin base mixed with a suitable hardner and containing a thixotropic additive and a mineral filler, the beam having been prepared by grit blasting and degreasing so as to be as clean as possible. The beam is then offered up to the wall and pushed over the bolts, nuts 7 then being tightened up against the outer face of the plate 3 to hold the plate against the wall while the resin 8 cures.

If desired, depending upon the thickness of the wall, the size of the opening etc., one plate might be provided on each side of the wall.

The method of the invention has also been used to provide a support beam at the base of the wall in a house. At the base of a cavity wall an in-situ reinforced concrete beam was first formed underneath one skin of the wall and extending across the cavity between the two skins of the wall, the beam thus being about 6 inches wide and about 12 inches depth. Mild steel plates of 6 inch depth and + inch thickness drilled at 3 foot centres were then offered up to the other skin of the wall and the wall marked for the drilling of holes. 2 inch holes were then drilled through the skin of the wall and into the concrete beam on the other side.Stud bolts with washers and nuts on them were then loosely positioned through the holes in the beam and the pre-cleaned and degreased bolts and beam then coated with a hard setting synthetic resin and offered up to the wall, the holes in the wall being filled with the same resin. The studs of the bolts were inserted into the resin filled holes and the beam held against the face of the wall until the resin had at least partially cured. At a predetermined stage in the method at which time the studs were securely bonded into the holes, the nuts were tightened up to increase the pressure of the beam against the face of the wall.

In order to support a wall over its complete length a series of resin-bonded plates are used, adjacent plates being joined together by gusset plates bolted onto the main plates. The holes for the bolts through the plates are preferably provided along the centre line of the plate.

It will be appreciated that the methods described above can be used in various situations to provide support for a brick or like panel and the term brick has been used throughout the specification to include masonry, concrete, lightweight building blocks and other similar block materials used in building walls.

Claims

1. A method of supporting a brick panel comprising attaching a beam to the face of the brick panel at or near its bottom edge by means of a hard setting synthetic resin.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the beam comprises an elongate metal plate, one face of which is bonded to the face of the brickwork by the synthetic resin.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the beam is attached to each face of the brick panel.

4. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the or each beam is pre-coated with the hard setting synthetic resin and then held against the face of the panel until the resin has cured.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the or each beam is held against the face of a panel by means of bolts positioned in holes drilled through the panel and beam and nuts screwed onto the ends of the bolts to tighten the beam against the face of the panel.

6. A method according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the beam has an L or C-shaped crosssection.

7. A method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the brick panel comprises a panel above an opening in a wall, the beam thus comprising a lintel beam.

8. A method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the beam forms an underpinning beam to support the wall of the building.

9. A method according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the beam comprises a temporary support for the wall of the building which requires to be positioned after slippage, the method further including jacking the wall to level the wall, and making good the foundations beneath the wall.

10. A method of moving a building which includes supporting one or more walls of the building by a method according to any of claims 1 to 6.

11. A method of constructing an in-situ concrete lintel beam or low level underpinning beam in a wall, the method comprising attaching a support beam to the face of the wall by means of a hard setting synthetic resin, and thereafter cutting away a part of the wall beneath the beam, inserting reinforcement, erecting formwork and casting an in-situ reinforced concrete beam in the wall beneath the support beam.

12. A method according to claim 1 wherein the support beam is additionally supported from below.

13. A method according to claim 1 wherein the support beam is additionally supported from a point above the arch line in the wall by means of ties.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the ties are themselves supported from a further beam attached to the face of the wall by means of a hard setting synthetic resin.