GB2128225A - Wall construction - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of constructing thermally insulated cavity wall (10) in a quick manner with relatively unskilled labour comprises laying bricks, blocks or the like (11) in successive courses without mortar or adhesive therebetween and injecting a foamable material (16) into the cavity (14) progressively as the wall (10) is constructed. Joint spaces (18) may be provided between adjacent blocks (11) in each course so that the foamable material (16) may bond to for example plaster board (19) applied to the inner wall portion (12). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wall construction This invention relates to walls and to methods of constructing the same.

Conventionally walls are constructed of bricks or blocks laid with mortar orthe like bonding material between adjacent bricks or blocks. This is a time consuming method of construction requiring skilled labour, and is therefore costly. It is known to build walls'dry', i.e. withoutthe mortar between the bricks or blocks, but this does not provide a strong enough wall for most applications.

In an effort to conserve heat energy it is now customary to apply insulating material to walls of buildings orto build such walls of materials which provide a degree of heat insulation.

Forthis purpose it is known to inject a foamable material into the cavity of a cavity wall. It is also known to apply a coating or linear of an insulating material to the inside orto the outside of a wall to reduce the passage of heattherethrough. Such a coating may be applied by spraying. In these cases the application of the insulating material is performed after the building ofthe wall is completed and therefore represents an additional time consuming and therefore expensive operation. Furthermore if an insulation material such as foam is used as a coating to a wall it is prone to damage as it possesses little structural integrity.It is also known to build walls in the conventional manner using blocks of a thermally insulating material or blocks having foam filled cavities therein, orto fill the cavity of a conventional cavity wall with the foam "boards" during building, but this latter method requires the use of special tiesto retain the boards in position and the region of the butt-joints between adjacent boards can be a source of heat loss through the wall.

Conventional or dry built walls may be rendered after building, preferably on both sides, the rendering providing a degree of bonding between the bricks or blocks ofthe wall. A suitable material forthis process comprises a cement and glass fibre mix, the glass fibres reducing thetendencyforthe rendering to crack. However, such rendering materials do not provide good heat insulation forthe wall, and are relatively expensive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of constructing a wall of bricks, blocks, stones or the like (hereinafter referred to as blocks) which is simple and quickto carry out but results in a strong wall. It is a further object of the invention to provide an insulated wall which is less costly than walls built by known methods with subsequent insulation applied theretobuthasgoodheatinsulation properties incorporated therein.

The invention provides a method of constructing a wall comprising laying a plurality of building blocks in successive courses in block to block contact without a bonding material therebetween to form at least one wall portion of a wall having a cavity between two wall portions and injecting a foamable material into said cavity progressively whilst said wall portion is being constructed.

By means of the invention walls can be built quickly without the skilled labour required for building by conventional brick-laying techniques using mortar.

Furthermore, to produce an insultatedwallthe application of an insulating layer of foam after the wall is built is not required, thereby saving time and expense. In addition walls having large numbers of courses can be built quicklywithoutthe requirement of waisting until the mortar between lowercourses has fully set. Since the foamable material is injected into a cavity in the wall it is not prone to being damaged as is the case with foam coatings on the outside of a wall.

The wall may be a double or cavity wall, i.e. formed oftwo spaced single wall constructions, in which case the foamable material is located in the cavity between the wall constructions, and not only bonds the blocks of one wall construction to each other, but also bonds the two wall constructions together in the manner of conventional wall ties.

Alternatively, the wall may be constructed of blocks having at least one cavity extending therethrough so as to provide said two spaced wall portions. In this case preferably each cavity istapered whereby when such blocks are laid above one another a part of an upperface of one block boundsthe cavity, and is left uncovered by, the blocks above. This allows foamable material injected into the cavity to bond to said upper face as well as to the sides ofthe cavity, thereby strengthening the bond between consecutive courses of blocks.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. lisa perspective view of one arrangement of a double wall, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a second arrangement of wall, Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of an arrangement of wall of blocks having cavities therein, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a block as used in the wall of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a sectional end elevation of a wall having an outer cladding applied thereto.

Referring now to Fig. 1 there is shown a double or cavitywall 10 of blocks 1 1.Thewall 10 comprises an innerwall construction 12 and an outer wall construction 13 with initially a cavity 14therebetween. Both the inner and outerwall 12, are constructed "dry", i.e.

there is no mortar or other adhesive between the courses or between adjacent blocks 11 in any one course. Thus the blocks 11 may be laid quickly and easily by a less skilled person than is required for conventional brick-laying. Furthermore any number of coursers may be laid without having to wait for mortar orthe like to set between the lowermost courses. As the blocks 11 are laid, a foamable material 16 is injected, i.e. sprayed, intothecavity 14from a nozzle 17. After each new, temporarily uppermost, course is laid the foamable material is sprayed into the cavity 14 in a quantity sufficient when foamed to rise to a height of approximately a quarter ofthe height of the temporarily uppermost course.This bonds the blocks ofthe temporarily uppermost course and those ofthecourse beneath togetherwhilstthetendencyof the pressure build-up during foaming to force the blocks ofthe temporarily uppermost course apart is minimised. This foam then "sets" whilst the next course of blocks is being laid. When the ultimate uppermost course has been laid the cavity 14 is "topped-up" after setting of the foam 16 which bonds the blocks 11 of that course to the course beneath.

Three orfour passes of nozzle 17 may be made for each fill offoamable material 1 6to further minimise the lateral pressure on the blocks 11 during setting of thefoamable material 16 sprayed during the previous pass.

Preferablythefoam material 16 is a urethane foam, for example a closed cell polyurethane foam, so as to provide a good bond between the blocks 11 of either wall construction 12,13 and also between the two wall constructions 12,13 themselves to form a very strong wall. The foam 16 in consequence fulfiis three functions which in a cavity wall of conventional form are provided by three separate entities, namely mortar between the bricks or blocks to bond them together, ties between the inner and outerwall constructions, and foam within the cavity for insulation purposes.

Thus not only is a wall built in accordance with the method of the invention constructed in a quick and simple manner butthetime necessaryfor a subse quent cavity filling operation is avoided.A building whose walls are constructed by the present method can be readyfor use within one hourofcompletion since the foamable material will have set to provide a good bond between the bricks or blocks in that time.

Furthermore with a wall constructed in accordance with the method of the invention it is ensured that the cavity 14 is filled, this not being the case when foamable material is injected into a cavityafterthe wall is completed. Also a urethane foam is preferred in the present case to provide betterinsulation prop ertiesthan the urea formaldehydefoam materials used in foam filled cavitywall constructions.Walls of the type illustrated in Fig. 1 and constructed of blocks are considered to be ideally suited for agricultural buildings, such as pig house and vegetable stores, industrial premises, cold stores and refrigeration houses, although such walls if rendered or clad on the outside and plastered on the inside would be suited to domestic, shop and office properties. Alternatively the outerwall could be of brick construction and the inner wall of block construction if a more conventional outer appearance is required.

As a further alternative the outerwall 13 may be of brick or block construction and the inner wall 12 of timber and/or board construction.

For existing buildings of single wall construction the method ofthe present invention may be conveniently employed. In this case the outer wall 13 of Fig. 1 may be regarded as the existing wall ofthe building and may be of bricks and mortar, stone and mortar, dry stone, corrugated steel or asbestos construction. A new innerwall 12 is constructed with bricks or blocks 11 in the "dry" manner shown and foamable material 16 is injected progressively between the existing wall 13 and the wall 12 under construction.Particularly if thin blocks, e.g. 2" or5cm thick, are used for the inner wail 12, good insulation ofthe resulting wall 10 is achieved with less reduction in the volume ofthe building than would occur witch an internal wall built of thermal blocks giving the same insulation properties.

Particularly for domestic, shop or office premises, in which a plastered or clad innerwall is required, the arrangementshown in Fig. 2 is suitable. In this case the inner wall 12 is constructed with spaces 18 between the blocks 11 in each course. Plasterboard or other lining panels 19 are placed againstthe inner wall 12 and the foamable material 16, when injected into the cavity 14 spreads through the gaps 18 to bond the panels 19to the innerwall 12. Bythis means the operation ofsecuring the panels 19 in position is combined with the operation of building the wall, thereby providing an overall saving oftime in producing the finished wall.

Anotherform of wall construction, particularlyfor useatthe upper storeys of domestic or industrial properties, comprises a single wall of bricks or blocks and an outer cladding oftiles, planks or other cladding forms. The outercladding 'wall' isspacedfrom the inner brick or block wall by battens, thereby providing a cavity between the two wall portions. Awall of this type, constructed in accordance with the present method, is shown in Fig. 5. In this case the inner wall 20 is constructed 'dry' of bricks or blocks 21.The tiles or planks 22 and battens or spacers 23 are placed againstthe outersurface of wall 20 and foamable material 24 is injected from nozzle 26 into the cavity 25 between the wall 20 and thetiles or planks 22. The foam 24 provides a good bond between the tiles or planks 22 and the wall 20, good thermal and weather insulation properties.

An alternative wall construction is shown in Fig. 3.

In this casethewall 27 is constructed of blocks 28 of the form illustrated in Fig. 4. Each block 28 has two cavities 29 of rectangular planform and which taper towards the upper surface 30 of the block 28. The cavities 29 extend between opposed walls 31,32 of block 28 which form the inner and outer wall parts of the completed wall 27. The blocks 28 are laid 'dry' to form the wall 27 and foamable material 33 is injected into the cavities 29 to form fillets which bond to the lower part of the surfaces ofthe cavities 29 of the temporarily uppermost course of blocks and also to that part which bounds such cavities 29 of the upper surface 30 of the blocks 28 in the course beneath and which is uncovered by a block 28 in the temporarily uppermost course. A good bond is thereby formed between the blocks 28 in consecutive courses.

By means of the invention a wall may be built in a quick and simple mannerwithoutthe need for skilled labour. Preferably accurately rectangular bricks or blocks should be used so that the resulting wall will be straight and vertical if built on an accurately prepared base orfoundation. However, small discrepancies in the blocks may be componsated byfoamable material forcing its way into any small gaps which are formed between adjacent blocks. If a wall built in accordance with the present method is to be rendered a thin rendering coat may be applied with thetendencyto "peeping", i.e. the joint lines being visible through the rendering, being eliminated or at least substantially reduced.The present method also avoids the need for storage of sand and cement,the latter being proneto "going-off" in damp weather. In addition rainfall during or immediately after building a wall bythe present method is of little or no consequence, whereas itcanwash outmortarfrom a conventional wall and thus damage such a wall.The present method may also be carried out in frosty or other inclement weather which would normally cause postponement of building by conventional methods.

Any locally made blocks may be used,therebysaving on transport costs.

Asafurthervariation ofthe embodiment of Fig. 2, inner and outer differing claddings can be applied to the wall in the manner ofthe inner cladding 19 shown in Fig. 2. In such a case the gaps 18 left between adjacent blocks ofthe inner wall portion 12 would preferably be non-aligned with the gaps left between adjacent blocks ofthe outer wall portion 13.

Claims (21)

1. A method of constructing a wall comprising laying a plurality of building blocks in successive courses in block to block contact without a bonding material therebetween to form at least one wall portion of a wall having two spaced wall portions with a cavitytherebetween, and injecting a foamable material into said cavity progressively whilst said wall portion is being constructed.

2. A method according to claim 1 comprising forming two spaced single wall constructions providing said cavitytherebetween.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein each of said building block has at least one aperture extending therethrough and opposed sidewalls spaced by said aperture, comprising laying said building blocks in said successive courses such that each aperture communicates with an aperture in a building block in each adjacent course, whereby said apertures form said cavity between said sidewallsforming said wall protions.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 comprising laying each successive temporarily uppermost course of blocks and thereafter injecting into said cavity said foamable material in a quantity sufficient when foamed to fill said cavity to substantially one quarter ofthe heightofthe blocks in said temporarily uppermost course.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and additionally applying a coating to at least one outerfaceofsaidwall after construction thereof.

6. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 comprising leaving joint spaces between at least some ofthe adjacent blocks in any one course and applying a board to the outermost face of said blocks whereby said foamable material enters said spaces and bonds said blocks and board to each other.

7. A method of constructing a wall substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3 or Fig. 5 ofthe accompanying drawings.

8. Awall when constructed by the method of claim 1.

9. Awall according to claim 8 wherein adjacent building blocks in a course are spaced longitudinally of said course to provide a joint space between said adjacent units which communicates with said cavity.

10. Awall according to claim 9 wherein the joint spaces in a course are displaced longitudinally of said wall from the joint spaces in an adjacent course.

11. Awall according to claim 9 or claim 10 having boarding applied to an outer surface of one wall portion, wherebyfoamable material extending through said joint spaces is bonded to said boarding.

12. Awall according to any one of claims 8 to 11 comprising two spaced single wall portions providing said cavity therebetween, each single wall portion comprising a plurality of building blocks laid in successive courses.

13. Awall according to any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein said one wall portion isan innerwall portion and an outerwall portion comprises cladding.

14. A wall according to claim 13 wherein said cladding comprises tiles.

15. Awall according to claim 13 wherein said cladding comprises planks.

16. Awall according to anyone of claims 13to 15 wherein said cladding is secured to said one wall portion by means of battens.

17. Awall according to claim 8wherein said building blocks have at least one aperture extending therethrough and opposed sidewalls spaced by said aperture, each aperture communicating with an aperture in a block in each adjacent course to form said cavity between said sidewallsforming said wall portions.

18. Awall according to claim 17 wherein each aperture is tapered.

19. Awall according to claim 17 or claim 18 wherein each block has two spaced apertures extending therethrough.

20. Awall according to any one of claims 8 to 19 wherein said foamable material is urethane foam.

21. Awall when constructed by the method of claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Figs. 3 and 4, or Fig. 5 of the accompanying drawings.