GB2301123A - Gable End Box Cover - Google Patents

Abstract

A gable end box cover is formed of thin plastics material which is shaped to conform to the building gable end. The gable box end cover is secured to the gable end construction by adhesive. A method of forming the gable end box cover comprises forming an inner box which is subsequently covered by the gable end box cover. The gable end box cover is preferably a single component, however it may be sold in kit form.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO GABLE END BOXES The present invention relates to gable end boxes and to covers for boxes formed from plastics materials.

Traditionally fascia boards and barge boards have been constructed from wood. The gable end box, where required, is then made from several jointed and possibly mitred pieces of wood which are secured to the rafter of the building. The joints between the pieces of wood are normally cut accurately and possibly filled, the securing nails or screws countersunk into the wood and again filled and the whole then painted with the result that the gable end will have the appearance of a single piece of timber.

Cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gable end boxes are manufactured in the same way but, because the products are pre-finished, the completed work is not painted over and has a less attractive appearance since the fixings stand proud of the component parts typically 5 or 10 mm diameter, 2-3 mm raised heads.

The nail heads and joints are areas that gather airborne dust that leads to an unsightly appearance, further a brown rust stain can develop around the head of the plastic capped nail, depending on the quality of the fixing used.

Further, a good initial appearance of PVC gable end boxes can only be obtained by very skilful carpentry. All cellular PVC roofline manufacturers offer moulded corner and joint pieces to allow for thermal expansion and contraction and hence reduce the level of skilled workmanship required. Whilst this makes the jointing easier it does little to improve the finished appearance which may, as a result, look less attractive than a box made by a highly skilled carpenter. Further, butt joints, not covered by moulded corners or joint pieces have a tendency to open apart over time, and can become very unsightly.

Another disadvantage of the normal method of gable end box manufacture in cellular PVC materials is that not all joints are perpendicular to the ground.

Ideally all joints should be perpendicular to ensure rapid and complete drainage of rainwater and to assist in preventing the onset of rot through water penetration into the underlying timber framework.

Finally, the traditionally constructed cellular PVC gable end box is weatherproofed by the sealing of joints with silicone sealant, which over time tends to collect dirt from the air and rainwater and become grey, further worsening the appearance of the gable end box.

There is, therefore, a need for a method of manufacturing a gable end box that will reduce the need for highly skilled carpenters, enable the gable end box to be made rapidly but, at the same time, to present a smooth appearance at least as good as that which is obtainable with wood.

We have now developed a gable end box cover that imparts improved appearance to the building, improves rainwater drainage and weatherproofing and is easy to fit quickly and, since the use of relatively unskilled labour is required in the manufacture of the box structure beneath the gable end box cover will result in a saving of time and cost.

Accordingly a gable end box cover is formed of thin, typically 2 mm thick, plastics material, preferably PVC, shaped to conform to the building gable end and secured to the gable end construction by means of an adhesive whereby a smooth external appearance is presented.

Preferably the gable end box cover is a single component. Most preferably the cover is in the form of a sheet.

From another aspect we provide a method of forming a gable end box of pre-finished plastics material and having enhanced appearance comprising; forming an inner box from component parts in which the fixing means are countersunk into the said parts such that they do not stand proud of the component part surfaces, placing a preformed section of thin, typically 2 mm thick, plastic sheet over the said end box, trimming the sheet to the exact size of the said box and securing the sheet thereto by means of a suitable adhesive.

Preferably the gable end box cover is of a one-piece construction. It may be used in new constructions or remedial work encompassing the complete replacement of existing timber fascia and barge boards. However in some circumstances the construction of the gable end box may require the cover to comprise two flat sheets making a joint at a corner in which case a corner trim piece will be required to be applied to overlap the joint.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which are diagrammatic illustrations of one form of gable end box and cover: Figure 1 is an exploded representation of the component parts of a cellular PVC gable end box before construction; Figure 2 is a completed gable end box from the components of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cover for the completed gable end box of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an illustration of the cover of Figure 3 applied to the gable end box of Figure 2; Figure 5 is an exploded representation of a second embodiment in which the invention can be employed; and Figure 6 illustrates the invention for use in the Figure 5 embodiment.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the prior art gable end box illustrated comprises a corner trim member 1, a joint trim 5, both approximately 1 mm thick and panel components 2,3, and 4. These components are shown in the assembled form in figure 2 secured to a fascia board 10 and barge board 11.

Component 1 is secured to the building structure by large-headed nails 12, component 3 by large-headed nails 13, component 4 by large-headed nails 14 and the trim secured by adhesive to the fascia board 10 and components 2 and 3. Because the end box is made up of 5 separate components there are a total of five visible joints. Namely 15 and 18 between the cover trim and component 3 and fascia board; 19, between joint trim 5 and the barge board 11; 17 between components 3 and 4; and 16 between components 2 and 4 and 2 and 3. In addition 12, 13 and 14 indicate potential visible fixings.

The cover of the present invention illustrated in various views in Figure 3 comprises a single sheet of PVC material 20 preformed by thermal forming or manufactured by injection moulding to the shape of the end box illustrated in Figure 2. The sheet has a thickness of about 1.5 to 3 mm. When applied to the completed construction of Figure 3, (less the trim 1), the result is illustrated in Figure 4 which shows, for example, that the joints 16 and 17 are covered and need not be formed as accurately as required to provide the construction shown in Figure 2. Additionally only two edge surfaces, between the gable end box cover and the fascia board and l9a between the gable end box cover and the barge board 11, are visible. In practice, therefore, the gable end box can be rapidly constructed without the need for accurate carpentry, ordinary nails can be used as the heads are not visible and are hammered into the component parts so that they do not stand proud. The gable end box cover 20 can then be applied by means of a suitable adhesive.

A second embodiment of the present innovation is intended for refurbishment use where existing sound timber fascia, barge and gable end box is to be retained but overcapped with cellular PVC boarding to improve it's appearance and weatherproofing, and to eliminate the need for repainting. In these circumstances, the capping of the existing timber gable end box once again requires a high degree of carpentry skill for a good finished appearance to be achieved, and the disadvantages described previously still remain, ie: very visible fixings, dirt staining of joint lines and around fixing heads, and the potential for the joints to open and become unsightly.

In practice the existing timber fascia, bargeboard and gable end are first overclad with cover boards manufactured from cellular PVC, these are typically L shaped section and are widely available from several manufacturers, Figure 5 illustrates.

The Universal Gable End Box Cover Kit comprises a single sheet 30 of PVC or similar thermoplastic material performed by thermal forming or manufactured by injection moulding, and an injection moulded corner piece 32 illustrated in Figure 6. Both components are manufactured considerably oversize to enable them to be trimmed in size to suit the size and style of the gable end box to be overclad.

The gable end box may be constructed without care as to it's final appearance and thus will not require skilled carpentry, as the cover hides such problems.

The final operation is to trim the two components of the Gable End Box Cover Kit to the required shape and dimension, and to fix these two components over the crudely constructed gable end box with a suitable adhesive.

When applied in this way there are not visible fixings, the number of visible joints are reduced, and all joints are perpendicular to the ground for rapid drainage. The gable end box cover can of course be supplied as part of a kit together with the gable end box unit of Figure 5.

Claims (24)

CLAIMS:

1. A gable end box cover formed of a thin plastics material, shaped to conform to the building gable end and secured to the gable end construction by means of an adhesive.

2. A gable end box cover of claim 1 wherein the plastics material is PVC.

3. A gable end box of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the plastics material is between 1.5mm and 3mm thick.

4. A gable end box cover of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the plastics material is 2mm thick.

5. A gable end box cover of any preceding claim wherein the cover is a single component.

6. A gable end box cover of any of claims 1-4 wherein the cover is in the form of a sheet.

7. A gable end box cover of any preceding claim wherein the plastics material is shaped by thermal forming or injection moulding.

8. A gable end box cover of any preceding claim wherein the cover comprises more than one sheet of plastics material together with corner trim pieces.

9. A gable end box cover substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of forming a gable end box in accordance with claim 1 of pre-finished thin plastics material comprising forming an inner box from component parts in which the fixing means are countersunk into the component parts, placing a preformed section of thin plastic sheet over the said end box, trimming the sheet to the size of the said box and securing the sheet thereto by means of a suitable adhesive.

11. A method of claim 10 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the plastics material is PVC.

12. A method of claim 10 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the plastics material is a thermoplastics material.

13. A method of any of claims 10-12 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the plastics material is 1.5-3mm thick.

14. A method of any of claims 10-13 wherein the gable end box cover is of one piece construction.

15. A method of any of claims 10-13 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the gable end box cover comprises more than one sheet of plastics material together with corner trim pieces.

16. A method of any of claims 10-15 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the plastics material is shaped by thermal forming or injection moulding.

17. A method of any of claims 10-15 of forming a gable end box cover wherein the plastics material sheets are oversized and cut to fit.

18. A method of forming a gable end box cover in accordance with claim 1 substantially as herein described.

19. A kit comprising sheets and corner pieces of plastics material for use in construction of a gable end box cover in accordance with claim 1.

20. A kit of claim 19 wherein the plastics material is PVC.

21. A kit of claim 19 wherein the plastics material is a thermoplastic material.

22. A kit of any of claims 19-21 wherein the plastics material is shaped by thermal forming or injection moulding.

23. A kit of any of claims 19-22 wherein sheets of plastics material are oversized and trimmed to fit.

24. A kit substantially as herein described.