IE950536A1 - Plastics matting for use in building - Google Patents

Abstract

A matting for use as a base for tiling and similar building operations comprises two layers bonded together: a first layer 1 made of corrugated plastics material and a second layer 2 made of scrim material. To use the matting a floor surface to be tiled is covered with a layer of glue and, whilst still tacky, the matting is placed onto the glue, scrim side downwards and slight pressure is applied to cause the glue to penetrate the scrim layer 2. Once the glue is dry the matting is screeded over to give a secure base for tiling in the normal way. <Fig.5>

Description

PLASTICS MATTING FOR USE IN BUILDING TRUE COPY AS LODGED This invention relates to a matting made of plastics material for use in the building trade, including DIY.

The matting finds particular use as a base for tiling on otherwise unsuitable or unsound floor or wall surfaces, such as wooden floors or damaged concrete floors. The matting allows a degree of flexure between the surface and the tiles, reducing or preventing cracking due to movement or thermal expansion of the floor surface. The matting can also be made to provide a moisture barrier in the event that the floor is damp.

In EP-B-0275454 there is described a matting used for the same purpose which is made of a sheet of corrugated plastics material to which is laminated a wide-meshed netting. To use this matting a film of glue or cement is applied to a floor or other surface and, whilst this is still tacky, the matting is placed upon it, netting side down and gentle pressure is applied to bed the netting into the glue somewhat so that, when the glue dries, the netting acts to retain the matting as a whole onto the floor surface. However, it is important that the corrugations on the underside of the corrugated sheet do not become filled with glue during this procedure. This is for two reasons:1) The remaining air space within the corrugations allows the glue to dry by evaporation in an otherwise substantially sealed environment; and 2) The air space is important in providing the flexure necessary to allow the matting to operate properly - see above.

Once the glue has dried, a screed of thin 35 cement is poured over the upper surface of the matting and is smoothed in the usual ° OPE!\ PUB! B INSPECTION UNDER SECTION 28 AND RULE 23 JNL No..§........OF J?4//J/ and stable surface for subsequent floor tiling.

In practice, installers find it difficult to press the matting into the initial layer of glue on the floor surface without wholly or partially filling the underside corrugations and therefore, not only does the glue take a long time to dry, but the advantageous flexural properties of the matting are lost. The netting, whilst being adequate to hold the matting down, is relatively ineffective in preventing glue penetrating into the underside corrugations, unless the glue is very stiff.

The present invention seeks to overcome this problem by providing that, in the place of the netting of the matting described in EP-B-0275454, there is instead provided a scrim material. Scrim material is a non-woven sheet material made of randomly-oriented threads of glass fibre or plastics material and which is porous, but not excessively so. Interstices in a typical sample are randomly sized, but the mean pore size is typically in the range 20 μπι2 to 100 μχα3.

Preferably the scrim is made of a material which is the same as or compatible with that of the corrugated plastics sheet. The matting may thence be formed by pressing the corrugated plastics sheet and the scrim material together and heat welding along the lines where the two meet. However alternative methods of bonding could be used, depending upon the particular combination of materials used: for example cold welding, friction welding or adhesive bonding.

The thickness of the scrim material is not critical, but it should preferably be as thin as possible consistent with providing the necessary strength to hold the matting in place when the glue dries, and defining a sufficient barrier to the ingress of wet glue into the underside corrugations during installation. Typical thicknesses are in the range 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm.

The corrugations in the corrugated plastics sheet may be of any suitable shape. In the preferred embodiment, dovetail-sect ion corrugations are used, because these are judged to be particularly convenient, but other shapes could be used.

In order that the invention may be better understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a matting according to the invention; Figure 2 is a section on the lines II-II of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale; and Figure 3 is a section on the lines III-III of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale; Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but on a still greater scale; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of part of the matting of Figure 1, shown at a greater scale.

Referring to the drawings, the matting is produced in rolls typically 1 m by 30 m. The matting comprises two layers bonded together: a first layer 1 formed of corrugated plastics material and a second layer 2 formed of scrim material. In an embodiment, both are made of compatible plastics material so that bonding can be effected by heat welding along the lines 3 where the scrim material 2 lies against the bottom of the corrugations on the corrugated material 1. In a particular embodiment, the corrugated material is made of polyethylene having a thickness of between 0.5 and 0.75 mm; the scrim material is Akzo Colback W30 polyester/polyamide mix incorporating spunlaid filaments thermally bonded together. The material has a thickness of 0.2 mm, and a mean pore 2 area of 37.676 μιη . - 4 The corrugations in the corrugated material 1 are of typically 20 mm pitch and advantageously extend in the direction of the shorter (1 m) side so that the product can be rolled up in its longer direction for transport and ease of handling. Extending around the perimeter of the sheet is a flat, non-corrugated, border portion 4 which enables adjacent sheets to be overlapped during installation, thus retaining the moisture barrier. Preferably one or more noncorrugated strips, such as strip 5, extend along or across the sheet so that is can be cut into smaller areas, for convenience of installation, and yet still retain a non-corrugated border portion for overlapping. The strip 5 is also thought to assist drying of the adhesive used to glue the matting to the floor or other surface to be covered (see later) and to make the drying more even.

The product is shown in section in enlarged scale in Figure 4. From this it will be seen that the corrugations in the corrugated material 1 are generally of dovetailed shape, having sides 6 angled at approximately 60° from the vertical (the scrim material being regarded as horizontal). The underside side 7 of the corrugations is substantially flat and is bonded, as mentioned above, to the scrim material 2. The upper side 8 of the corrugated material is slightly domed in order to improve resistance to compression. The radius of curvature of the material between the sides 6 and the upper side 8 is typically 0.5 mm; that between the sides 6 and the lower side 7 is larger, being typically 1 mm.

Although all the corrugations could be of the same size, in the embodiment illustrated, alternate corrugations are of different width between sides 6. The arrangement is such as to give a substantially constant width (typically 8.1 mm between sides 6) to 950536’ the upwardly-opening corrugations 9 and to give a width for the downwardly-opening corrugations which is alternately greater (reference 10) and smaller (reference 11). Typically the widths of the openings are: 9 mm (corrugation 10) and 14 mm (corrugation 11) .

In order to use the material, the sheets of matting are brought to site, and are cut to size before applying any glue. The floor surface to be tiled (not shown) is then covered with a layer of glue or other suitable adhesive and, whilst still tacky, the matting is placed onto the glue, scrim side downwards, and slight pressure is applied to cause the glue to penetrate through the scrim material, thus thoroughly wetting same. Once the glue has dried, the scrim material, and hence the matting as a whole, will be securely bonded to the floor. However, since the glue does not flow freely through the scrim material, it is easy for installers to apply the necessary pressure without the danger of excessive adhesive flowing into the downwardly-facing corrugations 10, 11. Thus a good volume of airspace is assured within the corrugations 10 and 11.

Next, the top surface of the sheet is covered with a conventional cement screed which fills the corrugations 9 and extends a little beyond the top of the upper sides 8. This screed forms the basis for the normal application of floor tiles by the usual methods. It is not generally necessary to wait for the adhesive to dry before applying the screed. In practice walkboards will be laid on top of the matting in order to protect it whilst screeding is taking place. These spread the load of the workers carrying out the installation sufficiently not to press the matting too hard into the adhesive, even if it is still wet, particularly since the scrim material is disinclined to allow free flow of adhesive therethrough.

The assured retention of the airspace in the downwardly-facing corrugations 10 and 11 facilitates evaporation of the initial glue layer during installation, and also allows the product to exhibit the flexure necessary to isolate the tiles surface from movement or expansion of the floor beneath. In addition, the corrugated plastics sheet forms an impermeable barrier to moisture either rising from the floor or penetrating through from above, this barrier being maintained throughout the floor surface due to the overlapping of adjacent sheets.

Claims (10)

1. A matting for use in building construction, said matting comprising two layers of sheet material bonded together, a first of said layers being made of corrugated plastics material and the second of said layers being made of a scrim material.

2. A matting as claimed in claim 1 wherein the corrugations have a dovetail cross-section.

3. A matting as claimed in claim 2 wherein, on that side of the corrugated material which is remote from the scrim material, each corrugation has a domed (convex) surface.

4. A matting as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the corrugated layer and the scrim layer are made from mutually compatible plastics material.

5. A matting as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said scrim layer comprises a non-woven sheet material made of randomly-oriented threads of filamentary material.

6. A matting as claimed in claim 5, when dependent upon any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said threads are of glass fibre.

7. A matting as claimed in claim 5 wherein said threads are of plastics material.

8. A matting as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7 wherein said scrim material is formed with interstices having random sizes and with a mean pore size in the range 20 gm 2 to 100 /xm 2 .

9. A matting as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein, extending wholly or partially around the perimeter of the sheet, the corrugated layer is formed with a flat border portion to enable adjacent sheets to be overlapped during installation.

10. A matting for use in building construction substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.