SE1950688A1

SE1950688A1 - Method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure

Info

Publication number: SE1950688A1
Application number: SE1950688A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Johan Åhsberg
Original assignee: Reddo Floor Solutions Ab
Priority date: 2019-06-10
Filing date: 2019-06-10
Publication date: 2020-12-11
Also published as: SE544191C2; US20220349174A1; CA3142912A1; WO2020251450A1; EP3980604A1; EP3980604A4

Abstract

A method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure (10) having a ventilated isolating layer (18) below a concrete layer (12) extending throughout an enclosed space (200), and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring (22) over the concrete layer. An outlet opening (16) is provided into the floor structure (10) and to the isolating layer (18) outside of an end of the enclosed space (200), the tiled flooring (22) is heated by a heating source (50), and ambient air drawn by a suction source (60) through the isolating layer (18) and out of the outlet opening (16).

Description

METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR DRYING A WATER DAMAGED FLOOR STRUCTURE Technical area 1. 1. id="p-1" id="p-1"

[001] ture having a ventilated isolating layer below a concrete layer extending throughout an enclosed This invention relates to a method and arrangement for drying a water damaged floor struc- space, and the enclosed space having a tiled flooring above the concrete layer.

Background 2. 2. id="p-2" id="p-2"

[002] room, is difficult to dry as the concrete layer and the tiled flooring, which commonly also has a water- This kind of floor structure, where the enclosed space is typically a wet space such as a bath- proofing layer, form a cover that obstructs ventilation and evaporation of water from the floor struc-ture. ln prior art drying methods the tiled flooring including the waterproofing layer therefore needs to be removed and replaced after completion of the drying process.

Disclosure of the invention 3. 3. id="p-3" id="p-3"

[003] a water damaged floor structure of the above identified kind without the need of removing and replac- An object of the invention is to obtain a method and an arrangement that will effectively dry ing the tiled flooring and the waterproofing layer.[004] the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of an end of the enclosed space, heating the tiled ln an aspect of the invention, the method is comprised by providing an outlet opening into flooring, and drawing ambient air through the isolating layer and out of the outlet opening.[005] along the isolating layer and out of the floor structure. Because the floor structure is also heated from ln this way, the moisture in the floor structure is gradually seized by ambient air flowing above, the flowing ambient air will also be heated by the floor structure and thereby more effectivelyattract moisture from the surrounding floor structure. Thereby the drying process is highly acceleratedas compared to known methods only drying the air in the enclosed space. 6. 6. id="p-6" id="p-6"

[006] bodiment the tiled flooring being heated is covered by a heat insulated flexible layer. Thereby the heat While the flooring may be heated by a heater transferring heat to the flooring, in one em- is more effectively transferred to the floor structure. ln this case the heating may be accomplished byheating elements that may be incorporated in the heat insulated flexible layer like in a heating blanket.

A heating blanket may also be located under the heat insulated flexible layer. 7. 7. id="p-7" id="p-7"

[007] The heating may also be provided by forcing hot air between the heat insulated flexible layerand the tiled flooring.[008] More than one outlet opening may be provided when necessary, which may be the typical case. The openings may then be arranged in a line outside of and parallel to a wall confining the en- closed space. 9. 9. id="p-9" id="p-9"

[009] the floor structure being permeable to air flow, in an embodiment of the invention, wherein the con- While the ambient air generally may enter into the isolating layer from the floor structure by crete layer extends beyond the enclosed space, the method is comprised by providing also an inletopening through the floor structure and to the isolating layer outside of a second end of the enclosedspace.[010] air-impermeable cover over the isolating layer. The inlet opening will accordingly supply the ambient This embodiment may be practiced in a case where the concrete layer forms a more or less air flowing along the isolating layer.[011]essary, which may be the typical case.[012]via a hollow perforated pipe driven into the isolating layer.[013]The perforated hollow pipe may then facilitate the airflow.[014]cal case.[015]the method according to the invention.[016]Thereby heat generated in the suction blower, primarily by its motor, can be transferred to the airdried by the dehumidifier. 17. 17. id="p-17" id="p-17"

[017] insulated casing. Thereby heat generated by the blower may be more effectively transferred to the air Also in this case more than one outlet opening and inlet opening may be provided when nec- In another embodiment of the invention the ambient air is drawn through the isolating layer More than one perforated pipe may be forced into the isolating layer, which may be the typi- The invention also relates to an arrangement having the necessary features for performing In the arrangement a suction blower and a dehumidifier can be serially interconnected.

The suction blower and the dehumidifier can also be arranged in a common sound and heat dried by the dehumidifier. This is advantageous and of high value for this type of drying operation, where the dry air supplied by the dehumidifier needs to be as hot as possible for the best drying effect.

The resulting combined one-piece suction blower and dehumidifier will also be easier to handle, installand operate.[018] and the appended claims.

Other features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed description Brief description of the drawing 19. 19. id="p-19" id="p-19"

[019] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic lateral cutaway view, partly in section, of a floor structure beingdried according to a method of the invention; . . id="p-20" id="p-20"

[020] FIG. 2 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing an alternative method of the invention; 21. 21. id="p-21" id="p-21"

[021] FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing another alternative method of the invention;[022] FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG.1 showing still another alternative method of the inven- tion; This may be the case when the isolating layer is relatively dense and counteracting to airflow. 23. 23. id="p-23" id="p-23"

[023] FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic cutaway top plan view of a floor structure being dried according tostill another alternative method of the invention; 24. 24. id="p-24" id="p-24"

[024] FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic lateral cutaway view, partly in section, of a floor structure beingdried according to yet another alternative method of the invention; . . id="p-25" id="p-25"

[025] FIG. 7 is a lateral view of a perforated pipe for use in the method according to the inventionshown in FIG. 6; and 26. 26. id="p-26" id="p-26"

[026] FIG. 8 is a lateral view of an extension pipe according to the invention shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.[027] FIG. 9 is a view, partly in section, of a drying apparatus that may be used in the invention;[028] FIG. 10 is an oblique cutaway view of a drying apparatus that may be used in the invention;[029] In the drawing, components having mutually similar functions may be denoted by same ref- erence numerals.

Detailed description of embodiments . . id="p-30" id="p-30"

[030] age in an enclosed space 200, for example a bathroom, where typically floor structures 10 and walls The floor structures 10 shown in FIGS. 1-6 are generally floor structures having a water dam- 202 may be expected to be exposed to water.[031] flooring 22 covers a concrete layer 12 and a ventilated isolating/insulating porous layer 18 below the Each floor structure 10 is comprised of a tiled flooring 22 in the enclosed space 200. The tiled concrete layer 12. "Ventilated" in this context does not necessarily mean that specific ventilatingmeans are present, but that air drawn from the isolating porous layer 18 may also be replaced by airentering thereinto from adjoining permeable structures. Between the tiled flooring 22 and the con-crete layer 12 there is usually also a waterproofing layer (not shown). In each embodiment there isalso a bottom layer 20 that may be a ground layer or a foundation slab resting on a ground layer 20'(FIG. 6), or possibly even a floor-supporting concrete layer. 32. 32. id="p-32" id="p-32"

[032]ed from above, for example by drilling, in the floor structure 10 and at least down to the isolating layer18.[033] as in FIGS. 1-4, to an outlet tubing 66 that in turn is connected to suction blower 60. The suction blow- Outside a wall 202 confining the enclosed space, one or more outlet openings 16 are provid- Each outlet opening 16 is sealingly connected, for example by a suitable flange or socket 74, er 60 can be a side channel blower. Such blower can be selected to obtain the relatively high suction force needed to draw ambient air through the isolating layer 18. 34. 34. id="p-34" id="p-34"

[034] The floor structure 10 below and around the enclosed space 200 may be heated in differentways.[035] In the example of FIG. 1, the floor structure 10 is heated by a heating source 50 transferring heat to the tiled flooring 22 of the floor structure 10. The heating source 50 may in this case be anysuitable heater, such as a fan heater or an infrared heater. 36. 36. id="p-36" id="p-36"

[036]covering the tiled flooring 22 and possibly also bottom parts of the walls 202 (not shown). The flexible In the example of FIG. 2, the heating source 50 comprises a flexible heat insulating layer 24 layer 24, in this case, comprises heating elements 51 such as heating cables incorporated in the flexiblelayer, like a heating blanket, or covered by a heat insulated portion of the flexible layer 24.[037] not comprise heating elements, is placed over the tiled flooring 22 in the enclosed space 200. The flex- In the example of FIG. 3, a heat insulating flexible layer 24 that is also porous, and may now ible layer 24 covers the tiled flooring 22, and may also here have a larger area than the tiled flooring 22to extend slightly up along the walls 202 (not shown).[038] open in a space 23 defined between the insulating porous flexible layer 24 and the tiled flooring 22.

An outlet tubing 56 connected to the hot air source comprising a dehumidifier 50 extends to The hot air source may here as well comprise another hot air source, such as a hot air blower (notshown). Tubing 56 enters the space 23 through an opening 25 formed through the flexible layer 24 asindicated in FIG. 3. Tubing 56 may alternatively be inserted under an edge of the flexible layer 24 asindicated in FIG. 5. 39. 39. id="p-39" id="p-39"

[039][040]ferent embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-6. Dry hot air produced by the heating source 50 in the FIG. 4-6 The water damaged floor structure is then dried as in the following drying process: Dry hot air produced by heating source 50 heats the floor structure 10 according to the dif- embodiments is forced by the dehumidifier 50 into to the space 23. The dry hot air heats the floorstructure 10, while in most embodiments the heat insulating flexible layer 24 inhibits heat from escap- ing into the enclosed space 200. 41. 41. id="p-41" id="p-41"

[041] Concurrently, ambient air is drawn by the suction blower 60 to flow along the isolating layer18 below the enclosed space and out of the floor structure 10.[042] The flowing ambient air is heated by the heated floor structure 10, and thereby increases its capacity of continuously absorbing moisture from the floor structure 10, to become moist air.[043]propriately dried, for example by use of a moisture meter.[044] that sufficient amounts of ambient air cannot reach the isolating layer 18. In that case the concrete The drying process continues accordingly until the floor structure 10 is considered to be ap- FIG. 4 shows a case when the floor structure 10 is more or less impermeable to air flow so layer 12 may extend beyond the enclosed space 200. Then one or more inlet openings 14 for ambientair can be formed through the floor structure 10 down to the isolating layer 18 at a second, oppositeend of the enclosed space 200 and outside a confining wall 202 thereof. The drying process will thenbe performed substantially as that described above. In case there is no opposite end available, thesecond end may be another distant end of the enclosed space 200 (not shown). 45. 45. id="p-45" id="p-45"

[045] and usable in all embodiments described herein using a flexible layer 24. FIG. 5 also shows a typical FIG. 5 illustrates a possibility to use a suction blower and a dehumidifier in serial connection arrangement of tubing and respective inlet and outlet openings 14, 16 outside opposite ends of theenclosed space 200.[046] 32 to be inserted in the isolating layer 18 and to facilitate the drawing of ambient air through the iso- The embodiment shown in in FIG. 6 includes a number of perforated hollow flexible pipes 30, lating layer 18 in case the isolating layer is more or less impervious / impermeable to airflow. 47. 47. id="p-47" id="p-47"

[047] and one or more external helical threads 36. The pipe 30 is thereby capable of advancing into the po- As evident from FIG. 6, a forward pipe 30 of the perforated pipes 30, 32 has a pointed tip 38 rous isolating layer 18 by being rotated. The external helical threads 36 are suitably shaped for incisinginto or pushing away the porous isolating material when advancing on rotation of the pipe 30. Thepipes 30, 32 may also be resilient so as to return to their original straight shape when released frombending forces. 48. 48. id="p-48" id="p-48"

[048] or more external threads 36 and are serially connectable to each other and to a rearward end of the The pipes 32, i.e. the pipes to be serially connected to a forward pipe 30, may also have one forward pipe 30 by mutually engageable screw threads 40 (FIGS. 7 and 8).[049]42 (FIG. 6) for a rotating tool may be used. Socket 42 has a forward screw thread 40 that can be en- To facilitate rotation of the pipes 30, 32 being advanced into the isolating layer 18, a socket gaged with a mating thread 40 of a rearward end of the pipe(s) that is (are) advanced into the isolatinglayer. Socket 42 also has a rearward end portion 44 for engagement with a tip of the rotating tool suchas a power screw driver (not shown). 50. 50. id="p-50" id="p-50"

[050] pipes 30, 32 are advanced into a lateral face 18a of the isolating layer 18 from an outlet opening 16 To keep the integrity of the floor structure 10 in the space 200, in the FIG. 6 embodiment, the outside of the space 200. To that end, the opening 16 is formed as a cavity in the floor structure out-side of the wall 202 of space 200. The cavity is dimensioned for allowing drilling a bore 16a in the parti-tion wall before inserting, rotating and advancing the flexible/bendable pipes 30, 32 into the isolatinglayer 18. The partition wall may occasionally also rest on the concrete layer 12 (not shown). In thatcase the opening 16 may be provided as in the previously described embodiments. 51. 51. id="p-51" id="p-51"

[051]blower via tubing 66 as in the previously described embodiments.[052] scribed embodiments, depending on the extent of the water damage, a sufficient array 26 of serially The pipes 30, 32, accordingly installed in the isolating layer, are connected to the suction As diagrammatically indicated in phantom on FIG. 6, and analogously to the previously de- connected pipes 30, 32 distributed in the isolating layer 18 may be connected to tubing 66 via a mani-fold 77.[053] blower 60, in this case in a combined drying apparatus 100. Apparatus 100 may be placed in the space Like in the previously described embodiments, tubing 66 is in turn connected to the suction 200 as shown, where tubing 66 is passed through the doorway 204 in partition wall 202. Apparatus100 may likewise be placed outside the space 200 (not shown). In the apparatus 100, suction blower60 is serially connected (not shown) to the dehumidifier 50. Dehumidifier 50 has outlet tubing 56 ex-tending through the porous flexible layer 23. Dehumidifier 50 may also have a wet air outlet and anambient air inlet (not shown in FIG .6) as known in the art. While the blower 60 and dehumidifier 50are diagrammatically shown contained in a common case, they may also be serially connected sepa-rate machines or non-connected machines as described in connection with the relevant other embod-iments shown in the drawing. In the latter case the efficiency of the drying process may be decreased as the dry air in space 23 would possibly be less heated. 54. 54. id="p-54" id="p-54"

[054] 100 may optionally be used in all relevant embodiments described above, is further provided with a The drying apparatus 100 according to the invention and shown in FIG. 9, which apparatus sound and heat insu|ation inside the casing 102. The sound and heat insu|ation comprises a laminatehaving a thicker sound and heat insulating layer 104 and a thinner sound and heat reflecting layer orfilm 106. The laminate may be adhesively bonded to the interior face of the casing 102. 55. 55. id="p-55" id="p-55"

[055] mounted in parallel with and above the suction blower 60. Specifically, the dehumidifier 50 is suitably Inside the sound and heat insu|ation 104, 106 in the housing 102, the dehumidifier 50 is installed against one side of the housing 102, and the suction blower 60 is mounted in near heat-conducting contact directly against a bottom face of the dehumidifier 50.[056] trifugal blower housing 124. The suction blower 60 has a suction channel 126, arranged to be connect- The suction blower 60 is a side channel blower comprising an electric motor 122 and a cen- ed to the above-mentioned inlet air tubing 66, and an outlet channel 128 connected to an inlet 152 ofthe dehumidifier 50.[057] At the inlet 170 there is a fan, such as a duct fan 154, to further increase the mixed flow of the ambi- The dehumidifier 50 is a sorption dehumidifier also having an inlet 170 for ambient air 172. ent air 172 and the process air flow 68 heated by the suction blower into the dehumidifier 50. Down-stream of the fan 154, the resulting mixed process air is led into a sorption block 156 which may be ofthe rotary type. The sorption block 156 has an absorbent for accumulating moisture in the process airand is capable of dividing the output flow into a dry air flow 58, exiting the apparatus 100 through adry air outlet channel 52, and a wet air flow 78 which is discharged from the dryer 100 through anoutlet channel 162 from which it can be discharged through a wet air tubing 76. The dehumidifier 50also has a regeneration chamber 158 where there is a self-regulating PTC (Positive Temperature Coef-ficient) element 160 to further heat up the resulting dry air when needed. Without such a PTC ele-ment, the dehumidification would be degraded by the overheating protection being released and theoperation thereby deteriorating. 58. 58. id="p-58" id="p-58"

[058]to be easily moved over shorter distances.[059] unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. Modifications will become obvious to those ln FIG. 9, a slightly modified drying apparatus 100 is further shown mounted on a trolley 108 The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

m

1. A method of drying a water damaged floor structure (10) having a ventilated isolating layer(18) below a concrete layer (12) extending throughout an enclosed space (200), and the enclosedspace having a tiled flooring (22) over the concrete layer, characterized by providing an outlet opening(16) into the floor structure (10) and to the isolating layer outside of an end of the enclosed space(200), heating the tiled flooring (22), and drawing ambient air through the isolating layer (18) and outof the outlet opening (16).

2. The method of claim 1, comprising covering the tiled flooring (22) being heated by a heatinsulated flexible layer (24).

3. The method of claim 2, comprising providing said heating by forcing hot air between the flex- ible layer (24) and the tiled flooring (22).

4. The method of claim any of claims 1-3, comprising providing also an inlet opening (14) for theambient air into the floor structure (10) and to the isolating layer (18) outside of a second end of the enclosed space (200).

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, comprising drawing the ambient through the isolating layer (18) via a hollow perforated pipe (30) driven into the isolating layer (18).

6. The method of claim 5, comprising driving the hollow perforated pipe by rotating the perfo- rated hollow pipe having a helical external thread.

7. An arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure (10) having a ventilated isolatinglayer (18) below a concrete layer (12) extending throughout an enclosed space (200), and the enclosedspace having a tiled flooring (22) over the concrete layer, characterized by an outlet opening into thefloor structure (16) and to the isolating layer outside an end of the enclosed space (200), a heatingsource (50) for heating the tiled flooring (22), and a suction source (60) for drawing ambient air through the isolating layer (18) and out of the outlet opening (16).

8. The arrangement of claim 7, comprising a heat insulated flexible layer (24) for covering the tiled flooring being heated.

9. The arrangement of claim 8, wherein the heating source (50) is in or below the flexible layer(24).

10. The arrangement of claim 8, wherein the heating source (50) comprises a hot air source (50)capable of forcing heated air through tubing (56) into a space (23) defined between the heat insulatedflexible layer (24) and the ti|ed flooring (22).

11. The arrangement of any of claims 7-10, comprising an in|et opening (14) for the ambient airinto the floor structure (10) and to the isolating layer (18) outside of a second end of the enclosed space (200).

12. The arrangement of any of claims 7 -11, comprising a hollow perforated pipe (30) to be driv- en into the isolating layer (18) for drawing the ambient through the isolating layer (18).

13. The arrangement of claim 12, wherein the perforated pipe (30) has an external helical thread for the pipe to be driven by rotational movement.

14. The arrangement of claim 12 or 13, wherein the perforated pipe (30) is flexible.

15. The arrangement of any of claims 12-14, wherein the perforated pipe (30) has a rearwardthread (40) for connection via tubing (66) to said suction source (60) or for connection to an extension pipe (32) for connection to said tubing (66).

16. The arrangement of any of claims 10-15, wherein the suction source is a suction blower (60) and the hot air source is a dehumidifier (50).

17. The arrangement of claim 16, wherein the suction blower (60) and the dehumidifier (50) are serially interconnected.

18. The arrangement of claim 17, wherein the suction blower (60) and the dehumidifier (50) arearranged in a common sound and heat insulated casing (102) having a sound and heat insulation (104, 106).