SE541666C2 - A method and an arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A water damaged floor structure (10) has a subfloor (40), a flooring (20) and a damp proofing layer (30) therebetween formed to provide an air gap (32) allowing fluid flow along opposite faces and also across edges of said layer. According to a method and an arrangement of the invention, the floor structure is dried by providing an outlet opening (80) in the floor structure extending to the damp proofing layer (30), providing an inlet opening (38) in the floor structure extending through the damp proofing layer (30) and simultaneously forcing dry air (58) into the inlet opening (38) and drawing resulting damp air (68) out of the outlet opening (80).

Description

A method and an arrangement for drying a water damaged floor structure TECHNICAL AREA This invention relates to a method of drying a water damaged floor structure including a subfloor, a flooring and a damp proofing layer therebetween formed to provide an air gap allowing fluid flow along opposite faces and also across edges of said layer. The invention also relates to an arrangement to perform the method.

BACKGROUND In this type of common floor structure the damp proofing layer providing the air gap is effective to prevent transfer of moisture from the subfloor to the moisture sensitive flooring. The air gap also provides insulation and is effective to carry away moisture from the subfloor. However, when the floor structure is subjected to a water damage, the inherent insulating and damp proofing properties of the damp proofing layer may impede attempts to dry the floor structure by conventional methods unless the flooring and the damp proofing layer are removed from the floor structure and discarded.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is to provide a method and arrangement that is capable of drying a floor structure of the identified category without having to remove and dispose of the flooring the damp proofing layer.

Another object of the invention is to dry a floor structure of the above identified category by making use of the inherent fluid flow capabilities of the water proofing layer.

In an aspect of the invention, the method comprises providing an outlet opening in the floor structure extending to the damp proofing layer; providing an inlet opening in the floor structure extending through the damp proofing layer; and simultaneously forcing dry air into the inlet opening and drawing resulting damp air out of the outlet opening.

Thereby, the drying process makes use of the inherent fluid flow capabilities in the gap provided by the damp proofing layer in that 1) The dry air forced into the inlet opening will flow along the gap beneath the damp proofing layer and gradually accumulate moisture therein to become damp air. 2) The damp air will reach the edges of the damp proofing layer. 3) Simultaneously, the vacuum or low pressure created by drawing damp air out of the outlet opening will force the damp air reaching said edges to be drawn into and accumulate more moisture in mainly the interface or gap between the flooring and the damp proofing layer and eventually drawn out of the outlet opening.

In an embodiment, the method comprises providing the outlet opening sufficiently wide for forming the inlet opening therein. Then an operator may better oversee the forming of the inlet opening. Then the outlet opening will also function as a vacuum or low pressure chamber, possibly capable of drawing moist laden air also from interfaces between other layers in the flooring or from porous materials in the flooring.

In another embodiment the resulting damp air is converted to said dry air. Thereby the drying process may be performed in a substantially closed loop.

The resulting damp air may also be advantageously heated prior to said converting.

The drawing of resulting damp air may be performed by a blower. A suitable blower, such as a side channel blower or a turbine blower, will have an inlet side capable of creating the sufficient vacuum or suction force needed for drawing damp air from this type of floor structure which is relatively airtight, except for the gap provided by the damp proofing layer. Such blower may also be inherently capable of the heating of the resulting damp air.

The damp and preferably heated air may be converted to dry air and also forced into the inlet opening by a dehumidifier.

As a result of the measures indicated above, the blower and the dehumidifier may accordingly be serially interconnected to further enhance the drying process.

An arrangement for performing the method according to the invention comprises an outlet opening in the floor structure extending to the damp proofing layer; an inlet opening in the floor structure extending through the damp proofing layer; a dehumidifier having an air inlet port and a dry air outlet port; a blower having a suction port and a blow port; and outlet tubing connecting the outlet opening to the suction port of the blower, interconnecting tubing connecting the blow port of the blower to the air inlet port of the dehumidifier and inlet tubing connecting the dry air outlet port of the dehumidifier to the inlet opening.

The arrangement may further comprise a base plate adapted to sealingly cover the outlet and inlet openings and to sealingly receive open ends of the tubings protruding into the respective openings.

Other features and advantages of the invention may be apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic broken away view, partially in section, of an arrangement according to the invention; FIG. 2, in a larger scale and in more detail shows the encircled area 2 of FIG.1; FIG. 3, in a larger scale and in more detail shows the encircled area 3 of FIG.1; FIG. 4, in a larger scale and in more detail shows the encircled area 4 of FIG.2; FIG. 5 illustrates a piece of a damp proofing layer; FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing an alternative embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic broken away view, partially in section, showing still another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a floor structure 10 being dried by using a drying arrangement according to the invention, generally including a dehumidifier 50 and a blower 60, as well as tubing including dry air tubing 56, outlet air tubing 66 and tubing 65 serially interconnecting blower 60 and dehumidifier 50.

A base plate 70 is adapted to cover an outlet opening or space 80 provided in the floor structure 10. Base plate 10 may have studs or fittings 72 and 74 to sealingly receive open ends of respective tubing 56 and 66.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, and as well known in the art, this type of floor structure 10 may include a subfloor 40 comprising a concrete foundation slab 42 and possibly a synthetic resin impact sound dampening layer 44. The floor structure 10 also includes a flooring 20, in this example comprising a surface layer 22, a chipboard layer 24 and a cellular plastic heat insulation layer 26. Between the subfloor 40 and the flooring 20 there is a damp proofing layer 30 capable of providing an air gap 32 between subfloor 40 and flooring 20. The damp proofing layer 30 may be a protective membrane known as Platon® that is formed with a pattern of protrusions projecting from at least a bottom face 34 thereof for providing said gap 32. In FIGS 2-6, protective membrane of damp proofing layer 30 is shown as having protrusions projecting from opposite faces thereof, but the damp proofing layer 30 may as well have protrusions only projecting from the bottom face thereof (not shown). Thanks to the air gap 32, this type of damp proofing layer is known to protect the flooring against damp from the subfloor and to carry away the damp by natural flow through the airgap.

As apparent from FIG. 2, the above mentioned space 80 is formed in the flooring 20 down to the damp proofing layer 30 for example by a router (not shown). Space 80 that may be of rounded rectangular or circular shape will typically have a width of about 11 centimeters.

Space 80 enables access to the damp proofing layer 30 for making a dry air inlet opening 38 (see also FIG. 5) therein. The dry air inlet opening 38 may be made by any suitable means, for example manually by a knife (not shown).

When the above mentioned base plate 70 is attached to cover the space in the flooring 20, the open end of the dry air tubing 56 projects into the dry air inlet opening 38 of the damp proofing layer 30. The open end of the outlet air tubing 66, however, projects only into the space 80, which can be regarded as a damp air outlet opening. As indicated in FIG. 4, the opening 38 may be sealed to the end portion of the dry air tubing 56 by any suitable sealing means 76, for example a bitumen compound. The base plate 70 may be attached and sealed to the flooring 20 also by any suitable means, for example by glue or screws and sealing strips 78.

Returning to FIG. 1, the dehumidifier 50 that may be a sorption type dehumidifier, has a process air inlet port 52 for receiving process air from the blower 60 to be dried in the dehumidifier and a dry air outlet port 54. The dehumidifier 50 also has damp air outlet port 57 for the disposal of condensate and damp laden air accumulated in the dehumidifier 50 out of the dehumidifier. The blower 60, that may be a side channel blower, in turn has a damp air inlet or suction port 62 and a process air outlet or blow port 64. Such a blower, and also other types of blowers known in the art, is inherently capable of heating the damp air drawn thereinto.

Resulting from the arrangement described above, in operation, the dehumidifier 50 forces heated dry air 58 into the gap 32 and beneath the damp proofing layer 30. The dry air flows laterally in all directions, gradually accumulating moist from the subfloor 40. Thereby, resulting damp air 68 flows towards edges 33 (FIG. 3) of the damp proofing layer 30.

Simultaneously, the blower 60 draws air from the space 80 in the flooring 20, so as to transform the space 80 into a vacuum or low pressure chamber capable of creating a suction force for drawing air along a top face 32 of the damp proofing layer 30. Damp air 68 flowing beneath the damp proofing layer 30 in the gap and flowing over the edges 33 will thereby be seized by the suction force and drawn into an interface or small gap 32’ (FIG. 4) between the flooring 20 and the damp proofing layer 30.

Therein, the damp air 68 now flowing in all directions towards the space 80 continues to accumulate moist, now from the flooring 20. The damp air 68 then enters the space 80 to be drawn into the blower 60. Blower 60 repressurizes and heats the damp air 68, and forces it - now as process air - into the dehumidifier 50 via tubing 65. Dehumidifier 50 converts the moist and heated process air into heated dry air 58, which is returned to inlet opening 38 via the dry air tubing 56. The drying process so described continues until the floor structure is deemed to be sufficiently dried. The required time of the drying process may vary depending on circumstances such as severity of water damage, types of components in the floor structure and characteristics of the drying arrangement used.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6 the is no space or vacuum chamber in the flooring 20, but the outlet opening is provided as a bore 80 through the flooring 20, and the inlet opening is provided as a bore 38 through the flooring 20 and damp proofing layer 30. In still another embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the outlet opening 80 may be circular and concentrically arranged in relation to the inlet opening 38, while the base plate 70 has a corresponding shape.

The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. Modifications will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. A method of drying a water damaged floor structure (10) including a subfloor (40), a flooring (20) and a damp proofing layer (30) therebetween formed to provide an air gap (32) allowing fluid flow along opposite faces and also across edges of said layer, characterized by providing an outlet opening (80) in the floor structure extending to the damp proofing layer (30); providing an inlet opening (38) in the floor structure extending through the damp proofing layer (30); and simultaneously forcing dry air (58) into the inlet opening (38) and drawing resulting damp air (68) out of the outlet opening (80).

2. The method of claim 1, comprising providing the outlet opening (80) sufficiently wide for forming the inlet opening (38) therein.

3. The method of claims 1 or 2, comprising converting the resulting damp air (68) to said dry air (58).

4. The method of claim 3, comprising heating the resulting damp air (68).

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, comprising said drawing being performed by a blower (60).

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, comprising said forcing being performed by a dehumidifier (50).

7. The method of claim 6, comprising converting the resulting damp air (68) to said dry air (58) by the dehumidifier (50).

8. An arrangement for performing the method of any of claims 1-7, characterized by an outlet opening (80) in the floor structure extending to the damp proofing layer (30); an inlet opening (38) in the floor structure extending through the damp proofing layer (30); a dehumidifier (50) having an air inlet port (52) and a dry air outlet port (54); a blower (60) having a suction port (62) and a blow port (64); and outlet tubing (66) connecting the outlet opening (80) to the suction port (62) of the blower (60), interconnecting tubing (65) connecting the blow port (64) of the blower (60) to the air inlet port (52) of the dehumidifier (50) and inlet tubing (56) connecting the dry air outlet port (54) of the dehumidifier (50) to the inlet opening (38).

9. The arrangement of claim 8, comprising a base plate (70) adapted to sealingly cover the outlet and inlet openings (80, 38) and to sealingly receive open ends of the tubings (66, 56) protruding into the respective openings (80, 38).