1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to protecting buildings from damage by flood water intrusion into the interior of the building. More particularly, method and materials for preventing water from passing through walls, windows and window openings and doors and door openings of buildings are provided.
2. Description of Related Art
According to the Federal Emergency Management Administration of the U.S. government (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), flash flooding is the most common natural disaster in the U.S. One-third of flood loss claims paid are in “low-risk” areas, and the average flood loss claim payment is $42,000.
For many years, flood protection methods have been developed and used in protection of commercial, institutional and high-rise multi-family residential buildings. Temporary flood barriers and gates have been developed as an improvement to sand bags to keep rising surface water out of buildings, but there is a need for a “passive” method and corresponding materials for flood proofing wood frame and light-gauge steel frame buildings. A passive method of flood protection is defined as one that does not require human intervention to prevent interior flooding of a building during an unexpected flood event—one that prevents intrusion of rising water into an exterior building envelope. Such method and materials should be applicable to retrofit existing residences, small commercial buildings and other types of structures that are built on concrete slabs and that utilize wood structural framing or light-gauge steel framing in exterior walls. In addition, such method and materials should be applicable to various veneer wall finish materials, i.e. masonry, stucco, and wood or composite siding materials or to new construction.
Method and materials are provided for sealing the exterior of a building built on a concrete slab to a selected height above the slab. Window frames are sealed and special construction of windows extending below the selected height is provided. Door frames are sealed and special construction of doors extending below the selected height is provided. Doors open outwardly from the building walls. Walls are sealed by waterproof panels that are sealed to the slab.
The height H of the wall surface to be flood-protected is preferably selected according to anticipated flood conditions that may be experienced and the load-bearing capacity of the frame of the building. The height to be flood protected will usually not be greater than 3 feet above the concrete slab 19 on wood frame and light-gauge steel frame buildings, because of the limited strength of the structural frame. Strength enhancement options for increased flood height requirements may be installed, allowing an increase in height H.
The order of application of the materials disclosed here may vary; the method and materials will be described here beginning with the installation of replacement flood windows in an existing structure. New construction methods will also be described in
Referring to
Window frame segment 34 is an extruded portion of the frame assembly, designated the “glazing backstop,” against which glazing 22 is sealed and compressed when pressure is applied from the window exterior. Double-stick glazing silicone base tape 35c is applied continuously to backstop 34 to prevent movement of the glazing once it is attached to frame 27a. Premium glazing silicone sealant 32 is applied to backstop 34 to further seal the glazing into place and to prevent water leakage. Exterior glazing trim 33 may be clipped into place and sealed with silicone sealant 32. Special care is taken so as not to soil glazing 22 with silicone sealant.
Referring to
The void between door jamb frame 49 and the existing opening framing members can be sealed with silicone sealant. All exterior surface perimeter joints around the door jamb frame 49 should be sealed with an elastomeric acrylic waterproof caulk and sealant compound 53 such as PERMAPATCH. To provide further sealing, a minimum 2-inch adhesive flashing strip 54, such as Grace Vycor flashing, Quick Roof Flashing by Cofair Products, Inc., or equal, is preferably heat applied and overlaid by a continuous filament, spun-laced fabric membrane 55, such as PERMATAPE, available from Nationwide. Fabric membrane 55 is thoroughly saturated and sealed with an elastomeric waterproofing adhesive bonding primer, such as ACRYLOPRIME sealer, overlapping the outer edge of the door jamb frame 49 and the adjacent wall substrate surface, preferably a minimum of 1-inch on the door frame and 1-inch on the adjacent wall substrate. The concrete slab area where the existing door sill was removed should be thoroughly cleaned and silicone sealant should be applied immediately before installing replacement door assembly 40. The door sill is firmly set onto previously applied silicone sealant. The front edge of door jamb frame 49 at the sill-to concrete slab joint should be sealed to concrete slab 19 with silicone glass block caulking, taking care not to overlap any elastomeric acrylic caulk and sealant with the silicone. The above installation process should be repeated for all exterior door elements extending below height H until the door retrofit procedure has been completed.
Referring to
Other steps to be taken before flood proofing a building using any of the methods and materials disclosed herein are to: relocate exterior electrical receptacles and other electrical apparatus which may be located within the established flood zone wall surface area defined by height H, temporarily remove other exterior wall surface mounted devices for reconnection after exterior wall coatings have been applied, and seal all remaining wall penetrations, preferably with an elastomeric acrylic waterproof caulk and sealant such as PERMAPATCH.
Before beginning flood proofing of masonry veneer substrate 70, it is preferable to saw-cut all protruding masonry window sills and raised accent appointments flush with the wall substrate surface within the flood zone area to insure a smooth and level finished surface area.
An exterior masonry veneer substrate typically possesses a 1-inch air-space 77 between the backside of the masonry substrate 70 and the wall board underlayment 78 attached to the wood frame structure. This air space must be filled solid with mold-resistant material 79, which may be a slurry admixture of sodium silicate and cement grout, up to height H prior to the application of the flood protective materials. All existing masonry weep holes 70a located at the base of the existing masonry substrate should be filled to within 1-inch of the outer surface with 100% silicone caulking sealant. The balance of the opening will preferably be smoothed over with masonry grout to match the existing mortar material and allowed to dry prior to pumping cement admixture 79 into air-space cavity 77 through new weep holes 70b drilled into the existing mortar joints and located above height H. This procedure seals off potentially trapped moisture from the inner wall cavity and allows air and moisture to circulate within the remaining portion of unsealed air-space to prevent mold growth.
Moisture- and mold-resistant cementitious wall board 72, which may be ¼-inch or ½-inch HARDIBOARD Wet Area Cement Board, may be installed over the entire wall surface area to be flood-protected, including an area extending 3 inches below the intersection of wall substrate 70 and concrete slab 19, referred to as base joint 75. Board 72 is then preferably attached to slab 19 using 2-inch masonry anchors 71. A 6-inch continuous strip of Adhesive Flashing 73, which may be Grace Vycor flashing, Quick Roof Flashing by Cofair Products, Inc., or equal, is applied to slab 19 and board 72, preferably in a 50/50 percentage of coverage of each above and below base joint 75. A strip of PERMATAPE 74, saturated and sealed with ACRYLOPRIME, should be the applied, overlapping the top and bottom of the flashing.
All masonry door and window jamb and sill returns should be wrapped with wall board 72, fitting board 72 flush with door jamb frame 49 and window sills/jambs, as shown in
A coat of elastomeric waterproofing bonding primer such as ACRYLOPRIME sealer should preferably be applied evenly over cementitious wall board 72. Then a decorative waterproof acrylic sand/knock-down/swirl texture coating may be applied (by trowel or spray), such as ACRYLOSAND or ACRYLOSTUK (available from Nationwide), in a selected pattern and texture. Then a single coat of elastomeric adhesive waterproofing and bonding primer sealer, such as PERMABOND should be applied. Finally, two coats of elastomeric acrylic ceramic polyurea finish-coat topping, such as PERMAKOTE SUPER PLUS, color-matched as selected, should be applied. Normally, a minimum 12-hour curing time is allowed before all chemical coating applications
Referring to
A 6-inch continuous strip of adhesive flashing 85 is applied evenly to slab 19 and board 82 intersection, over base joint 83. Base-joint flashing is then sealed with a strip of membrane 86 saturated and sealed with sealer, overlapped top and bottom. Other coating and sealers may be applied as described above. Decorative molding 87 may be added. If a building has concrete exterior siding, it may be flood proofed by caulking, sealing, and coating of the existing substrate without the installation of the cement board underlayment and decorative textured coating finish disclosed above.
Referring to
Referring to
For base joint 103 flood protection, the following application is preferred: a 6-inch continuous strip of adhesive flashing 104 is applied evenly to slab 19 and cement wall board substrate 101 over new framing 100, preferably in a 50/50 percentage of coverage of each above and below base joint 103. Flashing 104 is then sealed with a strip of membrane 105 saturated and sealed with sealer overlapped top and bottom, as described above. Horizontal brick ledge 106 may exist in lieu of a vertical concrete slab 19 surface, in which case the above procedure may encompass horizontal brick ledge 106 in addition to the vertical slab surface as part of the flood protection procedure. Masonry elements will be installed on top of flood protected horizontal brick ledge 106.
All wall board substrate 101 joints are sealed with a strip of membrane 105 saturated and sealed with sealer. A coat of elastomeric waterproofing bonding primer, followed by two coats of elastomeric acrylic ceramic polyurea finish-coat topping, such as PERMAKOTE SUPER PLUS (available from Nationwide), should be applied, as described above. In all installations using the method and materials disclosed herein, plumbing modifications are preferred. A 4-inch backflow prevention device with before/aft clean-out capability should be installed in the main sanitary sewer line between the house structure and the street. An individual anti-siphon back-flow prevention device should be installed on each exterior hose bib located within the flood zone. Also, all thru-wall penetrations for gas and plumbing should be sealed with PERMAPATCH caulk and sealant material prior to coating application procedures and silicone caulking after completion of industrial coatings application.
A model building was constructed according to the methods and materials described herein and tested under real-flood test conditions as follows:
Prototype I.
A concrete slab-on-grade residential foundation was constructed, 8 ft×8 ft in dimension, with an exposed foundation 12 inches above the existing grade. Thereafter, a wood-frame structure was constructed thereon using standard 2×4 stud framing at 16-inch on center, with a single base-plate attached to the concrete foundation with standard anchor bolts at 4 ft on center, standard metal cross-bracing strips, a single 2×4 plate as a header at the top of the 4 ft wall height, and exterior foil-faced particle board sheathing applied to the exterior face of the stud wall—all materials typically used in a wood framed residential structure.
Wall finishes typical to residential construction and additional special features were included in the prototype for testing as follows:
Flood protection methodologies were implemented and tested as follows:
An existing free-standing concrete slab-on-grade garage structure with a ½-inch×8-inch horizontal lap-and-gap HARDIPLANK siding exterior was utilized as the second prototype for real-flood simulations. As with Prototype I, a 3-ft×3-ft continuous moat was constructed across an 8-ft section of the rear wall of the existing building with the floor level of the moat constructed 4 inches below the finished concrete floor level of the existing garage. There was an existing troublesome base joint condition to contend with; the concrete slab having a 2-inch bow in it due to poor concrete forming when the building was originally constructed. This condition served to enhance our testing of flood protection at the base joint utilizing the multi-stage coating system, and it provided a critical real-life condition that could reasonably be encountered in field conditions.
In addition to the above test, an existing 3 ft×6 ft−8 inches pedestrian door providing entry into the garage area was retro-fitted according to the disclosure and tested independently by constructing a4 ft×3 ft×3 ft moat across the front of the retro-fitted door assembly after the completed installation. The door assembly was tested for a 24-hour period without leakage. This test proved that an existing door can be properly modified and retro-fitted for use in the disclosed flood protection system in addition to the use of a new flood door assembly.
It should be noted that several independent tests of door and window assemblies were repeatedly tested utilizing the same procedures, each test documenting points of weakness and/or failure, until the disclosed door and window systems were found to be waterproof.
Referring to
Referring to
Gasket 153 may either be secured to the rear of flange 152 or to door sill 151 as shown in
Flanges 114, 121, 141, 152 and 162 all extend from the exterior surface of door 100.
A lower portion 170 of the flood door according to another aspect of the invention includes a flood safe window assembly 106. Window 106 includes a ¼″ to ½″ thick, for example, laminated/tempered sheet of glass or glazing 172 as shown in
Window assembly includes a first continuous L-shaped frame member 135 including a first leg portion 136 which is secured to the cut out section 173 of the door. For purposes of discussion the cut out section 173 is shown as rectangular in
Therefore, in the embodiment shown in
A trim piece 139 which may be formed as a hollow rectangular member 139 is secured by suitable fasteners 132 to the door cut out portion to complete the flood proof window assembly. Trim piece 139 faces outwardly of the door.
Although the present invention has been described with respect to specific details, it is not intended that such details should be regarded as limitations on the scope of the invention, except to the extent that they are included in the accompanying claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/755,573, filed on Apr. 25, 2012 which is a divisional application of Ser. No. 12/427,069 filed on Apr. 21, 2009.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12427069 | Apr 2009 | US |
Child | 13455573 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13455573 | Apr 2012 | US |
Child | 14310120 | US |