This invention relates to building construction and specifically to the addition of rooms to an existing building.
The addition of rooms to an existing building is known in the art. For example, a sunroom can be added to an existing residential dwelling. Typically, a doorway is either already part of the existing building or a doorway is installed. The additional room is then constructed attached to the existing building. The additional room will typically use at least one wall of the existing building as a wall of the additional room. In addition to this one or more common wall, the additional room is constructed with new walls, floor and ceiling. The additional room also has a roof. When the additional room is a sunroom, a large portion of the walls is comprised of windows.
It would be advantageous if improvements could be made to the process of adding a room to a building.
According to this invention there is provided a method of adding an additional room to an existing building. The method includes selecting an exterior wall to be a common wall between the existing building and the additional room, adding the additional room to the existing building along the common wall, removing exterior layers of the common wall to expose a core, and attaching an acoustic finishing system to the core.
According to this invention there is also provided a method of adding an additional room to an existing building. The method includes selecting an exterior wall to be a common wall between the existing building and the additional room, adding the additional room to the existing building along the common wall, and attaching an acoustic finishing system to the common wall.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.
One non-limiting embodiment of the invention is shown in
Attached to the first story 16 of the existing building 10, is an additional room 20. The additional room 20 could be attached to the existing building 10 somewhere other that the first story 16, or it could be attached to multiple stories of the existing building 10. The additional room 20 has addition walls 22, an addition roof 24 and an addition floor 26. One of the addition walls 22 of the additional room 20 is the common wall 28. A doorway 30 communicates between the interior of the existing building 10 and the interior of the additional room. It should be understood that the additional room 20 could have more than one common wall 28 with the existing building, and the additional room could lack a doorway 30 communicating with the interior of the existing building 10.
The existing walls 12, including the common wall 28, are typically composed of several layers. The configuration of the layers in the existing walls 12 can be one of any number of different designs, and there is no single configuration common to all existing buildings. One possible configuration is shown in
In practicing the invention, some of the exterior layers of the common wall 28 of the existing building 10 are normally removed to expose a core, indicated generally at 41. This is shown at the first-story portion 16 of the common wall 28 in
The acoustic finishing system 42 can be comprised of a board 52 to which is attached a decorative fabric 54, as shown in
In some cases, it may be desirable to attach an intermediate layer to the core 41 prior to attaching the acoustic finishing system 42. A second embodiment of the invention is shown in
Another embodiment of the invention is shown in
As shown in
A common reason to add a room to an existing building is to add a sunroom to a residence. A sunroom provides the residence with more visible access to the outdoors, and accomplishes this by having a large number of windows 58. Without acoustic treatment, the windows 58 on the addition walls 22 and the existing exterior siding material 40 on the common wall 28 would create an environment in which sound is not absorbed, but rather is largely reflected by the walls and windows (such as with brick cladding, siding, drywall, or other materials on the common wall). This can result in a poor acoustic environment, and diminish the ability of the home-owner to enjoy the additional room. In a specific embodiment of the invention, the acoustic finishing system has a Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC) of at least 0.40 as measured by ASTM test C423. In another specific embodiment of the invention, the acoustic finishing system has a Noise Reduction Coefficient of at least 0.75.
In a specific embodiment of the invention, the finishing system is installed in a removable manner, such as that illustrated in U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0219853 A1 to Weir et al. for a “Room Finishing System”, and in U.S. Pub. No. 2005/0150183 A1 to Hettler et al for an “Insulation System with Variable Position Vapor Barrier”, both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The acoustic finishing system 42 attached to the common wall 28 provides improvements to the additional room 20 by providing an aesthetically-pleasing appearance to the common wall 28, which would otherwise appear similar to the outmost exterior layer of the common wall 28. This improves the speed of installation and flexibility. Furthermore, it can provide the owner access to the interior of the wall to accommodate wiring, speakers, or other modifications. Additionally, the acoustic finishing system 42 provides acoustic benefits. The transmission of sound from the additional room 20 to the existing building 10 is reduced, and the amount of sound reflection within the additional room 20 is reduced, and the r-value of the wall can be maintained or improved. Furthermore, the system provides insulation, potentially improving the comfort and energy efficiency of both the room and the adjacent structure. Furthermore, because the system may be breathable, the relative humidity of the room may be controlled using the system of the adjacent structure.
The principle and mode of operation of this invention have been described in its preferred embodiments. However, it should be noted that this invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its scope. It should also be understood that while the embodiments described suggest a particular order in which steps of the invention are carried out, the order suggested by the described embodiments can be varied from without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the acoustic finishing system 42 could be attached to the common wall 28 prior to construction of the additional room 20. When introducing elements of the present invention or embodiments of the invention, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements.
This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/789,229, filed on Feb. 27, 2004 entitled, “Room finishing system”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10789229 | Feb 2004 | US |
Child | 11648076 | Dec 2006 | US |