The present invention relates to the control of moisture within walls, and more particularly to a moisture control strip for use in wall construction.
Structural walls for buildings such as residential, commercial, or industrial buildings, are often constructed in layers. Typically, a wall sits on a foundation, and includes a backup wall having a floor plate and a ceiling plate and a set of vertical studs. Usually, sheathing (which may be plywood, oriented strand board, or the like) is disposed on the outside face (i.e. the face that faces towards the outside of the building) of the backup wall. The sheathing is covered by a moisture barrier membrane. A metal flashing is disposed at the bottom of the wall, above the foundation and between the sheathing and the membrane.
On the outside of the membrane, a layer of thermal insulation is typically installed. In some cases, moisture control panels, such as that described in published Canadian Patent Application 2,249,509 and owned by the applicant herein, are disposed outside of the insulation. Fasteners are installed through the moisture control panel, the insulation, the membrane, the sheathing and into the vertical stud to hold the moisture control panel and insulation in place within the wall. A wire mesh supporting a layer of stucco is disposed on the outside of the moisture control panel, with the mesh also being held in place by the fastener.
In a first aspect, the invention is directed to a moisture control strip including an elongate member having first and second wall component contacting faces. The second wall component contacting face is opposed to the first wall component contacting face. The member has a width across the first and second wall component contacting faces. The first wall component interface side has a plurality of projections defined thereon. The projections are spaced vertically from each other.
In a second aspect, the invention is directed to a wall comprising an inner wall component, an outer wall component, and a plurality of the moisture control strips described above, disposed between the inner wall component and the outer wall component. The projections on the first wall component contacting face engage one of the inner wall component and the outer wall component. The second wall component contacting face engages the other of the inner wall component and the outer wall component. The moisture control strips are horizontally spaced from each other within the wall.
In a third aspect, the invention is directed to a method of making a moisture control strip, comprising:
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Now referring to
The elongate member 12 has first and second substantially oppositely facing wall component contacting faces 14 and 16, respectively, and two side faces 20 extending therebetween. The first wall component interface side 14 has a plurality of spaced projections 18 may be defined thereon, while the second wall component contacting face 16 may be generally planar.
Each projection 18 has a wall component contacting surface 24 thereon for contacting a wall component adjacent the moisture control strip (see,
Each projection 18 may extend across the entire width W of the strip 10, and is spaced from any adjacent projections 18 by a laterally extending groove 22. The groove 22 has an upper face 28, a lower face 30 and an inner face 31. The upper face 28 extends downwards in a direction inwards from the wall component contacting surface 24 of the projection 18 above the groove 22. The lower face 30 extends downwards in a direction inwards from the wall component contacting surface 24 of the projection 18 below the groove. The inner face 31 may be generally parallel to the wall component contacting surfaces 24. A trough 33 is formed at the intersection of the lower face 30 and the inner face 31. The trough 33 is open at both ends.
When the projections 18 contact a wall component, the upper and lower faces 28 and 30 both are configured by their slope angle, to convey into the trough 33 droplets of moisture that they catch running down the wall component. The droplets of moisture may form on the wall component, for example, as a result of condensation. Moisture collected in the trough 33 eventually can be drained off at the two open ends of the trough 33, down the side faces 20 of the moisture control strip 10.
Further, because the groove 22 is open at both ends, it provides airflow and aeration to the wall component against which the projection 18 is abutted, facilitating drying of the wall component, relative to a strip or panel in which no grooves were present that permitted aeration.
Prior to machining the grooves 22, the moisture control strip 10 may initially be a longitudinally extending member having a rectangular (eg. square) cross-sectional shape. Each groove 22 may be machined in a single pass in the moisture control strip 10, by moving an appropriately configured cutting tool (not shown) across the width of the first wall component contacting face 14, which is, in the embodiment shown in the Figures, is the width W of the strip 10. By having the projections extend across the entire width W of the first wall component contacting face 14 simplifies the machining required to form the projections 18 ie. so that machining across the width of the first wall component contacting face 14 is sufficient to form the projections 18, which in turn reduces the cost of manufacture for the moisture control strips 10. It will be noted that the grooves 22 may be formed by any other suitable means instead of machining.
A vertical groove 26 (see
Referring to
With reference to
The wall 200 sits on a foundation 212, and includes a backup wall 214, which has a floor plate 216 and a ceiling plate (not shown) and a set of vertical studs 218. One such vertical stud 218 is shown. Sheathing 220, which may be made of plywood, oriented strand board or some other suitable material, is disposed on the outside face of the backup wall 214. A moisture barrier membrane 222 covers the sheathing 220. A metal flashing 224 is disposed at the bottom of the wall 10, between the sheathing 220 and the membrane 222 and above the foundation 212. A layer of thermal insulation 226 is installed on the outside of the membrane 222. The layer of insulation 226 may be rigid insulation, or alternatively, it may comprise batt or other non-rigid insulation sheathed with a wood panel sheathing on its outside face. Thus, the inner wall component 202 comprises the vertical studs 218, the sheathing 220, the membrane 222 and the layer of thermal insulation 226. The layer of thermal insulation 226, which may be rigid, comprises the outer surface of the inner wall component 202. Alternatively, if no thermal insulation were installed, the membrane 222 would comprise the outer surface of the inner wall component 202. The outer wall component 204 comprises wire mesh 234 having a layer of stucco 236 supported thereon. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the layer of stucco 236 is somewhat moisture previous. As can be seen, the moisture control strips 10 are oriented such that their longitudinal direction (in which their length L is measured) corresponds to a vertical axis AV of the wall 200. The wall components, including the moisture control strips 10, are held together by fasteners 232.
The moisture control strips 10 may be positioned in the wall 200 with the first wall component contacting face 14 facing the inner wall component 204, as shown in
Referring to
In the airspaces 238, ie. the regions between the moisture control strips 10, any moisture buildup on the layer of stucco 236 or on the layer of insulation 226 can drain downwards along the stucco layer 236 onto the flashing 224 and out. Referring to
Using a plurality of moisture control strips 10 that are spaced apart by a selected distance R from one another provides several advantages over using a moisture control panel such as that shown in Canadian patent application 2,249,509. One advantage is that the cost of the moisture control strips 10 is substantially lower than that of the aforementioned panel. This is because the strip consumes less base material, and requires substantially less machining.
Another advantage is that the spaced strips 10 create fewer heat conduction paths though the wall 200 than are created by a large, wide panel. In other words, the overall heat loss through the wall 200 is lower using the moisture control strips 10 than using a panel.
It is contemplated that the orientation of the moisture control strip 10 will be selected based on which of the inner and outer wall components 202 and 204 is more likely to build up moisture. For example, with respect to condensation of water vapour in the air between the inner and outer components 202 and 204, the wall component that receives more condensation will depend at least in part on the ambient temperatures expected on both sides of the wall 200. Also, moisture buildup can occur in one or both of the inner and outer wall components 202 and 204 as a result of such factors as damp weather conditions outside and humidity conditions inside. These and other considerations will influence which orientation best serves the function of the moisture control panel 10.
In similar fashion to the configuration shown in
In the embodiments described above, the grooves 22 extend strictly laterally across the width of the first wall component contacting face 14. It is alternatively possible for the grooves 22 to extend laterally across the width of the first wall component contacting face 14, but at an angle with respect to a lateral axis AL (
The grooves 22 have been described as being configured to convey moisture away from the surface with which they are in contact (eg. the inner or outer wall components). It is alternatively possible for the grooves 22 to principally provide aeration to the surface with which it is in contact, instead of providing a drainage function. Accordingly, the grooves 22 may have upper and lower faces that are generally perpendicular to the plane of the wall component contacted by the first wall component contacting face 14.
It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art the inner and outer wall components with which the moisture control strip 10 can be used are not limited to those shown in the Figures.
It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the present invention, and all such variations and modifications are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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601753 | Kaiser | Apr 1898 | A |
2609956 | Stevenson | Sep 1952 | A |
3498015 | Green et al. | Mar 1970 | A |
6298620 | Hatzinikolas | Oct 2001 | B1 |
6990775 | Koester | Jan 2006 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050246987 A1 | Nov 2005 | US |