Patent Application
20070044402
The present invention is directed to moisture control systems for controlling moisture in surface facing systems on building structures.
Surface facings or cladding, such as stone veneer, stucco and brick suffer from the drawback that moisture may be present in an interior area of the wall system. This moisture may originate from a variety of sources, including leakage through damage to the surface facing, condensation within the interior area or incidental moisture present from the building materials making up the wall system. Damage to surface facing material may occur with little or no warning, causing moisture intrusion. Condensation may form on the rear or backside of surfacing materials or other surfaces within the interior wall space. Under certain atmospheric conditions, water can condense on the backside of the panels even where there is no compromise of the surface facing. The extent of condensation varies with the geographical location of the structure, the type of surface facing and/or building materials used, and the amount and temperature of the air infiltration into the interior space of the wall. Condensation may form when the airspace within the interior space of the wall reaches 100% relative humidity and the surfaces within the airspace begin to cool. Building materials used for surface facing and construction of walls may contain varying amounts of incidental moisture, resulting from moisture present in the materials or used in the application of the materials. This incidental moisture may flow into the interior space of the wall or may contribute to the humidity of the air present in the interior space of the wall, eventually contributing to possible condensation. If excess moisture is present within the wall from any or a combination of the above and/or the moisture is permitted to pool within the interior space of the wall, the presence of this moisture may lead to interior damage to the wall structure and/or building and promote the presence of pests, mold growth, mildew growth or rotting of the building materials. Pests may include insects, rodents or other undesirable living things.
Some attempts to control the moisture within the interior space of the wall have included devices or wall treatments that are inserted within the interior wall space to facilitate flow of moisture to the bottom of the wall. These systems suffer from the drawback that the moisture control devices force the surface facings to terminate at the building/foundation interface in order to allow the moisture to exit from the inside of the surface facing. The termination of the facing at the building/foundation interface in not aesthetically pleasing, because the termination provides a gap at the base of the wall at the foundation of the building/structure exposes a non-desirable facing material. In addition, these systems only flow the moisture in the direction of gravity, wherein moisture may still pool in the interior spaces of the wall, especially at the lower portions of the wall at or near the interface between the interior wall structure and the foundation.
Another attempt to control moisture in wall systems having surface facing includes structures that are installed at the base of the surface cladding material, typically at or near the interface of the structure foundation and the wall structure, horizontally along the perimeter of the structure optionally including weep holes to permit the gathered moisture to drain downward. The horizontal installation is an installation that is substantially perpendicular to the direction of gravity. This approach suffers from the drawback that the horizontal installation allows pooling of the moisture, particularly between any weep holes, if present. The pooling of moisture promotes the presence of pests, mold, mildew and rotting of the building materials. In addition, these structures are visible for the entire perimeter of the house, which is aesthetically undesirable. In addition, it is undesirable to apply surface facing below this moisture control structure because the presence of surface facing would hinder the drainage of moisture and/or would undesirably be in contact with moisture.
What is needed is a moisture control system for removing moisture from interior areas of wall systems that permits application of surface facing directly to the foundation below the point of drainage, substantially prevents the pooling of moisture within the wall structure and does not suffer from the drawbacks of the prior art.
The present invention includes moisture channeling member for removing moisture from the interior cavity of a surface facing system. The moisture channeling member includes a channel portion having a channel with an upper end, a lower end and a surface capable of conveying liquid. The channel is inclined at an angle with respect to level sufficient to facilitate flow of liquid from the upper end to the lower end. The channel portion is in fluid communication with an interior cavity of a surface facing system. A drainage portion is in fluid communication with the channel portion. The drainage portion is capable of consolidating and diverting moisture received from the channel portion and conveying the received moisture to an exterior area of the surface facing system.
The present invention further includes an embodiment including a wall system having a building structure comprising an interior wall structure disposed on a foundation portion. A surface facing, such as stucco, brick veneer, natural brick, stone veneer, natural stone, or combinations thereof, is present on a surface of the building wall structure. An interior cavity is formed between the building structure and the surface facing. A moisture channeling member is attached to the interior wall structure or foundation and is in fluid communication with the interior cavity. The moisture channeling member includes a channel portion having a channel with an upper end, a lower end and a surface capable of conveying liquid. The channel is inclined at an angle with respect to level sufficient to facilitate flow of liquid from the upper end to the lower end. The channel portion is in fluid communication with the interior cavity of a surface facing system. A drainage portion is in fluid communication with the channel portion. The drainage portion is capable of consolidating and diverting moisture received from the channel portion and conveying the received moisture to an exterior area of the surface facing system.
The present invention further includes an embodiment including a method for applying a surface facing system to a building structure. The method includes providing a building structure having an interior wall structure disposed on a foundation portion. A moisture channeling member is attached to the wall structure. The moisture channeling member includes a channel portion having a channel with an upper end, a lower end and a surface capable of conveying liquid. The channel is inclined at an angle with respect to level sufficient to facilitate flow of liquid from the upper end to the lower end. A drainage portion is in fluid communication with the channel portion. A surface facing material is applied to a surface of the building structure and the moisture channeling member. The surface facing material is applied so that an interior cavity is formed between the building structure and the surface facing. The channel portion is in fluid communication with an interior cavity of a surface facing system. The drainage portion is capable of consolidating and diverting moisture received from the channel portion and conveying the received moisture to an exterior area of the surface facing system.
The moisture channeling member, according to the present invention, may also include a moisture drainage system that extends for at least a portion of the interior cavity inside the wall. The moisture drainage system allows moisture present inside the wall to flow in the direction of gravity to the lower portion of the wall, to a drainage portion and from the interior of the surface facing. The moisture drainage system may be any structure that permits the flow of water, including dimpled materials, wicking material, hydrophobic materials, materials with interdispersed air pockets, materials having corrugated channels, or any other suitable structures. The wall system may be attached to or separate from the moisture channeling member near the wall/foundation interface. Likewise, the moisture drainage system may be fabricated from the same or different material than the channeling member near the wall/foundation interface.
The invention has the advantage that the relatively small size of the drainage portion allows stucco, brick or stone veneer to be installed further down the wall and on the exposed portion of the foundation. Because the drainage portion has a small profile along the surface of the building structure, the facing (e.g. stone veneer) may be applied directly to the foundation material. This provides a continuous facing from the wall to the foundation, providing an aesthetically pleasing look with no gaps exposing undesirable foundation material.
The invention may be applied to any surface facing system requiring moisture drainage and is subject to moisture pooling due to termination of moisture flowing from inside a surface facing.
One advantage of the present invention is that the drainage channels of the moisture control device, according to the present invention, are inclined to utilize gravity to facilitate flow to prevent pooling, which reduces the amount of mold growth, mildew growth, rot and/or the presence of pests.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the positioning of the moisture channeling member, according to the present invention, permits the direct application of surface facing on the foundation portion of a wall because the moisture is directed to a drainage portion, which conveys the moisture to a location exterior to the wall system.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
Surface facing 209 is installed on the metal lath 207 using plaster, adhesive or any other known installation technique. Suitable surface facings 209 for use with the present invention include any suitable cladding material for building structures, including, but are not limited to, stucco, brick veneer, natural brick, stone veneer, natural stone, or combinations thereof. The moisture channeling member 215, according to the present invention, may also be suitable for any wall system undesirably having moisture present on an interior surface or in an interior space.
Moisture, if present, flows in the direction of gravity down the interior cavity 205 toward the interface 211 between the foundation 203 and the interior wall structure 201 to the moisture channeling member 215. The flow of moisture is shown in
Once the moisture from the channel portion 217 enters the drainage portion 219, the moisture is consolidated and diverted, which is shown as flow 213 in
The present invention further includes an embodiment including a method for applying a surface facing to a building structure. The method according to the present invention includes providing a building structure having an interior wall structure 201 disposed on a foundation 203. The wall structure preferably includes wood or metal framing, optionally covered in flashing and/or sealing felt material.
A moisture channeling member 215 is then attached to the interior wall structure 201 at or near the interface 211 between the interior wall structure 201 and the foundation 203. The attachment may be accomplished by any suitable means, including nailing, screwing or adhering with adhesive the moisture channeling member 215. The channel portion 217 preferably includes a substantially planar mounting portion that provides surface suitable for nailing or screwing into the interior wall structure 201. The attachment of the moisture channeling member 215 is preferably level (i.e., perpendicular to the direction of gravity). Further, the moisture channeling member 215 is preferably positioned such that the drainage portion 219 is positioned below the interface 211. The moisture channeling member 215 may be attached so that the channel portion 217 includes channels inclined at a sufficient angle to facilitate flow of moisture to the drainage portion 219, which substantially perpendicularly conveys the moisture to an area exterior to the wall system 200.
Once the moisture channeling device 215 is attached, an interior cavity 205 is formed and, if desired, a moisture drainage system is installed. In one embodiment, a metal lath 207 is applied to the interior wall structure 201 in a manner that forms an interior cavity 205. Formation of the interior cavity 205 may be accomplished by spacing the metal lath 207 from the interior wall structure 201 or by providing a metal lath 207 that forms an interior cavity 205 once the surface facing 209 is applied, or by another suitable technique. In another embodiment, the felt and/or flashing are applied in a manner that provides an interior cavity 205 when the metal lath 207 and/or surface facing are installed. In another embodiment, a moisture drainage system may be applied to facilitate flow of moisture in the direction of gravity. For example, a polymer sheet having surface features that may form air pockets or spaces that may be applied to the internal wall structure 201 in order to provide a structure to maintain the interior cavity 205 and to facilitate flow of moisture in the direction of gravity toward the bottom of the wall, and the moisture channeling members 215. In order to clad the surface of the foundation with surface facing 209, metal lath 207 is also applied to the foundation 203 for application of the surface facing 209 material.
Once the interior cavity 205 is formed and the metal lath 207 has been applied to the internal wall structure 201 and the foundation 203, a surface facing 209 material is applied to the metal lath 207. The surface facing 209 may be applied by any suitable technique known in the art. The surface facing 209 is applied such that substantially the entire channel portion 217 is hidden from view and the drainage portion 219 of the moisture channeling member 215 is exposed and is capable of consolidating and diverting moisture flow from the interior cavity 205 to an exterior area of the wall system 200.
Although the above has been described with respect to wall systems 200, the moisture channeling member 215 may also be utilized in other moisture control systems that require the removal of moisture from internal cavities.
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
