In new buildings, instead of plastering the interior walls, it is more efficient and cost effective to fix wall boards to the walls. The term"wall board"is used herein to include a board of any composition used to cover a wall.

The most commonly used form of wall board is plaster board (also known as sheet rock), but the term is also. intended to include other boards such as cement board and fibre board.

Wall boards are often screwed to a stud work frame assembled from wooden or sometimes aluminium studs. They can on other occasions be adhered by means of a compound to a wall made of concrete, bricks or building blocks. In all cases, the wall boards need to be pushed up tight against the ceiling, to avoid cracks developing at a later stage, and they need to be cut to a length slightly less than the height of the ceiling so that they should not reach down to the floor. The gap left intentionally between the lower end of the wall boards and the floor is later covered by means of a skirting board and'its purpose is to avoid water. or damp seeping into the board.

Because. of the gap that is required between the wall board and the floor, mounting a wall board to a wall has hitherto proved awkward for an unassisted person. The conventional way of positioning the wall board tight against the ceiling is to place a foot operated lever under the lower edge of the board. While standing on the lever to push it against the ceiling, the person screws (or nails) the wall board to the stud work or places packing pieces underneath the lower edge of the board to support its weight. Packing pieces have to be used when the boards are

fixed to a wall by means of a compound that takes time to set.

The present invention seeks to overcome. the foregoing disadvantage by making it easier for an unassisted person to fix a wall board to a wall regardless of whether the board is to be retained by means of screws, nails or an adhesive compound In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of positioning a wall board against a wall of a room, which comprises placing a spring between the lower edge of the wall board and the room floor to apply sufficient force to support the weight of the wall board and to urge the upper edge of the wall board upwards against the room ceiling.

In a second aspect of the invention, there, is provided a spring loaded device for use in positioning a wall board against a wall of a room, the device having a first limb to rest on the room floor, a second limb which is operative to engage the lower edge of the wall board, and means for resiliently urging the'limbs apart so as to exert on the wall board an upward force of sufficient magnitude to support the weight of the wall board and urge the wall board upwards against the room ceiling.

Preferably the two limbs are joined to one another at one end to form a generally U-shaped device.

Preferably, at least the second limb should be sufficiently wide to avoid the pressure between the second limb and the lower edge of the board causing damage to the board. Alternatively, a reinforcement strip may be placed over the lower edge of the board, or a rubber strip may be applied to the second limb of the spring, to prevent the board from being damaged unacceptably by the strong spring.

Conveniently, the second limb of the spring loaded device may comprise an inclined ramp portion to assist in pushing the lower end of the wall board. on to the spring. In this way, as the wall board is pushed towards the wall, its lower end will ride up the ramp portion reducing the effort required to place the board on the spring.

The spring loaded device is preferably constituted by a generally U-shaped one piece spring but it'would be alternatively possible to form the device with two limbs that are not in themselves resilient and to place between the limbs a spring to urge them apart resiliently.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spring of the invention, and.

Figure 2 is a vertical section showing the spring of Figure 1 when in use to position a wall board against a wall.- The spring 10 shown in Figure 1 is generally U-shaped being. formed of two limbs that are joined together at one of their ends 16. One of the limbs, designated 12, is flat and designed to reset on the floor. The other limb is formed of two mutually inclined portions, namely a board'support portion 14a and a ramp portion 14b. The spring 10 is sufficiently strong to support the weight of a wall board and to be able to push the board up against the ceiling of a room. The spring is also wide to spread the force over a sufficiently large area of the lower edge of the wall board not to damage it by cause a large indentation.

Figure 2 shows the spring'10 when in use to position a wall board 30 against studs 20 that extends from the floor 40 to the ceiling 50 or a room. The wall board 30, which is

typically 8ft high and 4ft wide, is leaned against the studs 20 so that the upper edge of the board rests against the studs a little below the ceiling height. Next the lower end of the board is slightly raised and pushed towards the studs 20. After the lower edge of the board 30 engages the ramped portion 14b of the upper limb of the spring 10 its weight is supported on the spring 10 and by simply continuing to push the lower edge of the board 30 towards the studs it will ride up the ramped portion until the upper edge of the wall board 30 makes contact with the ceiling 50. Thereafter, the spring 10 will be deflected to continue to support the weight of the board 30 and urge it against the ceiling 50.

If the board 30 is to be secured by means of an adhesive compound, then the spring 10 can be left in position until the compound sets. On the other hand, if the board is to be nailed or screwed to the studs, then spring 10 will hold the board 30 in place until it has been adequately secured. Because the spring has flat outer surfaces, it can simply be pulled out from under the board 30 after it has been secured to the studs without the need to compress the spring 10 further and without the risk of pulling the wall board away from the wall.

It will be clear that the same technique as described above can be used to position a wall board against a wall made of concrete or bricks.

It is known to use a carrying handle when handling large sheets of wall board. Such a carrying handle has a long shaft which at its lower end is attached to a support channel that fits beneath the lower edge of the board. If desired, the spring 10 may be arranged to push up directly on the support channel of a carrying handle instead of making direct contact with the wall board 30. In this case, the handle will assist in manoeuvring the wall board on to the spring and the support channel of the handle will

prevent the lower edge of the board 30 from being damaged by the spring. Once the spring 10 has been withdrawn, then the handle can also be lowered and removed from the wall board 30.

The carrying handle must of course remain-in place until the wall board has been secured and this may not be practical when using an adhesive compound that needs time to set if only one carrying handle is available.