SEALING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF APPLYING A SEALING LAYER AND

A SURFACE LAYER

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system for moisture sealing of space-defining surfaces of a room, which system comprises a mat that is applicable to a space- defining surface. The invention also relates to a method of applying a sealing layer to a space-defining surface of a room and a method of applying a surface layer to a space-defining surface of a room.

Background Art

For tiling bathrooms and other wet rooms, walls and floors must first be provided with a moisture barrier. As a rule, the moisture barrier has previously been provided by means of a synthetic rubber dispersion with a mineral filler that has been applied with a spatula to walls and floors. A drawback of such sealing layers is that they have to be applied in several layers and require long drying times. In addition, they have previously contained substances injurious to health. After changing the compo- sition of such sealing layers, problems have occurred by the thus applied sealing layers in many cases not being watertight. Furthermore the thus applied sealing layers have insufficient shearing strength. To resist movements, for example, in timber joist floors, they must therefore be reinforced with fibre strips and the like.

Sealing layers can also be provided by means of a PVC mat. The PVC mat is joined with weld strips that are applied by means of a hot air gun. It is complicated work to join such mats and, besides, PVC is a non- desirable material due to its effects on the environment. The PVC mats are also relatively expensive.

A sealing layer system is marketed by the Swedish company Hugo AB. This sealing layer system consists of

a sheet of polyethylene foam which on both sides is provided with an acrylate adhesive. The sheet is glued to the wall or floor by means of the adhesive layer. The sheet lengths are placed edge to edge and then joined by means of joint strips of polyester which on both sides are provided with acrylate adhesive. Strips of PVC are used in corners and in the angle between floor and wall. Tiles are fixed to walls and floors by means of the acrylate adhesive on the sheet. This means that the sheet functions as a kind of double-stick tape. A drawback of this system is that special joint strips are necessary to ensure tights joints. The presence of PVC in the corner and angle strips is another inconvenience. A further drawback is that when a tile has been pressed into the acrylate adhesive, it sticks and cannot be adjusted.

Summery of the Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a sealing layer system for space-defining surfaces of a room, which system is improved over prior art.

An object of the invention is to provide a sealing layer system which can be mounted quickly and easily.

A special object is to provide a sealing layer system which can be mounted without separate joint strips. Another object is to provide a system which can be mounted without complicated tools .

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a sealing layer system which is free of PVC.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simplified method of applying a sealing layer to a space- defining surface of a room.

The invention also aims at providing a simplified method of applying a surface layer to a space-defining surface of a room. These objects are achieved wholly or partly by a system according to claim 1, preferred embodiments being defined in claims 2-8. The objects are also achieved by a

method according to claim 9, with preferred variants in claims 10-13, and by a method according to claim 14, with preferred variants in claims 15 and 16.

The inventive sealing layer system has a mat which comprises a rubber material having such inherent adhesiveness that the mat is lengthenable by overlap joining. Such a system makes it possible to easily provide good moisture sealing without joint strips and any added adhesives. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the rubber material is an unvulcanised butyl rubber mixture. Such a material results in excellent adhesion in overlap joints. A butyl rubber mixture also ensures good shearing strength and excellent steamtightness . Also other rubber materials with similar properties, such as ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), can be used.

The inventive system can advantageously be used in wet rooms and the like to easily provide a reliable mois- ture barrier on walls and floors.

The mat is preferably supplied in the form of a roll from which lengths of any sizes are divisible. The inventive sealing layer system is thus easy to transport and handle . In one embodiment, the mat is provided with a peelable release layer. In this way, it is possible to prevent lengths of mat from unintentionally adhering to each other, and it is also possible to prevent undesirable objects from adhering to a surface provided with a sealing layer.

The system preferably comprises a roller for exerting a pressure on the overlap joints of the mat. With the roller, it is easy to press the joints together so as to further ensure tightness. The inventive system may also comprise corner strips, sockets and sleeves of substantially the same rubber material as the mat. With these accessories,

sealing can be improved in corners, adjacent to pipes and around holes, such as floor drains.

The inventive method of applying a sealing layer comprises the steps of applying an adhesive layer to the space-defining surface, applying a first length of mat of a rubber material to the adhesive coated surface, applying a second length of mat of rubber material to the adhesive coated surface, overlapping the first length of mat to form an overlap joint, the rubber material of the mat having such inherent adhesiveness that the first and second lengths of mat adhere safely to each other in the overlap joint. With this method, a sealing layer can quickly and easily be applied to a space-defining surface without using complicated tools or any added adhesives.

In a preferred variant of the inventive method, the rubber material is an unvulcanised butyl rubber mixture, which results in good adhesiveness in the joints and excellent steamtightness . Also other rubber materials with similar properties, such as ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) , can be used. The room in which the method is applied is advantageously a wet room. The inventive method makes it easy to provide a reliable moisture barrier in a wet room.

The inventive method advantageously comprises the step of exerting a pressure on the overlap joint to ensure that the first and second lengths of mat adhere safely to each other in the overlap joint.

The inventive method of applying a surface layer comprises the steps of applying a sealing layer to the space-defining sur- face by a method as defined above, applying a fixing compound to the sealing layer,

by means of the fixing compound applying the surface layer to the sealing layer.

With such a method, a surface layer can quickly and easily be applied to a space-defining surface and it is also possible to ensure good gas and/or liquid tightness.

The room in which the method is used is advantageously a wet room or the like.

In a preferred variant of the method, the surface layer consists of ceramic tiles. In this manner, a reliable and durable surface layer can easily be applied to walls and floors in a bathroom for instance.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will in the following be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings which by way of example illustrate a currently preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view that illustrates how a sealing layer system according to the invention is applied to a wall.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view that shows how a release layer is peeled off from a length of mat in a j oint .

Description of Preferred Embodiments

Fig. 1 shows how the inventive sealing layer system is mounted in a bathroom or some other wet room. The sealing layer system comprises an approximately 1 mm thick mat 1 which is supplied in the form of a roll 2. To apply the sealing layer to the wall 3, the wall 3 is first provided with a layer of water-based adhesive 4. The mat 1 is cut into lengths 5 of a size corresponding to the height of the wall 3. The mat 1 is made of an unvulcanised butyl rubber mixture and is on one side provided with a release layer 6 of a 50 μm thick HDPE film which is coated with silicone on both sides. The side of the length of mat 5 without a release layer is

applied to the wall 3, basically in the same way as a wallpaper. A second length 5b is applied overlapping the first length 5a. The overlap suitably has a width of 5-10 cm. An edge strip 9 of the release layer 6 with a width corresponding to the overlap is peeled off from the first length 5a so that the rubber material of the first length 5a comes into contact with the rubber material of the second length 5b (see Fig. 2) . By means of a rubber roller 7 which is moved over the overlap joint, the first and the second length of mat 5a, 5b are pressed together. Since the mat 1 is made of unvulcanised butyl rubber, it is extremely adhesive, which causes the joints between the lengths 5a, 5b to keep firmly together without using any added adhesive or joint strips. The two-piece release layer 6 with the edge strip 6 makes it easy to apply the mat 1 to the walls 3 and the floor 8 since the edge strip 9 can be peeled off separately. In this manner, the edge strip 9 can be peeled off from a length 5c placed on the floor 8 when a new length 5d is placed overlapping the length 5c placed on the floor, so that a joint can be provided. By the rest of the release layer 6 being left on the length of mat 5c placed on the floor, it is still possible to walk on the length of mat 5c placed on the floor without getting stuck. In the same way, the major part of the release layer 6 can be left on the lengths of mat 5a, 5b on the wall 3 until the mounting of the mat 1 on the wall 3 is completed.

A corner strip of the same material as the mat 1 can be mounted in corners and angles between wall and floor before lengths of mat 5 are placed on walls 3 and floor 8. In this way a particularly good tightness can be ensured. Sockets and sleeves of the same material as the mat 1 can be used around pipes and floor drains. The adhesiveness of the unvulcanised butyl rubber mixture is also here used for joining. Also edge strips, sockets and sleeves are advantageously provided with a release layer.

The edge strips, sockets and sleeves can either be prefabricated components or be cut out of the mat 1 on the mounting site.

In one embodiment of the invention, corner elements are prefabricated, which are mounted in the corners. A piece corresponding to the corner element is then cut out of the length of mat before the length of mat is mounted. Correspondingly, corner elements can be cut out of the mat 1 on the mounting site, but also in this case a piece corresponding to the corner element can be cut away before mounting the length of mat, thereby avoiding an unnecessarily large number of layers.

With the mat 1 mounted on the walls 3, the walls 3 are provided with a fixing compound and covered with tiles 10 in the traditional way. Also the floor 8 is provided with a fixing compound and covered with tiles as usual. The release layer 6 is gradually peeled off from the lengths of the mat 5 on the walls 3 and the floor 8, so that the fixing compound is applied to the rubber mat 1.

The rubber mixture of which the mat 1 is made preferably consists of butyl rubber with different additives, such as chalk and silicic acid. In a preferred embodiment, use is made of a rubber mixture consisting of about 40% butyl rubber, 35% chalk, 10% silicic acid, 10% resins and one or a few percent each of titanium dioxide, mineral softening agents and colour pigments. Other butyl rubber mixtures may, however, also be useful, such as ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) .

A sealing layer on walls and floor in a wet room is easily provided with the described system and method. The inventive method is quick, in particular compared to prior art sealing layers that are applied with a spatula. Due to the elasticity of the mat 1, the produced sealing layer keeps tight even if the base moves, which is generally the case in wood structures.

It will be appreciated that a large number of modifications of the above described embodiment of the invention are conceivable within the scope of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. For example, the release layer 6 can be provided with marks at regular intervals in order to facilitate cutting off a length of mat 5 with a desirable length from the roll 2. It goes without saying that the composition of the release layer can be varied, for example due to the composition of the mat.

The roll 2 is suitably delivered in a box of the type that is used for domestic cling film. In this way it will be easy to handle and unwind the mat 1 to cut off lengths of mat 5. In the example shown, a water-based glue is used to apply the mat 1 to walls 3 and floor 8. However, also other adhesives are conceivable and are suitably adjusted both to the base and to the material of the mat 1.

In joints with three or more layers, it may in some cases be convenient to apply some form of varnish to improve adhesiveness. A solvent may then be used to make the layers collapse and be more firmly bonded to each other .

The invention has been described above in connection with making wet rooms moisture proof. The inventive system and methods may, however, also be used in other contexts. The rubber mat can be generally used for moisture and gas sealing, both to prevent moisture and gases from entering and to prevent them from escaping. A conceivable field of application is sealing against water in foundations and basements, both against standing water and against soil moisture. Tunnels, multistorey car parks, tanks and cisterns can also be sealed with the inventive system. In computer rooms, the inventive sealing layer system can be used to prevent gases from automatic fire fighting systems from escaping. In filing rooms, the sealing layer system can be used to facilitate

maintenance of a constant climate. It is also possible to use the sealing layer system for sealing contaminated building parts indoors, such as contaminated concrete floors. When the sealing layer system is used in spaces other than wet rooms, it is, of course, also possible to apply other surface layers than tiles to the sealing layer .