IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF DWELLINGS, WAREHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, OR PARTS or THE SAME
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Boutland Wilkinson, of the Town and
County of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Plasterer and Manufacturer of Artificial
Stones, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FIRE-PROOF DWELLINGS, WAREHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, OR PARTS or
THE SAME."
Sealed the 3rd April 1855, and dated the 27th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Boutland Wil-
kinson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th October 1854.
I, WILLIAM BOUTLAND WILKINSON, of the Town & County of Newcastle-
on-Tyne, Plasterer and Manufacturer of Artificial Stones, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
FIRE-PROOF DWELLINGS, WAREHOUSES, AND OTHER BUILDINGS, OR PARTS OF THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of the floors, ceilings,
roofs, and staircases of buildings, whereby such buildings will be rendered
fire-proof.
The walls of the building are carried up from the foundation to the height
of the spring of the concrete arch; a centreing of sufficient strength is then to
be firmly fixed over the whole area of first floor, and boarded close with narrow
strips; the composition to form the ceiling and floor is composed of crushed

page_text: bricks, metallic scoria, or other hard substances, (which, however, must be free
from soil or other extraneous substances.) and good Portland cement, or other
cement of equal quality, in the proportion of three parts of crushed hard-burnt
bricks and scoria, passed through a riddle of 2-inch mesh, and one part of
hammer-broken stones or bricks, or other hard material, broken about the size
of an egg, and one part of the same material hammer-broken to about the size
of brick; the whole. is then well incorporated; the 3 parts of 2-inch scoria
are mixed with water first, and two parts of coarser material are added, the
whole being well worked together to cause perfect adhesion. The material so
mixed is then to be thrown upon the centring, and beaten in solid, the coarser
portions in the haunches and the finer towards the crown, where the larger
portions of the broken bricks, &c. (in consequence of; the thickness being so
much less than at the haunches) would not so conveniently lay down. Hoop
iron on edge is laid across the crown about 2 feet apart, or at greater or less
distances, according to the desired strength of the floor, and reaching its full
length across the floor or floors; the under edge of the same is set on the
crown of centring, or nearly so, so that in this low position. it may act with
the more power as a tension rod to the floor; the concrete is filled up to the
desired level and trowelled smooth, adding a little finer material as a finishing,
while the mass is yet moist.
Where a wood floor is desired as a means of supposed additional comfort,
strips of wood may be imbedded or dovetailed in the concrete, to which the
boards can be nailed. When the first floor has been formed, it must be pro-
tected from injury by being covereved with thin deals, laid on a stratum of
sifted sand, which will assist in keeping the concrete moist for a longer period
than if exposed to the free action of the air, slow drying adding much to its
strength.
The walls of the next story are then proceeded with to the level of the
spring of the arches of the next floor and ceiling, the same process in the
formation of which being carried out as herein-before described, and so on to
the roof, which may be formed in the same way, giving it sufficient rise in the
middle to throw off the wet into a channel or gutter at the front and back; or,
if preferred, a slated roof can be put on the top in the usual way; the ceiling
of the upper story being of concrete, will effectually prevent the roof, if of
timber and slate, from taking fire, should the furniture or other combustible
matter in the rooms below be consumed. When the centring has been with-
drawn, all that is required will be a setting coat, the arched form being capable
of as much elaborate decoration as a flat surface. The walls of the building
must be carefully built to prevent unequal settlement. The floors- formed in

page_text: this way, being rigid and unyielding, will allow brick partitions to be set on
them in positions which a wooden floor would not admit; or partitions formed
in a peculiar way, herein-after explained, may be used. The stairs may be of
stone, of the same material as the floors, which will be considerably cheaper
and as good. The skirtings, architraves, &c. may be of Pariah, Keene's, or
Martin's cement; there will thus be nothing consumable but doors and win-
dows, and a fire originating in one apartment could scarcely extend to an
adjoining one. For warehouses the arch and supporting walls are made of
additional strength. In ordinary buildings with wood floors it is proposed to
form partitions, in lieu of ordinary lath and plaster, of Paris plaster alone, cast
in a cellular form and. fixed together, which requires no plastering, and may
be fixed on an ordinary wooden floor without a support underneath. For
this purpose the plaster of Paris is cast into cellular blocks, about 4 feet long,
21 inches wide, and 4 inches thick, and are to be bedded as soon as cast in
the place intended to receive them with guaged putty and plaster, the floor being
previously prepared to receive them by having a strip of wood nailed on in the
direction of the length of the partition, to fit the groove loosely in the plaster
block when one course is laid. The workman must now cut a block in two
parts, and commence another course from one end with one of the halves,
and then follow up the course with whole blocks, which will thus break joint
with the lower course. The door frames are to have a lath nailed up the side,
and the workman will with a hand-saw and chisel form a groove in the ends of
the block to fit against it; in the same way he must proceed until he reaches
the top, taking care to set the blocks flush with each other on the face, which
is afterwards to be dressed up with steel scrapers, which will prepare the
surface to receive the paper or paint. The longitudinal cells are admirably
adapted for the insertion of plugs for paintings, and may be used for ventila-
tion; they also afford facilities for the introduction of pipes for gas and bell
wires. The skirting can be afterwards formed in cement or. wood, or may be
cast on the blocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Boutland Wilkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
35- BOUTLAND WILKINSON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
Plasterer and Manufacturer of Artificial Stones, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Boutland Wilkinson, Her special license that I, the said William
Boutland Wilkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Boutland Wilkinson, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE-PROOF DWELLINGS, WAREHOUSES,
AND OTHER BUILDINGS, OR PARTS OF THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Boutland Wilkinson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Boutland Wilkinson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to an improved construction or constructions of
the floors, ceilings, roofs, partition walls, and staircases of buildings, whereby
such buildings will be rendered fire proof, at a much cheaper and economical
rate than can be accomplished by any of the existing methods.
And in order that my said Invention may be more properly, I shall now
proceed to describe and refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 of my Drawings represents a longitudinal section of a
portion of a warehouse, constructed according to my Invention, so as to be
rendered fire-proof; Figure 2 is a corresponding transverse section of the
same; Figure 3 is a detail section, taken through the line 1, 2, in Figure 1;
and Figure 4 is a similar section, taken along the line 3, 4, in the same
Figure.
In constructing the floors of dwelling houses or warehouses, formed during
the progress of the building with ceilings of an arched form, the walls A of

page_text: the building are to be carried up to the requisite height for the first floor B;
a centreing is then to be firmly fixed over the whole area intended to be
floored and boarded with narrow strips, leaving a small space between each,
if the ceiling be for a dwelling house, and very slightly nailed, to keep them in
position. The material to form the floor and ceiling is composed of crushed
bricks, metallic scoria, or other hard substances, (which, however, must be free
from soil or other extraneous matter,) and Portland or other cement of equal
quality. These materials may be mixed together in the proportions of three
parts of crushed hard-burnt bricks and scoria, sifted through a riddle of about
two-inch mesh, one part of hammer-broken stones or bricks, or other hard sub-
stances, reduced to about the size of two inches diameter, one part of the same
material hammer-broken and reduced to about the size of a quarter brick;
the whole is then to be well incorporated. The three parts of two-inch scoria
and burnt bricks are then mixed with water, to which are afterwards added
two parts of the coarser material, the whole being well worked together with
the cement to produce perfect adhesion. This mixture when ready is thrown on
to the centreing, and beaten in solid, the coarser portions in the haunches and
the finer parts towards the crown of the arch, as shewn in Figure 1 of the
Drawings. As the larger portions of the broken bricks, &c. would not lie con-
veniently over the crown of the arch, where the thickness is much less than at
the haunches, a number of strips C of hoop iron laid on edge are imbedded in
the mass across the crown of the arch, at distances of about 2 feet asunder;
or at greater or less distances, according to the desired strength of the floor,
and reaching the full length across the floor or floors, the under edge of the
same being set at or near the crown of the centreing, so that in this low
position the strips may act with more power as tension rods to the floor. The
concrete is filled up to the desired level, and if for dwelling houses or ware-
houses for the storeage of light goods, it may be trowelled smooth and finished
in cement, or laid with boards, as shewn at D in Figure 2. If a wood floor
is desired, strips of wood E may be imbedded or dovetailed into the cement, to
which strips the flooring boards are nailed. When the first floor has been
formed, it must be protected from injury by being covered with thin deals, laid
on a stratum of sifted sand, which will assist in keeping the concrete moist for
a longer period than if it were exposed to the free action of the air, slow
drying adding greatly to its strength and durability. The centreing should
not be removed until the concrete has become sufficiently set, which will be at
the expiration of about a month, the walls of the next storey having been
built in the meantime to act as an abutment to the arch. The rest of the
floors as well as the roof may be constructed in a similar manner, care being

page_text: taken to give a sufficient rise to the middle of the roof, to throw off the wet
into a channel or gutter F at the front and back; or, if preferred, a slated roof
roof may be put on the top in the usual manner. The ceiling of the upper
storey being of concrete, will effectually prevent the wood work of the roof, if
composed of slate and timber, from taking fire, should the furniture or other
combustible matter in the rooms below be consumed. After the removal of
the centreing, the arched ceiling, if for dwelling houses, will only require a
single setting coat of plastering, and may be decorated with mouldings in
a variety of ways, sufficient roughness for which may be given to the arch by
sprinkling over the surface of the wooden centreing, before laying on the con-
crete, a layer of small stones and chips free from dust, part of which will adhere
to the concrete, and such as are loose when the centreing is removed may be
removed by brooming. The cost of floors constructed in the manner herein-
before described will be very little, if any, greater than that of ordinary wooden
floors, and will only be about half the cost of floors constructed according to
other methods of fire-proof construction. The walls of the building must be
carefully built, to prevent unequal settlement. The floors formed in the
manner herein-before described will admit of brick partitions being set upon
them in positions where a wooden floor would not admit of. The peculiar
construction and arrangement of these partitions will be herein-after more
particularly described and referred to. The stairs may be of stone, or of the
same material as the floors, which will be considerably cheaper and as good. The
skirtings, architraves, &c. may be composed of Parian, Keene's, or Martin's
cement; there will thus be nothing consumable but doors and windows, so
that a fire originating in one apartment could scarcely extend to an adjoining
For warehouses the arch and supporting walls are made of additional
strength. When ceilings of arch form may be objected to, and when it may
be necessary to execute works with despatch, as in putting in new floors to
old buildings, in place of the method herein-before described a flat platform
of wood is to be erected to the ceiling line, and the floor to be composed of
plaster, air-slacked lime, but hay, and ashes and breeze in certain propor-
tions, and wire rope, (which may be procured second-hand in considerable
quantities,) or iron in other forms in a state of tension, hollow bricks, field-
drain pipes, coke in lumps, &c. being introduced, if desired, to lessen tho
weight. A floor of this construction is shewn at G, in Figure 2, on Sheet 1
of my Drawings. The wire rope H, H, is secured at its extremities at each
line of support by imbedding it in the mixture or concrete while in a soft
state, and forming the ends into loops, or by opening out the strands and
hirling them in various directions, which renders it so secure as not to be
one.

page_text: drawn out under any force short of the breaking weight of the rope. In
ordinary dwelling houses I propose placing such wire ropes about nine inches
apart, and to have a full depth of floor of one-sixteenth the span; so that for
a span of sixteen feet I should have a flooring of one foot in depth, the
breaking weight of which is calculated at two tons and a half per superficial
yard. Floors of this description may also be constructed at or about the
price of ordinary wooden floors: In the construction of warehouse floors
for the storage of heavy goods in casks, &c., and where a rigid or unyield-
ing floor would be unsuitable, I propose to form the surface of the flooring
of wood in the usual way, as shewn at I, I, Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1 of
my Drawings. A fire-proof counter floor is erected underneath the boards
and joists, a clear space being left between the under side of the joists and
the counter floor, such space as well as the spaces between the joists being
filled in with dry sand, or dry ground gypsum, as shewn in the Drawings.
In case of a fire occurring on a floor só constructed, the flooring deals
and the upper part of the joists only can be consumed, as the dry sand or
gypsum will close over the joists, and extinguish the fire.
Figure 1 on Sheet 2 of my Drawings represents an elevation of the fire-
proof partition herein-before referred to, and also a longitudinal section of the
beam supporting the same; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3 is a
vertical transverse section of the partition; and Figure 4 is a half-sized detail
section of one of the blocks composing the same. In lieu of the ordinary
lath and plaster, these partitions are composed of Paris plaster alone, or of
plaster of Paris-and air-slacked lime, cast in blocks J, J, of a cellular form.
The cavities or cells K, K, run horizontally, and the blocks are dovetailed
together at the joints, as shown in the Drawings, and united with strong
guaged plaster of Paris and lime, putty, or air-slacked lime; they are set fair
and dressed with scrapers, forming a surface suitable either for paint or paper.
This partition may be used on ordinary wooden floors, and is not more heavy
or expensive than lath and plaster partitions. The skirting L, L, is formed on
the lower blocks of the partition, and the method of fixing the door frames
thereto is clearly shewn in Figure 2. In some cases this partion may be sup-
ported on a beam composed of wire ropes M, M, plaster, cut hay, &c., as shewn
at N, in Figure 1. The blocks of Paris plaster are imbedded as soon as they
are cast into the place intended to receive them with guaged putty and plaster,
the floor being previously prepared to receive them, by having a strip of wood
or beam O nailed on in the direction of the length of the partition, such strip
or beam fitting loosely at its upper edge into the grooves in the plaster blocks.
The workman having thus laid the first course, cuts a block into two parts,

page_text: and commences the second course from one end with one of the halves, and
then follows up with entire blocks, thus breaking joint with the lower blocks,
as shewn in Figure 1. The door frames will have a lath or strip P nailed
up the outside, and the workman with a hand-saw and chisel will form a
groove in the ends of the blocks, to fit against the strips on the door frame, as
shewn in Figure 2. The longitudinal cells are particularly well adapted for
the insertion of plugs for paintings, and may also be used for ventilation; they
also afford facilities for the introduction of pipes for gas or water, and bell
wires. The skirting may either be formed on the blocks, as shewn in the
Drawings, or it may be made after the partition is built of plaster or wood.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction and arrangement of fire-proof buildings, as
herein-before described.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of cellular fire-proof
partitions, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boutland Wilkinson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM BOUTLAND WILKINSON. (L.S.)