MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, CEILINGS, AND FLOORS OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Lud-
gate Hill, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, CEILINGS, AND FLOORS OF BUILDINGS
AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
Sealed the 5th July 1872, and dated the 17th April 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
17th April 1872.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill; in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS, CEILINGS, AND FLOORS OF
BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
$
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of
walls, ceilings, and floors of buildings and other structures.
In constructing walls of buildings I first build up dry bricks to a
convenient height, and then pour melted asphalte amongst them whilst

page_text: they are enclosed by boards or panels to contain the melted material.
The bricks may be so formed as to prevent the asphalte penetrating to
the front face, and the wall is then finished by pointing in the usual
.manner. I allow the asphalte to penetrate to the back of the wall, so
as to make the wall quite water-tight and give a smooth surface to 5
.receive paper, or to be otherwise finished. Double walls with an air
space and bound together with iron ties may thus be very lightly con-
structed. Such walls will be quite water-tight, and will effectually
exclude cold. Tye bricks may be used made of asphalte mixed with
ashes, sand, or gravel, or such like material, and such bricks may also be 1
used for building in other ways and for paving; or a compound of
asphalte with ground ashes may be used for paving without being
moulded.
Tank walls may be built double in the manner above stated, and the
space filled in with melted asphalte; great strength is thus obtained and 1
leakage is rendered impossible; or the sides of tanks may be constructed
of panels of wood coated with asphalte on the surface, and then covered
with slates or tiles. I build the ends of the panels, into hollow piers of
sufficient strength to support them, and I make water-tight joints by
pouring melted asphalte into the hollows in the piers, or tank walls may 2
be lined with slabs, consisting of match boards cemented together and
coated with asphalte, the joints between the slabs being made water-tight
with hot asphalte. In constructing such slabs I prefer to take two thin
boards of dry material and cement them together with asphalte, one
board running lengthway of the slab and the other across it, so that a
when fixed together there can be no tendency to shrink.
In some cases the boards may also be covered with brown paper or
canvass to give additional strength. One of the outer sides of the
boards cemented together is also coated with asphalte for the purpose
of being placed against the brickwork to keep out damp, and the
opposite side is made with a clean smooth face, so that it may receive
paint, stain, or varnish, or be papered in the usual manner.
In place of the plain wood surface being left it may, if desired, have a
facing of paper or canvass attached to it.
The lining may be made of any desired strength or thickness, and any
number of hoarde or pieces of naner or canvass may be attached

page_text: Ceilings may be constructed in a similar manner, as also floors for
rooms, particularly basement floors, or for cellars, leaving the wood
surface uppermost or otherwise, as may be desired.
For inside walls, in place of using brick noggin or lath and plaster in
the usual way, partitions may be formed by fixing slabs as above
described to wooden uprights, or brick walls may be formed with boards,
either on one or both sides of the brick, cemented to the bricks by
asphalte.
1:
J
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th October 1872.
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate 'Hill, in the City of
London, send greeting.
i
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Lee Norton, Her special
license that I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Lee Norton,
my executors, administrators, and 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, exercise, 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 WALLS, CEILINGS, AND FLOORS OF
BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee Norton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The first part of my Invention consists in the construction of walls of 5
bricks and bituminous cement in such manner that the said cement may
form a continuous damp proof separation between the bricks forming the
outer and inner faces of the wall.
One very convenient method of constructing such walls is shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Drawings. a, a, are uprights set up 1
along the line of the wall; b, b, are containing boards which are secured
to the uprights by the clamps; c, c, are bricks laid up against the con-
taining boards; d, d, is bituminous cement which is then poured in.
When a portion of the wall has been made in this way, and as is shewn
in Figure 1, the containing boards are shifted upwards to the positions 1
shewn in Figure 2, and another portion of the wall is built upon that
already constructed.
The bituminous cement may consist of Trinadad mixed with as much
pitch and tar or either as it will carry without becoming brittle, and
with as much ground Portland stone, ironstone, sand, or similar 2
material in a dry state as can be added without interfering to an in-
jurious extent with the fluidity of the bituminous cement when it is hot,
but it will be understood that by the words bituminous cement I wish to
include not only a compound such as that above mentioned, but also
bitumen or asphalte in its natural state, and indeed any sufficiently cheap 2
bituminous cementing material which becomes liquid or semi-liquid when
heated, and which hardens on cooling.
Another way of constructing such damp proof walls is to build the
front and the back portions of the wall with mortar or other cement in
the usual way without using containing boards, and then pouring in the 3
melted bituminous cement between the front and back portions of the
wall, so as to produce a wall such as is represented in Figure 3. Such
walls may be formed of separate blocks which are first put together and
then carried and lifted to their places on the wall. Or the wall may be
built in the manner shewn at Figure 4 with an air space between the 3
front and the back portions, and with an impermeable coating of bitu-
minous cement on one side of the air space. One portion of the wall

page_text: may conveniently be formed in slabs or blocks, the bricks being laid in a
mould and the cement poured over them so as both to cement them.
together and to form the impermeable face upon them. These slabs or
blocks are set up in their places as the other portion of the wall is built,
and when required iron or other ties may be laid in as the work pro-
gresses, so as to bind the two parts of the wall together. The space
may be filled in with concrete if desired.
When building hollow walls with air spaces they may very advan-
tageously be tied together with bricks in place of with iron ties if such
bricks be entirely impervious to moisture. I construct the brick for
this purpose by mixing with bituminous cement, ashes, sand, or gravel,
ground Portland, and ironstone, or such like material. These substances
are added to the bituminous cement in such proportion as to form a
dough like mass, from which the tie bricks are then formed in a mould.
Bricks for use generally in the construction of walls may be similarly
produced, and the use of such bricks in the construction of walls forms a
part of my Invention. These bricks may be used for paving.
Another part of my Invention relates to the finishing walls in the
interior of buildings by cementing boards to the surface of such walls by
means of impervious bituminous cement. For this purpose I prefer to
form slabs or panels of thin boards coated on one side with asphalte, so
that they can be screwed or nailed to the bond timbers built in the walls
or otherwise fastened, or I may employ. narrow boards, and I coat the
surface of such boards with bituminous cement, and at once place it
against the surface of the wall, and press and tap it down to its place, so
that the boards form an even boarded surface to the wall. Figure 5
shews a perspective sectional view of a wall thus finished. Or if desired
the structure or panel of boards and bricks may be put together at a
distance and then set up in its place.
According to another part of my Invention I finish walls in the
interior of buildings by setting up smooth surface slabs against the face
of the wall and pouring in bituminous cement between the wall and the
slabs, then removing such slabs, and if required papering or otherwise
finishing the smooth surface so obtained.
3. The panels may be formed of wooden boards nailed together and
planed and greased on the face, or lined with zinc or other metal. They
are set up so as to be just clear of the face of the wall, and the cement

page_text: is poured in behind them so as to surface the wall in the manner shewn
in Figures 6, 7, and 8. Separate blocks of brickwork or stonework may
be put together and a coating of asphalte may be poured on the back
before the slabs or blocks are built into a wall, and if necessary joints
may be made good by softening the asphalte at the edges.
In Figure 9 the smooth panel to give the face to the cement is shewn
in its place. In this way a smooth face is obtained which is ready at
once if required to be papered.
Another part of my Invention consists in the construction of internal
walls or partitions, ceilings, and floors of boards backed with bituminous
cement and fixed in panels to the joists or uprights. The boards to
form a panel of any convenient size are laid on a flat surface, and the
melted bituminous cement is poured over them so as to form a coating
of any desired thickness, and then the slabs are fixed by means of nails,
or screws, or otherwise, if for a floor to the joists, so that the boards
form the exposed surface of the floor. If ceiling panels are used in
addition to the flooring panels the cemented face should be uppermost.
In the case of internal walls or partitions the cemented side of the
panel should be against the uprights of the partition. In Figure 10 a
floor of this construction is shewn; Figure 11 represents a ceiling; and
Figure 12 an internal or partition wall.
Instead of the boards or panels being first coated with asphalte the
plain boards may be fixed up against the uprights, and the asphalte run
in between, or separate slabs may be formed in this way.
In some cases the panels may be formed of wood boards on both
sides of the bituminous cement, having the grain of the wood crossed
to prevent shrinkage, and they may also be covered with paper or canvas
to give additional strength.
Figure 13 shews a section of a cottage in the construction of which
bituminous cement is used in several of the ways already described.
In this Figure the strong black lines represent the bituminous cement.
Another part of my Invention relates to the construction of cisterns
or tanks, and consists in the construction of the sides or walls of tanks
with panels of wood coated on the surface with bituminous cement,
and also it may be faced with slates or tiles or other material, such ;
panels being fixed into hollows in piers made to receive them, and tho

page_text: joints being made good with melted bitumen poured into the hollows in
the piers.
In Figure 14 is shewn a sectional plan of the side of a tank so con-
structed. a, a, a, are the hollow piers which may be variously constructed.
For instance, they may be made of iron of a suitable section, thus I. If
made of wood the inside of the wood should be coated with asphalte.
b, b, b, are the panels which are lined with asphalte. These panels fit into
the grooves in the piers, sufficient space being left for asphalte to be run
in so as to make the joints good. The panels may be covered on the
inside with slates or tiles, or the asphalte lining alone may be used..
Figure 15 is a perspective view of a tank so constructed. The bottom
of this tank may be formed of boards coated with asphalte, or other
suitable material may be used, but it should be surrounded with a frame
having grooves corresponding to the grooves in the piers, and into which
the lower edges of the panels may fit, asphalte being then run in, so as
to make good the joints.
Stones and other building blocks or slabs may be employed in lieu of
bricks, tiles, or slates.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I am
aware that a bituminous cement has before been employed to form a
damp proof course running directly through a wall from the outer to the
inner face. I do not therefore claim any such use of bituminous cement;
but what I do claim is,—
1st. The construction of walls of bricks or building blocks, and
-bituminous cement, in such manner that the said cement may form a
continuous damp proof separation between the bricks or blocks forming
the outer and inner faces of the wall,' substantially as described. And
I also claim, the methods of constructing such walls, substantially as
described in respect to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
2nd. I claim finishing walls in the interior of buildings by cementing
boards to the surface of such walls by means of bituminous cement, sub-
stantially as described; and also by fixing to walls panels of boards
backed with bituminous cement, substantially as described.
3rd. I claim finishing walls by setting up smooth surface slabs
against the face of the wall, and pouring in bituminous cement between
the wall and the slabs, substantially as described.

page_text: 4th. I claim the construction of internal walls or partitions, ceilings,
and floors of boards backed with bituminous cement, and fixed in panels
to the joists or uprights, substantially as described.
5th. I claim the construction of walls and floors with impermeable
bricks, consisting of bituminous cement mixed with ashes, sand, or 5
gravel, or ground Portland and ironstone, or such like materials, sub-
stantially as described.
6th. I claim the construction of walls with impermeable tie bricks,
consisting of bituminous cement mixed as before described, and tyeing
together the two faces of a hollow wall, substantially as described.
1
7th. I claim the construction of the sides or walls of tanks with
panels of wood coated with bituminous cement on the surface, and also
it may be faced with slates, stones, or tiles, such panels being fixed into
hollows in piers made to receive them, and the joints being made good
by melted bituminous cement poured into the hollows in the piers, 1
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.