AU8931798A - Method of treating concrete foundations for the prevention of termite intrusion - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 Complete Specification Standard Patent METHOD OF TREATING CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF TERMITE INTRUSION The following statement is a full discription of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me.

1 Method Of Treating Concrete Foundations Against Termite Intrusion This invention relates to the treatment of concrete footings,foundations and piers,as such that when the treatment is complete,the concrete footings,foundations and piers become a permanent effective barrier against attack by subterranean termites.

The most common method of treating concrete footings,foundations and piers against attack by subterranean termites consisted of treating the ground/excavation site before pouring the concrete.The treatement used is before the various formwork,and membranes are laid,the ground was thoroughly saturated with a highly toxic chemical poison,thereby forming a toxic barrier against all forms of termite attack.

The theory is that for termites to gain access to the concrete footings,foundations and piers, they would first have to penetrate the the toxic earth barrier,and in doing so will be killed off.

Because of the strict Government regulations relating to the spraying of Pesticide and Termiticide products,there has been immense difficulty in finding products that fit the criterior that satisfies all the various Gov. Departments,is effective against termites,is relatively safe to handle by the workforce,and is not toxic to humans.

There are such products on the market for use in pretreating the ground, but because of the massive differences in soil conditions throughout the country,the effectiveness of these products are not uniform,with the result that no two soil treatments have the same level of protection.

Also there is the problem that because all the products are biodegrable,there is no long term protection available to the building industry,with most treatements breaking down within a period of two years,thereby losing their effectiveness as a termite barrier.

These problems are overcome by the present invention, which provides the building industry with a new concept in barrier treatments.

This invention has the advantages of being 1 Relatively non toxic to humans '2 Will last indefinitely 3 Requires no expensive machinery or complicated methods of application 4 Is more cost effective than conventional ground treatments 5 Only targets Subterranean Termites.

ooo* This invention relates to the method of treating the section of concrete foundations footings or piers in such a way as to convert that section into a barrier against all forms of Subterranean Termite attack.

This is accomplished by the use of a specially manufactured membraine to be used in the formwork.This membraine is so made as to hold in suspension a non biodegradeble termiticide that has beei sprayed onto the face of the membraine, and when the concrete is poured, the termiticide becomes trapped between the concrete and the membraine.

Now,when the concrete begins to set or cure,the non biodegradeble termiticide will begin to absorb into the concrete to a distance of approximately 2 (two) centremetres.This sectionall area of the concrete structure has now become a non destructable permanent barrier against all forms of Subterranean Termites.

To assist with the understanding of this invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show one example of this invention.

Fig. 1 Shows one example of all the components of a typical section of a concrete floor/foundation,according to this invention.

Fig. 2 Shows a typical section of footing or formwork prepared for the placement of the damproof membraine and the steel reinforcing mesh or bars Fig. 3 Shows the same section Fig 2, with the damproof membraine and the steel reinforcing mesh or bars in place.

Fig 4 Shows the details of the construction of the damproof membraine ,relating to this invention.

Fig 5 Shows a section of a freshly poured but not cured concrete floor/foundation,with the damproof membraine in place according to this invention.

Fig 6 Shows the same section Fig 5, but with the concrete cured,and also showing the formation of the area of the penetration zone of the termite barrier in the outer surface "area of the concrete,according to this invention.

Fig 7 Shows in detail a section of Fig 6 the effective penetration zone area of the termite barrier which is now permanently in place.

Page(s) 3 3 are drawings pages they appear after the abstract Referring to Figure 1 which shows the components that go together to make up a section of a typical concrete floor or foundation as used in the housing and building industry.

For convenience sake ,included in Fig 1 is the textbox showing the depth of the termite barrier in relation to this invention.

Fig. 2 shows a typical section of an earth excavation in preparation for the laying down of the damproof membraine and then the steel weldmesh or deformed bar reinforcing material.

Fig. 3 shows the same Fig 2 with the addition of the damproof membraine and the steel weldmesh or deformed bar in place.

Fig 4 shows the construction of the damproof membraine in relation to this invention.

Now after the damproof membraine is in place with the absorbent side facing inward in such a manner as to come into contact with the concrete as the concrete is being poured,and the steel weldmesh or deformed bar 3 is in place the damproof membraine is then sprayed with a boron based termiticide immediately proir to the pouring of the concrete.The concrete is then poured, as shown in the Now because the damproof membraine 4 has the ability to hold the termiticide in place, and when the concrete covers the inside surface of the damproof membraine 4 as the concrete begins to harden the curing effect begins to attract the termiticide out of the damproof membraine 4 to penetrate into the concrete structure to a depth of two to three centremeters.

A complete solid barrier is now formed within the outer area of the concrete structure as shown in Figures 6 and 7 This barrier is now permanently in place and will last the life of the structure.