Masonry structures with spacers, spacer kit, and methods for building masonry structures with spacers

Abstract

A kit for masonry structures includes fiber cement spacers for placement between adjacent blocks in a tier of blocks and a spacer layer of fiber cement material placed between tiers of blocks. Optionally, an adhesive is applied between the spacers and the adjacent blocks. Optionally, a grout is a applied to the face of the structure to cover the spacers and simulate the appearance of the finished brick and mortar wall. The uniform spacing between bricks and between tiers provided by the spacers simplifies the process of building a masonry structure with a professional quality appearance. Other materials for use as spacers are possible.

1 . A kit for constructing a masonry structure, comprising:
 a multitude of spacers, each comprising a thin, substantially solid, rectangular body having opposed faces;   a set of masonry blocks, each having at least one face;   wherein the dimensions of the opposed faces of the spacers is selected so as to be less than or equal to the dimensions of said at least one face of the masonry blocks.   
   
   
       2 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the opposed faces of the spacers are substantially parallel and wherein the kit further comprises a container of adhesive for adhering the spacers to the masonry blocks. 
   
   
       3 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the spacers are formed of a fiber cement material. 
   
   
       4 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the spacers are formed from a plastic material. 
   
   
       5 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the kit comprises at least 50 spacers. 
   
   
       6 . The kit of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one elongate strip of fiber cement material having a length greater than the largest dimension of the masonry block, the strip for providing inter-tier spacing of the masonry structure. 
   
   
       7 . The kit of  claim 2 , wherein the adhesive comprises a construction glue and wherein the kit further comprises a container of grout and a means for applying the grout. 
   
   
       8 . The kit of  claim 1 , wherein the masonry blocks comprise rectangular masonry bricks having a length, width and a height, and wherein the spacers are grouped in two sets, namely
 (1) a first set in which the dimensions of the opposed faces of the spacers are approximately-equal to the dimensions of a first face of the brick, and   (2) a second set in which the dimensions of the opposed faces of the spacers are approximately equal to the dimensions of a second face of the brick different from the first face.   
   
   
       9 . The kit of  claim 6 , further comprising a hand tool having a tip for scoring the strip of fiber cement material. 
   
   
       10 . A spacer kit for use with a plurality of masonry blocks for constructing a masonry structure, comprising:
 a multitude of individual spacers, each comprising a substantially flat, thin, substantially solid, rectangular body having opposed faces, said spacers formed of a fiber cement material;   wherein the dimensions of the opposed faces of the spacers are selected so as to be approximately the same as or slightly less than the dimensions of at least one face of a masonry block to be used with the spacer to construct the masonry structure.   
   
   
       11 . The kit of  claim 10 , wherein said spacers have a thickness of between ¼ and ¾ inches. 
   
   
       12 . A method of making spacers for a masonry structure, comprising the steps of:
 providing a board of fiber cement material,   cutting the board of fiber cement material into a multitude of spacers, each comprising a substantially flat, thin, substantially solid, rectangular body having opposed faces; said spacers having a thickness being the same as the thickness of the board of fiber cement material.   
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the cutting step comprises slicing the board. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the board comprises a sheet of fiber cement material and wherein the sheet of fiber cement material is cut in both widthwise and lengthwise manners to thereby form the multitude of spacers. 
   
   
       15 . A non-structural masonry wall having a face, comprising:
 a plurality of tiers of masonry blocks, each tier comprising a multitude of masonry blocks,   wherein the masonry blocks in the tier are separated from each other by intra-tier spacers each comprising a substantially flat, thin, substantially solid, rectangular body having opposed substantially planar faces,   wherein the tiers of the masonry structure are separated between each other by a spacer layer, said spacer layer formed of a fiber cement material.   
   
   
       16 . The structure of  claim 15 , wherein said spacers are formed from a material selected from the group of materials consisting of fiber cement and a plastic material. 
   
   
       17 . The structure of  claim 15 , further comprising an adhesive applied between said intra-tier spacers and adjacent masonry blocks in each of said tiers and between said inter-tier spacers and blocks of adjacent tiers so as to adhere the spacers to the adjacent masonry blocks, and grout applied to the face so as to cover said intra-tier spacers and cover inter-tier spacers to thereby simulate the face of a traditional brick and mortar wall. 
   
   
       18 . A method of constructing a masonry structure with a plurality of masonry blocks and a kit comprising a multitude of spacers, comprising the steps of:
 (a) placing masonry blocks in a first tier and separating each block from its adjacent blocks in the first tier with a spacer comprising a thin, substantially solid, rectangular body having opposed faces,   (b) laying an inter-tier spacer layer over the first tier, the inter-tier spacer layer comprising a layer of a substantial solid, flat, and planar rigid material of substantially uniform width and with opposed faces; and   (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) for a successive tier of the masonry structure.   
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising the step of applying an adhesive between the spacers and adjacent blocks in the first tier and wherein the repeating step further includes applying an adhesive between the top of the inter-tier spacer layer of the first tier and the bottom of the blocks of the successive tier. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein said spacers and the inter-tier spacer layer are formed from a fiber cement material. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the masonry structure comprises a wall having a face and the method further comprises the step of applying a grout to the face so as to cover said spacers between adjacent masonry blocks in a tier and between adjacent tiers to thereby simulate the face of a traditional brick and mortar wall. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the grout comprises mortar. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the adhesive comprises a construction glue. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising the step of applying a caulking between the spacers and adjacent blocks in the first tier and wherein the repeating step further includes applying a caulking between the top of the inter-tier spacer layer of the first tier and the bottom of the blocks of the successive tier.