GB2367078A - Edging slabs - Google Patents

Abstract

An edging slab <B>1</B> has downturned lips <B>3</B>, <B>4</B> along the parallel ends <B>5</B>, <B>6</B> of the slab body <B>2</B>. The slab may be used to edge a plastics-lined pond, it is laid with its body <B>2</B> covering the liner <B>10</B> where it extends over the edge of a bed <B>11</B> of sand to be held in concrete <B>14</B>. The lip <B>3</B> overhangs the edge to project down the pond-wall <B>12</B> and cover the liner <B>10</B> down to below water-level, whereas the lip <B>4</B> is embedded in the concrete <B>14</B> to hold the slab from movement. The slab <B>1</B> may be shaped as a trapezium.

Description

Edging-slabs And Methods using Them

This invention relates to edging-slabs and methods of edging water or other garden features using such slabs.

Garden ponds and other features are commonly constructed using plastics sheeting as a liner for water-containment or other purpose. The edges of the liner are normally covered by paving or other slabs of concrete or other material, to give the feature an improved visual or decorative effect with a well-defined boundary edge and, possibly, walkway access. Where the feature is a pond, it is important that the paving slabs provide a firm and securely-fixed boundary to the edge of the pond.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a form of edging-slab that can be used to improve visual or decorative effect together with security of fixing.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an edging-slab of concrete or other material for bedding on a base, wherein there is a downturned lip at each of two opposite ends of the slab, one lip for affording facing cover to an edge of the base, and the other for keying into the base for at least in part securing the slab to the base.

The two lips of the slab according to the invention may be of the same depth as one another and in this respect, or otherwise, may be such as to enable either to be used to afford said facing cover.

The slab may have a configuration that is substantially that of a trapezium (namely, as this term is used herein, a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length), and in this case the lips may be downturned from

the parallel ends of the slab. The non-parallel sides of the slab may be of equal length to one another and angled equally to the two ends.

There is also provided according to another aspect of the present invention, a method of edging a water or other garden feature wherein a plurality of edging-slabs of concrete or other material are bedded side-by-side with one another on a base of the feature, each slab having a downturned lip at each of two opposite ends of the slab, one lip being arranged to afford facing cover to an edge of the base, and the other being keyed into the base for at least in part securing the slab to the base.

Each slab used in the method may have a configuration that is substantially that of a trapezium with the lips in each case downturned from the parallel ends of the slab. The non-parallel sides of each slab may be of equal length to one another and may be angled equally to the two ends, whereby the slabs may be laid side-by-side with the same orientation as one another, or with orientations that differ alternately by 180 degrees, according to whether a curved or straight edging-sequence is required.

Where the method is applied to edging a pond, the slabs may be laid such that each has one of its two lips projecting down the wall of the pond to afford facing cover to that wall above water level of the pond.

A form of edging-slab, and a method of using edging-slabs of that form for edging a pond, all in accordance with the present invention, will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of the edging-slab according to the invention ; Figures 2 to 4 are, respectively, a side elevation, an end elevation and a perspective view of the edging-slab of Figure 1; Figure 5 is illustrative of the use according to the invention of the edging-slab of Figures 1 to 4 to edge a garden pond; Figure 6 is a perspective view of part of the edge of the pond of Figure 5 illustrating the contrasting visual effects between (a) use of rectangular slabs of a known, plain flat form and (b) edging-slabs of the form of Figure 1; and Figures 7 and 8 are side elevations corresponding to that of Figure 2 in respect of other configurations of the edging-slab according to the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the edging-slab 1 of the invention, is of a form in which its main, slab-body 2 has the configuration of a trapezium in plan, and integral lips 3 and 4 turn down to the same depth as one another, from the longer and shorter parallel ends 5 and 6, respectively, of the body 2. The other two sides 7 and 8 of the body 2 are of equal length and are both inclined at an angle of 78.5 degrees to the end 5. The slab 1, which is of high-density concrete or cast stone throughout, has, for example, a uniform slab-thickness of 40 mm throughout the body 2 and a length measured between the two ends 5 and 6 of 450 mm. Both lips 3 and 4 project by 100 mm below the body 2.

The slab 1 is for use especially in edging water features where a plastics liner is used for containing the water,

and its use in this context for edging a garden pond will now be described with reference to Figures 5 and 6.

Referring to Figure 5, a plastics-sheet liner 10 is laid on a bed 11 of sand to define a wall 12 of the pond. The liner 10 extends out of the pond to have its margin 13 embedded in a bed of concrete 14, spaced back from the edge of the pond. The slab 1 is laid to the edge of the pond with its body 2 covering the liner 10 both there and where it enters the concrete 14, and with one of the lips 3 and 4 overhanging the edge and the other embedded in the concrete 14.

As illustrated in Figure 5, it is the lip 3 that overhangs the edge of the pond and extends down the wall 12 to cover the liner 10 to well below the water-level, and the lip 4 that is embedded in the concrete 14. In these circumstances, the lip 3 affords facing cover to the wall 12 where this is open to view down to just below water-level, and the lip 4 is keyed into the concrete 14 to ensure that the slab 1 is firmly restrained from movement. The slab 1 therefore, is more firmly and securely restrained against movement than a comparable flat slab, by virtue of the keying in of its embedded lip 4.

It is normal practice in pond construction using a liner such as the liner 10, to lay flat slabs 20 as illustrated at (a) of Figure 6, to the edge of the pond. Although the slabs 20 give the pond a well-defined boundary edge, the overall visual effect of this is marred by the exposed area of liner 10 from the edge down to the waterlevel; deterioration and inevitable marking of the surface of the exposed plastics sheeting resulting from sunlight and weathering, adds to the unsightly effect.

However, using slabs 21 of the form described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4, to edge the pond as

illustrated at (b) of Figure 6, not only gives edgedefinition but also greatly enhances the visual effect in covering the liner 10 down to below water-level. As illustrated in Figure 6, the trapezium configuration of the slabs 21 allows them to be laid with alternating orientation to give added decorative effect to a straight edge.

The general configuration of the slab according to the present invention may be varied from the trapezium form illustrated, in that square, rectangular and other configurations may be used. Furthermore, the dimensions and relative proportions of the slab may be varied to suit particular applications; two possible variants in this regard are illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.

Claims (14)

1. Claims: 1. An edging-slab of concrete or other material for bedding on a base, wherein there is a downturned lip at each of two opposite ends of the slab, one lip for affording facing cover to an edge of the base, and the other for keying into the base for at least in part securing the slab to the base.
2. 2. An edging-slab according to Claim 1 wherein the lips are downturned from the two ends to the same depth as one another.
3. 3. An edging-slab according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the slab has a configuration that is substantially that of a trapezium.
4. 4. An edging-slab according to Claim 3 wherein the lips are downturned from the parallel ends of the slab.
5. 5. An edging-slab according to Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the non-parallel sides of the slab are of equal length to one another and are angled equally to the two ends.
6. 6. A method of edging a water or other garden feature wherein a plurality of edging-slabs of concrete or other material are bedded side-by-side with one another on a base of the feature, each slab having a downturned lip at each of two opposite ends of the slab, one lip being arranged to afford facing cover to an edge of the base, and the other being keyed into the base for at least in part securing the slab to the base.
7. 7. A method according to Claim 6 wherein the lips of each slab are downturned from the two ends of the slab to the same depth as one another.
8. 8. A method according to Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein each slab has a configuration that is substantially that of a trapezium.
9. 9. A method according to Claim 8 wherein the lips of each slab are downturned from the parallel ends of the slab.
10. 10. A method according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 wherein the non-parallel sides of each slab are of equal length to one another and are angled equally to the two ends of the slab.
11. 11. A method according to any one of Claims 6 to 10 wherein said feature is a pond, each of the slabs being laid on the base such that said one lip of the slab projects down a wall of the pond to afford facing cover to that wall above water level of the pond.
12. 12. A method according to Claim 11 wherein the pond incorporates a plastics liner that extends up said wall and out of the pond to have a margin of the liner secured in said base away from the edge of the pond, and the slabs are laid to the edge of the pond to cover the margin of the liner, said one lip of each slab projecting down the wall of the pond to cover the liner where it extends up said wall above the water level.
13. 13. An edging-slab of concrete or other material for bedding on a base, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, or with reference to Figures 1 to 4 together with Figure 6 or Figure 7, of the accompanying drawings.
14. 14. A method of edging a pond, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.