Brick mould trim

Abstract

A starter bracket is attached to a wall and a mould trim piece is inserted therein such that a pair of opposed legs of the bracket engage respective longitudinal edges of the trim piece. A back plate of the bracket extends vertically and on one side has a longer L-shaped formation extending forward and laterally, and at the other side, a shorter leg extending forward and laterally. The inner edge of the shorter leg is preferably in the form of a compressible edge. The back plate is nailed to a wall, the longer leg of the bracket is inserted in one slot on one side of the trim piece, and a short slot on the other side of the trim piece is snapped onto the shorter leg to complete the installation.

Description

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to building construction and in particular to the framing of doors, windows, and other wall penetration.

SUMMARY

An object of the invention is to attach a brick mould or the like to a wall between two boundaries of other building structures, without penetrating the brick mould or otherwise marring the visible surface after installation.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a starter bracket is attached to the wall and the trim piece is inserted therein such that a pair of opposed legs on the bracket engage respective longitudinal edges of the trim piece. A back plate of the bracket extends vertically and on one side has a longer L-shaped formation with legs extending forward and laterally, and at the other side, a shorter formation extending with legs forward and laterally. The inner edge of the inner leg of the shorter formation is preferably in the form of a compressible edge. The back plate is nailed to a wall, the longer leg of the bracket is inserted in one slot on one side of the trim piece, and a short slot on the other side of the trim piece is snapped onto the shorter leg to complete the installation.

From another aspect, the disclosure is directed to a method for installing a wall trim piece having a front face, a back face and opposite edges, comprising the steps of affixing a back portion of a bracket to a wall; manually inserting a front portion of the bracket into one edge of the trim piece whereby the trim piece is retained on the wall by the bracket; affixing the other edge of the trim piece to the wall with a mounting strip; and inserting an edge of at least one wall siding panel into a channel on the second edge, in front of the mounting strip.

Another method is directed to installing a longitudinally extending trim piece having a front face, a back face and opposite sides onto a wall, such as brick moulding or casing, comprising affixing a longitudinally extending back portion of a bracket to a wall; inserting a first front portion of the bracket into a first side of the trim piece; and then pushing the trim piece toward the bracket so a portion of the back face of the trim piece slides over while bending a second front portion of the bracket until the second front portion enters a second longitudinal slot on the trim piece. Preferably, a first front leg of the bracket is inserted into the first side of the trim piece and then the first front leg bends as a pivot while the trim piece is pushed toward the bracket until another front leg on the bracket snaps into a second longitudinal slot on the trim piece.

A significant advantage is that all steps in the installation can be performed without requiring lateral access to the bracket or trim piece, which access would typically be blocked by one or both of a window frame or exterior wall cover such as masonry, yet avoiding use of nails or screws through the front of the trim piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a top view of a bracket for a brick mould;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the bracket of FIG. 16;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a #908 brick mould;

FIG. 4 shows how the brick mould of FIG. 18 is mounted to the bracket of FIGS. 1-3 after the bracket has been affixed to a wall;

FIG. 5 shows the corner of the exterior of a building where a brick mould has been installed between a window frame and surrounding masonry; and

FIG. 6 shows a variation of the brick mould, wherein a portion of the mounting bracket extends beyond a side edge of the moulding.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-6 show a trim technique, by which a longitudinally extending trim piece such as brick mould or the like (sometimes called “casing”) can be attached to a wall W without penetrating the brick mould or otherwise marring the visible surface during installation. Brick moulds are a type of trim which in one instance is provided between the edge of masonry and a window box, especially if the size of the original window is reduced and the margin adjacent to the masonry must be closed off. Even for non-masonry exteriors, most new entry doors for modern construction come stocked with a #908 brick mould as the exterior trim, unless other mould is specified. The present invention provides a hidden fastening system for brick mould applications.

A brick mould starter bracket 10 is shown in FIG. 1. A longitudinal back plate 12 extends vertically and at one side has an L-shaped formation with one leg extending perpendicularly forward and another leg 16 extending laterally inwardly, and at the other side it has a leg 18 extending perpendicularly forward and a leg 20 extending laterally inwardly. The forward legs 14 and 18 are parallel but offset. Preferably, forward leg 14 is longer than forward leg 18 and lateral leg 16 is longer than lateral or front leg 20. The inner edge 22 of leg 20 is in the form of a compressible, preferably J-edge. A plurality of nail holes 24 are provided in the back plate 12. Preferably, the nail holes 24 are readily accessible through the open space between the edge 26 of the leg 16 and the J-edge 22.

For a #908 brick mould, the width of the back plate 12 would be two inches, the leg 14 would extend forward ½ inch, the front leg 16 would extend ½ inch, the other leg 18 would extend forward ¼ inch, and the other front leg 20 would extend about ¼ inch. A #908 brick mould is shown as item 28 in FIG. 3, with a back face 30, left and right sides 32, 34, and front face 36 which is beveled, fluted, or otherwise would typically carry some decorative profile. This brick mould is conventional except that for present purposes it is kerfed on the left and right sides 32, 34, as shown by slots at 38 and 40. These slots are at locations which correspond to the positions of the front legs 16 and 20 of the bracket 10. Preferably the back corner adjacent slot 40 is rounded 42.

After the bracket 10 has been attached to the wall with nails 44 through holes 24, the longer slot 38 is urged onto the longer front leg 16, to the position shown in FIG. 4, the installer pushes on the opposite side of the brick mould to pivot about front leg 14 such that the rounded edge 42 bends the front leg 20 and ultimately snaps into the other slot 40, thereby securing the mould against the bracket 10.

Preferably, the brick mould unit is manufactured with the bracket 10 and brick mould 28 attached via the front legs 16, 20 engaging the slots 38, 40. These units can be provided in standard lengths, such as six, eight or ten feet.

FIG. 5 shows one of many possible installation configurations for a brick mould 46 surrounding a window frame 48 and filling the space between the window frame 48 and the masonry wall 50. Only portions of top 46A and one vertical 46B unit are shown.

Upon measuring the dimensions of the areas to be filled by the brick mould around the window frame 48 or against the wall 50, the installer at the site cuts the units to the desired length. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the installer can cut pieces to length and at 45° angles indicated at 52 to assemble as a square in the field.

Once the standard length units have been cut to the desired size, the brick mould trim piece is slid out of the bracket lengthwise and the bracket attached to the building. The mould piece is snapped therein as described previously with respect to FIGS. 1-4. The compressive edge 22 provides only a mild bias against the slot 40 and the round surface preferably permits pivotal disengagement as well as engagement per FIG. 4. In the installed condition shown in FIG. 5, the left 54 and right 56 longitudinal sides of the moulding appear to be flat, because the forward legs are substantially flush with the sides after full installation as described with respect to FIGS. 1-4.

In an alternative embodiment 58 shown in FIG. 6, the front leg 60 that carries the J-edge, is visible as a so-called “reveal” between the right side 62 of the mould and the, e.g., masonry or other interface. The left side 64 is as previously described, i.e., as 54 in FIG. 5. With reference to FIG. 1, this embodiment can be implemented by simply increasing the width of the back plate 12 by, e.g., ⅛ inch to ¼ inch, and likewise increasing the length of the front leg 20 by the same distance. In addition to an aesthetic appeal with this embodiment, the slightly longer front leg 60 bends more easily for the mould to be snapped in.

It should be understood that the bracket can be made of metal, such as aluminum, or durable and resilient plastic and the moulding made of hard plastic, such as PVC. Preferably, the bracket and the mould are the same color, especially in the embodiment of FIG. 6, having the reveal 60 which is part of the bracket.

With reference to FIGS. 1-6, the trim piece 28, 46 is secured in the bracket 10 by the first front leg 16 extending parallel to the back plate 12 engaged in the first front slot 38 and the second front leg 20 extending parallel to the back plate engaged in the second front slot 40, with the back face 30 of the trim piece substantially against the back plate 12 of the bracket. The first front leg is connected to the back plate by a first forward leg 14 and the second front leg is connected to the back plate by a second forward leg 18. In one embodiment, the forward legs are substantially flush with the sides 32, 34 of the trim piece and, in another embodiment, a portion 60 of the second front leg extends laterally from and is therefore visible with the respective side edge 62 of the trim piece.

It should further be appreciated that the lengths and distances of the forward legs 14, 18 from the back plate 12 should permit the pivoting of the first front leg 14 whereby the pushing on the trim piece close to the other side will bend the second front leg 20 sufficiently to permit entry of that other front leg 20 into the second slot 40 on the trim piece.

Claims

1. A trim unit comprising:

a bracket having a longitudinal back plate attachable to a wall and first and second longitudinal sides, each side having angulated legs including respective first and second front legs extending toward each other, parallel to the back plate; and

a longitudinally extending trim piece having a front face, a back face, and first and second longitudinal sides, with said sides having respective first and second longitudinal slots located for receiving respective front legs of the bracket.

2. The trim unit of claim 1, wherein

the first front leg is farther from the back plate than the second front leg;

the first front leg is longer than the second front leg; and

the second front leg has a compressible edge.

3. The trim unit of claim 1, wherein

the first front leg is slidable longitudinally in a first of said slots;

the second front leg is slidable longitudinally in a second of said slots; and

the second front leg has a “J” edge that is compressed in said second slot.

4. The trim unit of claim 1, wherein

the trim piece is secured in the bracket by the first front leg engaged in the first slot and the second front leg engaged in the second slot;

the back face of the trim piece is against the back plate of the bracket; and

the first front leg is connected to the back plate by a first forward leg and the second front leg is connected to the back plate by a second forward leg, wherein the forward legs extend perpendicularly to the back plate.

5. The trim unit of claim 4, wherein the front legs are slidable longitudinally in the respective slots.

6. The trim unit of claim 1, wherein the legs and slots are operatively associated such that when the first forward leg is in said first slot and before the second forward leg is in said second slot, the second side of the trim piece is pushable toward the back plate such that, a portion of the back face of the trim piece slides over while bending the second front leg until the second front leg enters the second slot.

7. The trim unit of claim 6, wherein the legs and slots are operatively associated such that when the forward legs are in the respective slots, the second side of the trim piece is pullable away from the back plate such that the second forward leg is removed from the second slot.

8. The trim unit of claim 7, wherein the portion of the back face that slides over the second front leg is a rounded corner between the back face and the second side of the trim piece.

9. The trim unit of claim 2, wherein

the first front leg is slidable longitudinally in a first of said slots;

the second front leg is slidable longitudinally in a second of said slots; and

the second front leg has a “J” edge that is compressed in said second slot.

10. The trim unit of claim 4, wherein the back plate is attached to a wall between two longitudinally extending boundaries of other building structure.

11. The trim unit of claim 10, wherein the trim unit is a brick mould unit extending longitudinally between a window frame and masonry.

12. A method for installing a longitudinally extending trim piece having a front face, a back face and opposite sides onto a wall comprising:

affixing a longitudinally extending back portion of a bracket to a wall;

manually inserting a longitudinally extending first front portion of the bracket into a first side of the trim piece; and

securing the trim piece for the bracket by pushing the trim piece toward the bracket so a portion of the back face of the trim piece slides over while bending a second front portion of the bracket until the second front portion enters a slot on the trim piece.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the trim piece is pushed toward the bracket by pivoting the trim piece around the first front portion of the bracket.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a first front leg of the bracket is inserted into the first side of the trim piece and then the first front leg pivots as the trim piece is pushed toward the bracket.

15. The method claim 14, including the steps before affixing the bracket to a wall, of:

selecting a trim unit in which the trim piece is secured to the bracket; and

removing the trim piece from the bracket.