Veneers for walls, retaining walls and the like
A veneer panel system is used with a wall or a retaining wall to provide a natural stone appearance and/or to improve the appearance of an existing wall. Panels can be interlocked to form a stable veneer structure. The structure is attached to a wall by various attachment means.
1 . A wall system comprising:
wall components for constructing a retaining wall;
a plurality of rectangular panels, each panel having a front surface and an opposed back surface defining a panel thickness, a set of opposed top and bottom edges and a set of opposed first and second side edges, the front surface comprising a mineral aggregate embedded in a resin; and
means for connecting the plurality of panels to the retaining wall formed from the wall components.
2 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the wall components are selected from natural stone, poured concrete, precast panels, masonry, landscape timbers, railroad ties, wall blocks, and combinations thereof.
3 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the wall components are wall blocks.
4 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the mineral aggregate is natural stone aggregate.
5 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the resin contains fiberglass.
6 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the means for connecting the plurality of panels to the retaining wall are selected from screws and bolts, hooks, brackets, connection joints, connection channels, and combinations thereof.
7 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein each set of opposed panel edges has mating tongue and groove attachments, respectively, so that a respective tongue attachment and groove attachment of adjacent panels connect the adjacent panels.
8 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the means for connecting the plurality of panels to the retaining wall is molded into the back surface of the panel.
9 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the means for connecting the plurality of panels to the retaining wall include a first interlocking component on the wall that mates with a second interlocking component molded into the back surface of the panel.
10 . The wall system of claim 1 , wherein the first interlocking component is a rail.
11 . The wall system of claim 10 , wherein second interlocking component is a bracket that attaches to the rail.
12 . The wall system of claim 11 , wherein the rail is a longitudinal body with a T-shaped cross-section.
13 . The wall system of claim 12 , wherein the longitudinal body has slots to which the bracket attaches.
14 . The wall system of claim 13 , wherein the bracket has a channel that matingly fits over the T-shaped cross-section.
15 . The wall system of claim 10 , wherein the rail has a hanging bracket formed thereon and the second interlocking component has a hanging element molded to an edge of a panel.
16 . A method of making a retaining wall including a plurality of wall blocks and geogrid comprising:
stacking wall blocks in one or more courses to form a first portion of the retaining wall, the first portion having a front wall surface and an upper course of blocks which forms an upper surface of the first portion;
placing the geogrid over the first portion of the retaining wall such that a first section of the geogrid extends behind the retaining wall and a second section of the geogrid extends in front of the retaining wall;
stacking wall blocks in one or more additional courses over the first portion of the retaining wall to form a second portion of the retaining wall, the geogrid extending between the upper surface of the first portion and a lower surface of the second portion of the retaining wall, the second wall portion having a front wall surface and an upper course of blocks which forms an upper surface of the second portion;
folding the geogrid back over the front and upper surfaces of the second portion so that the second section of the geogrid extends behind the retaining wall; and
stacking wall blocks in one or more additional courses over the second portion of the retaining wall to form a third portion of the retaining wall, the geogrid extending between the upper surface of the second portion and a lower surface of the third portion of the retaining wall, the third wall portion having a front wall surface and an upper course of blocks which forms an upper surface of the third portion.
17 . The method of claim 16 further comprising:
providing a plurality of panels; and
connecting the panels to the front surface of the retaining wall.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the panels are formed of a mineral aggregate in fiberglass.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein one of adjacent first and second panels have tongue attachment means and another of adjacent first and second panels have mating tongue and groove attachment means, respectively.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the tongue and groove attachment means are on opposing panel sides of adjacent first and second panels, respectively.
21 . The method of claim 20 , including interconnecting a tongue attachment means on a first panel with a groove attachment means on a second panel.
22 . The method of claim 16 , including placing a protective layer between the geogrid and an adjacent block.