S.I. No. 330/1951:

STANDARD SPECIFICATION (BITUMINOUS ROOFING FELT) ORDER, 1951.

STANDARD SPECIFICATION (BITUMINOUS ROOFING FELT) ORDER, 1951.

I, SEÁN F. LEMASS, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the power conferred on me by subsection (3) of section 20 of the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1946 (No. 25 of 1946), hereby order as follows :

1. This Order may be cited as the Standard Specification (Bituminous Roofing Felt) Order, 1951.

2.--(1) The specification set forth in Part II of the Schedule to this Order is hereby declared to be the standard specification for the commodity described in Part I of the said Schedule.

(2) The said standard specification may be cited as Irish Standard 36 : 1951.

SCHEDULE.

PART I.

BITUMINOUS ROOFING FELT.

PART II.

SPECIFICATION.

SCOPE.

1. This specification covers the requirements of bituminous roofing felt.

CLASSES, TYPES AND DESIGNATION.

2. Bituminous roofing felt shall be of one of the classes set out in Column 1 and of one of the types set out in Column 2 of Table 1.

Table 1.

USES.

3. Sanded bitumen felt shall be suitable for use in single layer roofing and as the lower layers in multiple layer roofing.

Self-finished bitumen felt shall be suitable for use on boards or concrete in single or multiple layer roofing.

Self-finished filled bitumen felt shall be suitable for use on boards or concrete in single or multiple layer roofing.

Reinforced bitumen felt shall be suitable for use under slates or tiles where the felt is not fully supported by boarding.

CONSTRUCTION AND SURFACE FINISH.

4. Sanded bitumen felt shall consist of a single thickness of roofing felt saturated with bitumen, coated on both sides with bitumen, and surfaced on both sides with fine sand. The surface of both sides shall be uniform in finish and texture. The granules shall be uniformly distributed in an even layer and shall be firmly embedded in the bitumen coating.

Self-finished bitumen felt shall consist of a single thickness of roofing felt saturated with bitumen, coated on both sides with bitumen, and surfaced on both sides with powdered talc or mica to prevent sticking in the rolls. The surface of both sides shall be uniform in finish and texture.

Self-finished filled bitumen felt shall consist of a single thickness of roofing felt saturated with bitumen, coated on both sides with bitumen containing not more than 20 per cent. by weight of mineral filler, and surfaced on both sides with powdered talc or mica to prevent sticking in the rolls. The surface of both sides shall be uniform in finish and texture.

Reinforced bitumen felt. The felt base shall be reinforced with a woven hessian fabric. The felt and the hessian fabric together shall be saturated with bitumen, coated on both sides with bitumen, and surfaced on both sides with powdered talc or mica to prevent sticking in the rolls.

DIMENSIONS.

5. Bituminous roofing felt shall be packed in rolls 36 inches wide and 12 yards long. The width and length shall be determined in the manner described in Appendix A.

WEIGHT.

6. The weight per roll of each type of bituminous roofing felt, when determined as described in Appendix B, shall be as set out for the type in Table 2.

The weight per square yard of the felt base of each type of bituminous roofing felt, when determined as described in Appendix C, shall be not less than the values set out for the type in Table 2.

SATURANT AND COATING MATERIALS.

7. The saturant and coating materials shall consist of bitumen as specified hereunder. It shall be free from tar, pitch and tar oils.

The saturant shall consist of bitumen having a penetration at 25°C./100g./5 seconds within the range 140 to 220. The coating material shall consist of oxidised bitumen and shall have a softening point within the range 82°C. to 100°C. The penetration and the softening point shall be determined by the methods I.P.-49/46 and I.P.-58/46 given in the Standard Methods of Testing Petroleum and its Products, 9th Edition, 1948, published by the Institute of Petroleum, Mansion House, 26 Portland Place, London, W.I.

The weight per square yard of the bituminous saturant and coating materials soluble in carbon tetrachloride for each type of bituminous roofing felt, when determined as described in Appendix C, shall be not less than the values set out for the type in Table 2.

Table 2.

FELT BASE.

8. The felt base shall be produced by felting a mixture of animal and vegetable fibres. The surface of the felt shall be uniformly smooth and upon splitting or tearing on the bias, the felt shall appear reasonably free from lumps of underbeaten stock and particles of foreign substances. In the case of reinforced bitumen felt the woven hessian fabric shall weigh not less than 4 oz. per square yard.

WEIGHT OF SURFACING MATERIAL.

9. The weight per square yard of the surfacing material for each type of bituminous roofing felt, when determined as described in Appendix C, shall be not less than the value set out for the type in Table 2.

CHARACTER OF SATURATED FELT.

10. The bituminous roofing felt shall be completely and uniformly saturated and shall show no unsaturated spots at any point upon cutting 2 inch strips at random across the entire sheet and splitting them open for their full length.

PLIABILITY.

11. The pliability of the material shall be such that eight out of ten strips, when tested as described in Appendix D, shall show no ruptures at the surface exceeding 1/8 inch in length.

PLIABILITY AND STICKINESS.

12. The bituminous roofing felt shall not crack nor be so sticky as to cause tearing or material damage upon being unrolled at atmospheric temperature above 10°C.

BEHAVIOUR ON HEATING.

13. The loss of weight on heating the bituminous roofing felt at 80°C. for two hours shall not exceed 1·5 per cent. The granular surfacing of sanded bitumen felt shall not slip more than ¼ inch, when tested as described in Appendix E, and in the case of the other classes of bitumen felt there shall be no flowing, sagging, blistering or absorption of the bitumen coatings.

FREEDOM FROM DEFECTS.

14. The finished material shall be free from visible or external defects such as holes, ragged or untrue edges, breaks, cracks, tears, rents, indentations, protuberances or lumps of coating material.

PACKING.

15. The rolls of bituminous roofing felt shall be securely wrapped in a substantial grade of paper of the same width as the fabric. The wrapper shall completely encircle the roll and shall be pasted at the overlap in a manner that will prevent it shifting from position. The ends of the rolls need not be covered. No roll shall contain more than two pieces and where two pieces occur allowance shall be made for an overlap of 9 inches.

MARKING.

16. All packages of bituminous roofing felt shall be marked with the words " Bituminous Roofing Felt " followed by an indication of the type as set out in Column 2 of Table 1, and also with the words : " Length 12 yards ".

SAMPLING.

17. In each lot of one thousand rolls or less, five rolls shall be selected for testing.

FACILITIES FOR INSPECTION.

18. The purchaser or his representative shall, if he so requires, be given access to the works of the manufacturer at all reasonable times for the purpose of inspecting the manufacturing processes and of sampling the bituminous roofing felt and the materials used in its manufacture. The manufacturer shall, at his own cost, supply labour and appliances for such inspection and sampling as may be carried out on his premises.

Appendix A.

DETERMINATION OF WIDTH AND LENGTH.

The width shall be measured to the nearest 1/8 in. at five different places evenly distributed along the roll.

The length shall be measured to the nearest inch.

Appendix B.

WEIGHT PER ROLL.

The roll shall be fastened with pieces of light string and weighed to the nearest pound.

Appendix C.

DETERMINATION OF CONSTITUENT MATERIALS

Each roll of the sample selected in accordance with Clause 17, shall be unwound and, at a distance of 5 ft. from the end, three strips the full width of the roll and 12 in. in length shall be cut at right angles to the edge of the roll. All the strips shall be weighed accurately and measured to the nearest in 1/32 in., and the average weight per square yard shall be calculated.

From each of three different rolls a strip shall be chosen whose weight does not vary by more than 1·5 per cent. from the average. From each of these strips two pieces 8 in. by 2 in. shall be cut and shall be weighed accurately and placed in a soxhlet extractor having ground glass joints. The two pieces of material shall be extracted with carbon tetrachloride until the extracting liquid is colourless. The extracting flask shall be heated on a water bath and when the solvent has evaporated the flask shall be placed in an oven at a temperature of 105°C. and dried to constant weight. From the result the weight per square yard of the bituminous material soluble in carbon tetrachloride shall be calculated for each roll. The average of the values obtained for the rolls tested shall be taken as the weight per square yard of bituminous saturant and coating materials soluble in carbon tetrachloride.

The de-saturated felt base shall be dried in air until free from organic solvent and any adhering mineral matter shall be removed by brushing. The felt base shall be dried for one hour at 105°C., cooled in a desiccator and then weighed, and from the result the weight of felt base per square yard for each roll shall be calculated. The average of the values obtained for the rolls tested shall be taken as the weight per square yard of felt base.

In the case of sanded bitumen felt, self-finished bitumen felt and reinforced bitumen felt, the weight of surfacing material per square yard shall be determined by deducting from the total weight per square yard, the weights per square yard of bitumen soluble in carbon tetrachloride and of the felt base.

Appendix D.

PLIABILITY.

From each roll of the sample selected in accordance with Clause 17, two strips 1 in. in width and 8 in. in length shall be cut, one in the direction of the fibre grain and one across the fibre grain. They shall be immersed in water at 25°C. for 10 to 15 minutes, then removed and each strip immediately bent through an angle of 90° over the rounded edge of a rectangular block at a uniform speed in approximately 2 seconds. The rounded edge shall be 1 in. radius for sanded bitumen felt, ¾ in. radius for self-finished bitumen felt and for self-finished filled bitumen felt, and ½ in. radius for reinforced bitumen felt. In bending, the strips shall be held by hand tightly against the face of the block and the projecting end of the strips shall be bent over the rounded edge without exerting any strain other than that required to keep the strip in contact with the block and to avoid kinking. The bent strips shall be examined for ruptures.

Appendix E.

LOSS IN WEIGHT AND BEHAVIOUR ON HEATING.

From each roll of the sample selected in accordance with Clause 17, two test pieces each approximately 4 in. by 4 in. shall be cut. The pieces shall be weighed and then suspended vertically, in the same direction as the material would be applied to the roof, in the centre of an air oven maintained at 80°C. ± 3°C., by means of a thin wire fastened through holes punctured near one edge. The internal dimensions of the oven shall be not less than 12 in. by 12 in. by 12 in. A thermometer shall be inserted in the oven to such a depth that its bulb will be in line with the centre of the pieces. The pieces shall be maintained at the prescribed temperature for exactly 2 hours, then cooled in a desiccator, and each piece weighed. The average loss of volatile matter shall be calculated as a percentage. The test pieces shall be examined visually for the presence of flowing, sagging, blistering, or absorption of the asphalt coatings. Also the extent of sliding of the granular surfacing in the case of sanded bitumen felt shall be measured.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 19th day of November, 1951.

SEAN F. LEMASS.

Minister for Industry and Commerce.