Company has added a 6-in. size to its BlockFlash series of embeddable flashing solutions for managing moisture in exterior, single-wythe concrete masonry unit walls. BlockFlash uses patented flashing pans to collect moisture in the wall and channel it to the exterior through integrated weep spouts, which are gray in color to blend in with standard mortar. Drainage mesh placed in every block cell in the course immediately above the pans provides hundreds of clear pathways for water to flow around mortar droppings inside the cells and reach the pans.
BlockFlash cuts installation time associated with using membrane flashing in a multi-wythe course by approximately 50 percent, product developers note, and eliminates the need for multiple architectural CMU sizes typical with through-wall flashing. The 6-in. device works the same as existing 8-, 10- and 12-in. versions, which have been installed in over 3 million lineal feet of walls. The new size is designed to meet the growing popularity of specifying 6-in. block to meet future building energy codes and for its space-saving benefits in larger buildings.
In addition to BlockFlash, the company offers BlockNet for single-wythe CMU walls, promoting it as the only CMU flashing product that can be used for repair, restoration and high security walls, and that can be installed post-construction. Water in the block cells flows down the inside of the face of the cells through the BlockNet vertical mesh component and onto the horizontal stainless steel drainage section, which channels water out of the wall through the integrated horizontal drainage mesh element and weep tabs. It can be used in reinforced or unreinforced 8-, 10- and 12-in. CMU walls and in unreinforced 6-in. unit walls. BlockNet creates a continuous stainless steel drip edge around the building perimeter. — MortarNet Solutions, Burns Harbor, Ind., www.mortarnet.com