Flooring and Underlayment including Extruded Sheet Material with Expanded Microspheres

Abstract

A flooring for covering a floor substrate includes a hybrid underlayment and a plurality of interlocking synthetic tiles. The hybrid underlayment is coupled to the floor substrate with a first adhesive layer. The hybrid underlayment includes an extruded thermoplastic sheet having a plurality of gas-filled expanded thermoplastic microspheres distributed throughout the thermoplastic sheet. Each of the plurality of interlocking synthetic tiles is coupled to the hybrid underlayment with a second adhesive layer.

1 . A flooring underlayment for covering a floor substrate, comprising:
 (a) an extruded thermoplastic sheet; and   (b) a plurality of gas-filled expanded thermoplastic microspheres distributed throughout the thermoplastic sheet.   
     
     
         2 . The flooring of  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic comprises polyethylene. 
     
     
         3 . The flooring of  claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic comprises a plastic selected from a list consisting of: polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, polystyrene, poly vinyl chloride, thermoplastic polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl fluoride and combinations thereof 
     
     
         4 . The flooring of  claim 1 , wherein the microspheres comprise microspheres have a pre-expansion particle size within a range of 28 μm to 38 μm. 
     
     
         5 . The flooring of  claim 1 , further comprising interfacing synthetic tiles that comprise interlocking vinyl tiles. 
     
     
         6 . The flooring of  claim 1 , wherein the interfacing synthetic tiles comprise luxury vinyl tiles. 
     
     
         7 . A floor, comprising:
 (a) a substrate;   (c) a hybrid underlayment, disposed above the substrate, the hydrid underlayment including an extruded sheet that includes thermoplastic and a plurality of gas-filled expanded thermoplastic microspheres having a pre-expansion particle size within a range of 28 μm to 38 μm and distributed throughout the thermoplastic; and   (e) a plurality of luxury vinyl tiles, disposed above the hybrid underlayment.   
     
     
         8 . The floor of  claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles interlock with at least one adjacent luxury vinyl tile. 
     
     
         9 . A method of installing a floor on a floor substrate, comprising the steps of:
 (b) placing a hybrid underlayment that includes an extruded thermoplastic sheet having a plurality of gas-filled expanded thermoplastic microspheres distributed therein above the floor substrate; and (d) placing a plurality of interfacing synthetic tiles above the hybrid underlayment.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the thermoplastic comprises polyethylene. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the thermoplastic comprises a plastic selected from a list consisting of: polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, ethylene-vinyl acetate, polystyrene, poly vinyl chloride, thermoplastic polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl fluoride and combinations thereof 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the microspheres comprise microspheres have a pre-expansion particle size within a range of 28 μm to 38 μm. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the interfacing synthetic tiles comprise interlocking tiles. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the interfacing synthetic tiles comprise luxury vinyl tiles.