Luxury vinyl tile flooring system

Abstract

A flooring system may comprise a top floor layer, a subfloor, and/or an underlayment material disposed between the sub-floor and the top floor layer. The top floor layer may include a plurality of luxury vinyl tiles, configured such that respective tile joints may be formed between adjacent luxury vinyl tiles. The underlayment material may comprise a cross-linked, polyolefin foam. The composition of the underlayment material may be such that the tile joints between the adjacent luxury vinyl tiles may bend by less than about 45 degrees over a twelve hour period when 3.1 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure is applied. The underlayment material may have a compressive creep of less than fifty percent of an original thickness associated with the underlayment material at a load of 3.1 psi and/or a compressive strength of more than 15 psi.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A flooring system, comprising:
 a top floor layer comprising a plurality of luxury vinyl tiles, wherein the top floor layer comprises a tile joint between adjacent tiles of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles;   a sub-floor; and   an underlayment material comprising a cross-linked, polyolefin foam disposed between the sub-floor and the top floor layer,   wherein the underlayment material comprises a configuration of material that prevents a portion of at least one of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles at the tile joint from bending, relative to another portion of the top floor layer, when pressure is applied to at least one of the tile joint or the portion of the at least one of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles at the tile joint.   
     
     
         2 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the underlayment material has a compressive strength of at least 15 pounds per square inch (psi). 
     
     
         3 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the underlayment material is configured to prevent the portion of the at least one of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles at the tile joint from bending by more than a predetermined amount when the pressure is applied to the at least one of the tile joint or the portion of the at least one of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles at the tile joint. 
     
     
         4 . The flooring system of  claim 3 , wherein the predetermined amount is about 45 degrees, and wherein the pressure is at least 3.1 pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure. 
     
     
         5 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the underlayment material comprises a first thickness, and wherein the underlayment material has a compressive creep that results in the underlayment material comprising a second thickness of less than fifty percent of the first thickness when the pressure is applied for a period of time. 
     
     
         6 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles comprises a respective surface layer protection, backing layer, wear layer, and decorative layer. 
     
     
         7 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles are configured in a loose lay installation system. 
     
     
         8 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles are configured in a modified loose lay installation system. 
     
     
         9 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles are configured in a locking installation system. 
     
     
         10 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of luxury vinyl tiles are configured in a glue down installation system. 
     
     
         11 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the cross-linked, polyolefin foam has a moisture vapor transmission rate of less than about 3.0 lb/1000 ft 2 /24 hr. 
     
     
         12 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the cross-linked, polyolefin foam has at least one of an impact isolation class (IIC) of greater than or equal to 50 or a sound transmission class (STC) of greater than or equal to 50. 
     
     
         13 . The flooring system of  claim 1 , wherein the underlayment material enables the flooring system to produce an average reflected sound pressure level of less than about 15 dB over a range of about 300 Hz to about 1000 Hz.