Flooring underlayment system

Abstract

A system for underlayment of a flooring has at least two foam panels having and a complementary under step portion on one side an an overstep portion on an opposite side. The understep portion has an adhesive strip with a release liner. The panels are joined by placing the overstep portion of one panel over the understep portion of an adjacent panel and removing the release liner. The overstep portion is then adhered to the overstep portion to seal the panels together. A method of grinding foam strips to form the panels is disclosed.

1 . A method of forming flooring underlayment material comprising the steps of:
 providing a foam strip having opposing edges and opposing top and bottom surfaces and positioning the foam strip on a set of rollers;   providing at least one grinding wheel and positioning the grinding wheel a predetermined distance from one roller of the set of rollers;   moving the foam strip about the rollers;   rotating the grinding wheel removing material from at least one of the opposing edges of the foam strip defining either an overcut or an undercut.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of providing two grinding wheels positioned on opposing edges of the foam strip and on opposing top and bottom surfaces of the foam strip. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  including the step of rotating both of the grinding wheels removing material on the opposing edges of the foam strip defining both of the overcut and the undercut. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  including the step of applying an adhesive and release tape to the undercut of the foam strip. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  including the step of rolling the foam strip onto a master roll. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  including the step of cutting the master roll to a specified length. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a width of the undercut is equal to a width of the overcut. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an upper edge portion of the overcut has a height equal to a height of a lower edge portion of the undercut. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the upper edge portion of the undercut portion and overstep portion and the height of the lower edge portion are equal. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one grinding wheel has a grit of from 12 to 120.