Infloor Infloorboard II - Manual (Page 5)

5
other soft mallet into final alignment. Care
should be taken to not tap or otherwise hit the
tongue of the boards as they can be easily
damaged. If a tongue does happen to become
damaged, and will no longer interlock with a
groove, simply snap or cut off the damaged sec-
tion.
Short (6”) lengths of 3/8” PEX tubing can be
very useful in aligning adjoining boards. Simply
place the tubing into the grooves between two
boards to assure groove alignment. Slight varia-
tions in either subfloor or boards may result in
board edges not always being perfectly aligned.
*Do not assume that board edge alignment
will guarantee groove alignment.
In almost all installations it will be necessary
to cut a small number of boards to finish
out a room. In addition, if the final board in a
row will place the PEX tubing within 2” of the
finished wall, make an adjustment by cutting off
and inch or two from the first board in the
row. Always make sure that the surface
grooves line up with all previous rows. Boards
can also be cut in or-der to change direction of
the tubing. This may be necessary if there is
limited access in where
tubing may enter and
exit area.
Boards may be cut with either a table or skill
saw with a high quality carbide blade. *Cutting
should be done with adequate ventilation
and while wearing a protective mask. Cuts
should be made so that the tongue edges con-
tinue to match up with the grooved edges. If two
tongue edges do end up facing each other, you
may simply cut off the tongue edges (not appli-
cable for floating board installations). Cut
boards may also be used as filler boards, with
no tubing installed, to create a uniform floor
height in an area.
During board layout it will also be necessary to
determine the location where the PEX tubing
will enter the first board and exit the last board
in a circuit. This tubing is called the supply and
return leaders and will run from the boards to a
manifold or main piping location. Holes (typically
3/4”) should be drilled in the floor, or base of the
wall, to accommodate the leaders. PEX bend
supports are available to provide a tight 90º turn
into the floor or up a wall. In areas that require
several circuits of tubing (see InfloorBoard II™
& PEX Tubing Requirements) it will be neces-
sary to drill holes for each supply and return
leader. Leaders may also be run along the sub-
floor to a common entry/exit location without
being installed into boards. If necessary, a lev-
eling compound, or 5/8” sleepers (filler
boards), may be installed between or along the
tubing to provide a sound base for floor cover-
ings.
Install PEX Tubing
Vacuum the surface and grooves of all boards
to assure that there is nothing present that may
damage the PEX tubing and to provide for a
satisfactory fit into the grooves.
Starting with the first board (supply leader hole
location), leave sufficient excess tubing to reach
the manifold location. Next, begin rolling the
tubing out from the coil and “snap” it into the
grooves. A rubber or other soft mallet is recom-
mended to assist with this step. The grooves
are designed to provide a tight fit for the PEX
tubing in order to hold it firmly in place. Please
note, due to tolerances in both the tubing and
the boards, it is normal for varying degrees of
force to be required to fully seat the tubing into
the grooves. Continually check the length of
tubing remaining in the coil to ensure sufficient
length for the return leader to reach the mani-
fold location. After completing the installation of
each circuit of tubing, confirm that the entire
Custom cut Boards can be used
5/8” Filler Board
PEX Tubing