ESD Control Vinyl Tile
Installation and Maintenance Instructions

INSTALLATION OF TILE

SEAMLESS INSTALLATION

ESDcarpet.com Vinyl Tile Systems are available in 35" x 36" sections, square edge or pre-grooved, for seamless installations. For proper trowel size, selects see Trowel Selection and Tile Size/Subfloor sections. The 36"' x 36" sections a installed in essentially the same manner as described under CONVENTIONAL INSTALLATION using ESDcarpet.com approved adhesive and specified trowel Special procedures are required as follows.

SQUARE EDGE SECTIONS

1. Remove tile from carton, and store flat in stacks (not to exceed 6" in height) at a temperature of at least 70° E for 48 hours prior to installation. This allows tile to adjust to room temperature. Tile will then lay flat and conform to the contour of the subfloor when installed.
   
2. Lay out field so that the last section ends at least 6” from the wall to allow space for use of router and hot air welding tool around the room perimeter.
   
3. Install the field, making sure to install copper grounding strip at the designated ground connections (See GROUNDING). Make sure that the tile is roiled and cross rolled with a 150 Ib. sectional roller. Allow the adhesive to set up overnight.
   
4. Dry cut all cove pieces to fit as described under FLASH COVING, and install them. Roil thoroughly with a hand roller.
   
5. Using a scrap piece of tile, set the router so that the blade cuts a groove to a depth of approximately one halt of the thickness of the tile. Rout all field seams in one direction only, being careful to keep the groove centered on the seam as closely as possible. Use chamfering plane to rout cove pieces where the router cannot be operated.
   
6. Preheat the hot air welding tool. Using the 4mm welding nozzle, weld the bead into the groove. Trial weld a few scrap pieces before starting on the floor so that adjustments in the heat setting may be made if desired. Beginners may find it easier to work with a tower heat. However, with experience, welding will be faster with a higher heat. A lower heat is recommended for correcting mistakes or welding in awkward places. A good weld is achieved when a small amount of melted bead overflows along the edges of the groove.
   
7. After the weld has cooled, shave off the excess bead with a spatula. If the bead is shaved before it has cooled, it will shrink below the surface of the flooring. Keep the spatula sharp by periodic honing with: a fine stone.
   
8. After welding and trimming all seams in one direction, repeat the routing, welding, and trimming procedures on all seams running in the other direction.
   
9. While seamless installations are usually flash coved, top set cove base or other treatment may be used at the floor-wail junction. In these instances, use a chamfering plane to finish the groove close to the wall where the router cannot be operated.

1. Take extra, care to minimize adhesive seepage at the seams. Any adhesive allowed to remain in the grooves could prevent the vinyl bead and flooring from fusing together properly.
   
2. After the adhesive has set up overnight, use the chamfering plane to remove all excess adhesive that may have seeped into the grooves.
   
3. Weld and trim all seams in one direction only.
   
4. Use the chamfering plane to open each cross seam.
   
5. Weld and trim ail remaining seams.

1. Install metal inside and outside corners. Then install a suitable cap strip (either metal or plastic) around the entire room. Exercise care so that the tops of the cap strip and metal corners are at the same level. Use either flat headed nails or contact bond adhesive to fasten comers and cap strips.
   
2. Place a cove strip at floor-wall junction to support tile at the bend. Radius of cove strip should be at least 3/4" and must have same radius as the metal corners.
   
3. When installing ESDcarpet.com tile, lay out field so that it ends approximately 6" from the wall. When 36" x 36" sections are used, field can be laid out so that the last section finds at any convenient distance in excess of 6"' from the wall. The distance from the edge of the field to the cap strip must be less than the width of the cove pieces since variations in floor and wall levels always necessitate cutting the cove pieces so that a tight fit can be achieved.
   
4. Install field in accordance with procedures listed under either CONVENTIONAL or SEAMLESS INSTALLATION, and allow adhesive to set up overnight before installing cove pieces.
   
5. Dry cut cove pieces to fit. Remove pieces and apply adhesive to the exposed floor and wall. Install the pieces and roll thoroughly with a hand roller. Do as largo an area as practical to avoid repeated mixing of adhesive batches.

1. Prior to instillation of the static control flooring, the electrical contractor drops a wire (usually a #10 or #12 stranded) inside the wall from any convenient ground bus so that the wire emerges at the floor wall junction. A small hole is either cut into the drywall at this point or chipped out of the concrete floor. The copper grounding strip provided by ESDcarpet.com is intertwined with the stranded copper wire. The connection of grounding strip and copper wire is pushed into the hole and conductive adhesive liberally applied so that the connection is completely buried in the adhesive and the hole is filled to the level of the floor or wad surface. The balance of the grounding strip is then laid flat in conductive adhesive on the floor and covered with additional adhesive. Tile is then installed over the grounding strip.
2. If there are exposed steel columns supporting the building, the ground connection may be made directly to the columns. The copper grounding strip is laid flat in the conductive adhesive on the floor allowing several inches to protrude at the junction next to the column. The grounding strip on the floor is covered with additional adhesive and ESDcarpet.com tile instated over it. A hole is drilled into the steel column an inch or two up from the floor. Tap the hole and secure the grounding strip using a simple machine screw and washer. Make sure all paint and foreign substances have been removed from the column to assure metal contact. Cover the connection with an electrical box.
3. ESDcarpet.com provides sufficient copper strip to allow one ground connection for every 1,000 square feet of installed tile. Copper strip grids under tile are unnecessary since the conductive adhesive acts as .a conductive plane beneath the tile.

CARE AND MAINTENANCE