Tongue and groove board product

A self-draining floor assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected tongue and groove boards, each said tongue and groove board comprising:

• first and second major surfaces;
• first and second longitudinal edges;
• said first longitudinally edge including means defining a longitudinally-extending groove extending inwardly of said longitudinal edge between said first and second major surfaces;
• a tongue protruding from said second longitudinal edge, said protruding tongue having an outer portion including upper and lower longitudinally-extending surfaces;
• said outer portion of said tongue being received within and interconnectingly engaged with a longitudinally-extending groove formed in the first longitudinal edge of an adjacent tongue and groove board for interconnecting said adjacent tongue and groove boards for forming a floor assembly;
• said protruding tongue having at least one substantially vertically-extending opening extending through said protruding tongue from said longitudinally-extending upper surface to said longitudinally-extending lower surface for providing at least one drain path for water to drain by gravity from said first major surfaces of said adjacent tongue and groove boards in a generally downwardly direction to a space below, thereby preventing an accumulation of water on said first major surfaces of said interconnected adjacent tongue and groove boards.

A method of forming a self-draining floor assembly of tongue and groove boards comprising the steps of:

• forming a plurality of tongue and groove boards, each tongue and groove board having first and second major surfaces, a first longitudinal edge including means defining a longitudinally-extending groove, and a second longitudinal edge including means defining a protruding longitudinal tongue for interconnectingly engaging a grooved edge of an adjacent tongue and groove board, said protruding tongue having an outer portion including upper and lower longitudinally-extending surfaces;
• each said protruding tongue having therein at least one substantially vertically-extending opening, each said opening extending through said protruding tongue from said longitudinally-extending upper surface to said longitudinally-extending lower surface for providing at least one drain path for water to drain by gravity from said first major surface downwardly through each said vertically-extending opening, thereby preventing an accumulation of water on said tongue and groove boards;
• and
• interlockably engaging said tongue and groove boards by inserting said outer portion of said protruding tongue of a first tongue and groove board into said longitudinal groove of a second tongue and groove board, thereby forming said self-draining floor assembly.