Cork Flooring - Comments
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Hello! Cork Flooring is very interesting to me. But, I am thinking of putting it in my kitchen...will it be durable enough? How is it to be cleaned? I have a dog and a young son. Is it appropriate for them?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
All the best, Jen
Jen Brackbill at July 16, 2007 08:40 AM
Posted by: Jen Brackbill at July 16, 2007 08:40 AMCork flooring is very durable. It's been used for flooring for over a hundred years in public buildings, and still holding up well to traffic found in them.
Part of the question should be which type of cork flooring to use: floating or glue-down tiles. If you need the depth of flooring product provided by a floating floor, then that's the route to go. If you can go with a thinner tile, then I'd go with the glue-down tiles.
Cork can be sealed with polyurethane (though test a tile to make sure the product you buy will seal nicely) to keep it more resistant to the kind of traffic you have at your home.
I cleaned my cork floors with vinegar water (1 cup of distilled white vinegar to a gallon of water). It's inexpensive, environmentally safe, and effective.
Shop around for the best product you can find. Companies do provide samples to help you determine which cork flooring product will satisfy your needs most.
Good luck!
The Flooring Lady at July 16, 2007 09:20 AM
Posted by: The Flooring Lady at July 16, 2007 09:20 AMWhat effect would the humid and salty environment of a beachfront location in the Bahamas have on cork flooring?
juli at September 6, 2007 08:02 PM
Posted by: juli at September 6, 2007 08:02 PMI don't know about the salty environment, but the humidity should make it very happy. Do be sure to acclimate the cork outside of its packaging for a week or two before installing.
I've never lived in a salty and sandy environment, but I would think you'd want to put a good polyurethane finish on after cork installation so that it's nicely sealed from the sand and salt.
The Flooring Lady at September 6, 2007 09:00 PM
Posted by: The Flooring Lady at September 6, 2007 09:00 PMWould like to take out carpet and refinish our floors in Colorado Springs house with wood floors. Due to relative cold weather am concerned about floors being too cold. Have been looking into cork floors but we have small children (high traffic) and antique furniture (heavy with wheels or thin legs). Will the low Janka rating of cork stand up to the weight of the heavy antique furniture? Colorado Springs has extremely arid/dry air, will the dry climate increase the flaking of the cork rendering it a poor choice for that area? If so what would you recomend instead? Also redoing floor in master bath (currently carpeted as it connects to the master bedroom without wall or door). Any suggestions there? Thank you! Lynn
Lynn at November 30, 2007 01:54 PM
Posted by: Lynn at November 30, 2007 01:54 PMThis question was originally posted on the Bamboo Flooring article. I answered it for bamboo there, and am now addressing it here, since cork is specifically what was asked about.
I chose cork flooring for my new home several years ago. Living in Colorado turned out to be an issue for the floor, but mostly because we didn't acclimate it properly prior to installation. To compound our problems we had a defective batch of cork so it wouldn't lie flat or click properly.
Note: Be sure to choose a product that has a warranty and guarantee from the manufacturer (and make sure you agree with the concept of their terms).
Lessons from my cork floor experience are:
- buy cork tiles, not floating floor planks
- acclimate the cork so it dries to match your home's particular climate -- that could take several weeks of the cork being out of the packaging it's shipped in
- choose unfinished cork and coat it with a water-based polyurethane after installation
- use Bostik's Best flexible urethane adhesive to glue the cork tiles down with, even with in-floor radiant heat
Cork may not have a high Janka rating, but that's also part of its charm. It is durable yet soft under foot. Any heavy furniture should have "coasters" under the feet to help distribute the furniture's weight -- and that's true whether it's on carpet, wood, concrete or cork.
Cork is a natural insulator, but it will feel cooler to your feet than carpet does. But I think that's what area rugs are for. Cork is easy to clean and maintain, easier than carpet for sure. The insulation quality of the cork also helps dampen noises and sounds in the house; I really miss that aspect of my cork floor.
I had cork throughout my home and loved the look and feel of it. If I had known then what I do now I'd probably still have cork flooring. I love my bamboo floors, but miss the cork just the same.
The Flooring Lady at November 30, 2007 02:17 PM
Posted by: The Flooring Lady at November 30, 2007 02:17 PMWe are going to install a floating cork floor in our dining room (12 X 36" planks), but one wall has a stone fireplace with a stone seat. The cork will butt up against the stone seat. Do you have any suggestions on how to cover the joint b/w the cork and the stone (which is not straight)? We have to leave 1/4" expansion joint. Thanks for any suggestions.
Mary
Mary Reilly at August 10, 2008 08:44 AM
Posted by: Mary Reilly at August 10, 2008 08:44 AMHi Mary,
Geez, that's a tough one! Normally, you'd use some sort of floor trim - what are you planning on using around the rest of the room? Perhaps you could use a really decorative floor trim there, so that it looks like you really intentionally wanted it there, rather than as an afterthought. There is beautiful wood trim impressed and carved with all sorts of wonderful themes and you can stain it yourself so that you get a color you want.
Anybody else out there have any thoughts/comments?
The Flooring Lady at August 10, 2008 12:26 PM
Posted by: The Flooring Lady at August 10, 2008 12:26 PMWe had cork flooring abutting a tile floor-level hearth and framed the tiles with wood. Then the cork was cut to meet the wood "frame" -- without the 1/4" gap. We filled the joint initially with caulk, but that cracked as the floor shifted slightly as people walked across the room. We re-caulked with sanded caulk and have had great success.
If you length is greater than ours you could consider putting a wood trip along the stone -- the wood could be routed to follow the texture and line of the stone. The cork could then abut the wood. If your floor contractor is really good the cork could be cut to flow with the stone line and then put sanded caulk in the joint between the two.
I just hope you don't have Natural Cork's cork flooring.
Mike at August 10, 2008 03:49 PM
Posted by: Mike at August 10, 2008 03:49 PM
We're about to remodel our entire main floor and we'd love to use cork flooring from the kitchen through the dining area and to the edge of the carpeted entrance into the family room. We have opted to forego a formal dining room, and instead we'll have a 5-6 seat kitchen peninsula for casual family dining, and an over-sized rectangular table between the kitchen and family room for entertaining, which can range from a gourmet dinner party to a family gathering with my siblings and their kids.
I've been doing a lot of online research and I'm completely convinced of cork's benefits, especially in durability and self-healing, and it seems that cork does well in high-traffic areas; but what about high-SITTING areas? Can it really bounce back from a 200-lb man sitting at the table for a two-hour wine-tasting dinner? And can that 200-lb man, or even a 60-lb child, slide his chair back with ease, or will he have to lift it up to push back from the table? That may be our most crucial concern -- is cork "user-friendly" or will it frustrate us? Do different sealants affect the "slide-ability?" And maybe all of these questions are moot because I'm making too much of a comparison between cork flooring and the stickiness I equate with wine bottle corks.
If cork doesn't seem like the right surface for us in the dining area, then we won't use it in the kitchen either, because we want one flooring material to flow through the entire area.
I apologize for the length of my post; I really, really want a cork floor, but I really, really want to make the best choice for the way we use our space. Thanks for any insight you can give me.
Jen at August 27, 2008 11:14 PM
Posted by: Jen at August 27, 2008 11:14 PMComment Page: 1 | 2
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