Cork Flooring in the Kitchen

Flooring Lady:

Floating cork tiles are in fact a very poor choice for a kitchen, particularily beneath sinks, areas around sinks, and around the fridge. The seams on click style cork flooring are not tight enough to exclude water: the cork layer on top is water resistant, but the submaterial, usually compressed board, is not. I have witnessed numerous occasions where cork flooring in a kitchen has buckled, swelled, sometimes dissolved into mush, and required costly replacement. Glue down cork, perhaps: click tiles? Poor advice. I am speaking from 40 years in the flooring/contracting trades, and have no incentive to misinform, not having a material interest in selling flooring. Do you?

I agree that click tiles (cork, bamboo, or wood) are a bad idea in "water rooms", like kitchen, bath, or laundry (I'm not sure they are great at the front door either) -- unless they are sealed after installation.

I put a beautiful Pergo floor in my kitchen, bath and entry 14 years ago, and they are all doing very well even today (at least according to the people who live there now). I was advised against that too. Precautions are important -- like not stepping out of the shower dripping wet -- but may not cover all eventualities.

A good caulk line around the perimeter of the room is a good precaution to take. And putting a good polyurethane top coat on after installing a floating cork floor will not only help the floor repel water, rather than absorb it, but will also protect the thin decorative cork surface from scratches.

I'm not misinforming. You may disagree with my opinion and suggestion, but that doesn't make the opinion an across-the-board bad one. :~) Not all flooring suggestions are good for all uses. Each use and owner requires different types of flooring.

And hey! That's what we are here for -- to suggestion different options.

Thanks for writing. I'd love to hear your thoughts on other articles too.

-- The Flooring Lady

How about cork if you have dogs -- and doggie accidents? Does it clean up, or will it absorb the smell? I need something practical but cheap for living with my chihuahuas.

Hi there!

I don't think that cork will work for your needs if you plan to buy the pre-finished
type. But if you use unfinished cork and put polyurethane down after installation (I highly recommend Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane) it should stand up against all kinds of wear and tear.

Is cork a good option on top of slabs. Do I need to do a moisture test and if I test a med to high moisture (which I think we will test), is there a barrier I can put down?

Hi C.,
Yes, there are moisture barriers you can put down on the concrete slab. You may want to read Sealing Basement Floors to give you a better idea of what can be used. And the entire section on Moisture Proofing should be read to give you other ideas too. You should also read up on different aspects of cork flooring -- use the search engine at the top right-hand corner of this page and type in "cork flooring" -- quotes included. There are pros and cons that you should be made aware of.

Are you planning on installing this yourself or are you hiring somebody to put it down?

I love the look of my cork floor, how comfortabel it is to stand on for hours, how easy it is to clean and keep clean. BUT we were told it was ideal for kitchens Not True! Almost from the day it was installed it has buckled and bulged in numerous locations and the degee of buldging depends on humidity in the house. If you don't mind the prominent seams from the constant swelling you too will love this floor.
We had 2 different styles installed and only experienceing severe problems with one style.
Wicander Metallic Sky. By the way manufacture does not stand behid its warranty so shopper beware if you purchase from Amorim

Thanks for the heads-up on this Susan. Wouldn't it be great if it were easy to get a manufacturer to stand behind it's own warranty???

We were considering installing Wicander Metallic Sky in our new home but after reading the previous comment, I am reconsidering. How does cork stand up to the humidity of a newly built home?

Hi Shannon,
The cork should do ok so long as it's taken out of the wrap (if it's wrapped) and you let it get acclimated for at least a couple weeks before you install it.

I like the appearance of our cork floor (kitchen) but am disappointed about the scratches. They show up in all traffic areas, even with felt pads on the legs of the chairs. Is there a way to prevent or cover up the scratches on cork?

Is it floating floor or glue down?
What helps to "hide" the scratches - if you put some water on it, does it make the scratches disappear, or at least diminish their appearance? If so, you might want to consider Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane as a protective layer. You need to get several coats of something down to protect the cork.

Place good mats at all doors to wipe dirt, gravel and grime from shoes. Gravel, sand, hard dirt particles will all add to the scratching. Keep up with using the felt pads on the chairs - you might want to even consider some of those protective pads or sliders that you tack into the feet of the chairs.

Hi:

My husband and I installed a Thompsonville black walnut engineered hard wood floor last year in our kitchen with tile accents. We purchased the floor at Home Depot. What a nightmare!!! I saw this floor in a magazine in a kitchen and thought it looked beautiful. The floor itself is durable and the installation came out beautiful. The problem is you can see every smudge mark and it doesn't stay clean for 30 minutes. I haved lived with this for 1 year because I couldn't bear to think of replacing it we did it ourselves. However, I love a clean house and can't take it anymore so I purchase black and white vinyl tiles and we are going to go over the floor and suggestions????
Thanks

Do you mean Thomasville? What are you using to clean your floors? It has aluminum oxide in the protective coating, which I personally don't care for. I went to the
Thomasville website, but there is not information and no information on what they recommend for keeping their floors looking their best.

Without knowing what you're cleaning your floors with and what they recommend, I can't be much help at this point.

I couple of helpful tips I can suggest: Using a vinegar/water (1:15 to 1:20 ratio) mixture to clean your floors. Using a microfiber mop, having a 2nd bucket of clean water to keep your mop clean while mopping, having a spare mop head. After your floor is dry or almost dry, you can use a dry microfiber mop to run over your floors, kind of buffing them, eliminating smudging & streaking if this is a problem.

Keep in mind, one of the biggest that homeowners make is using products to clean their floors that are known to cause problems. These products include mop 'n' glo, orange glo, among others. Customer complaints are very common and can be found easily by using a search engine.

Should you use the cork floatingtiles or the glue down for the kitchen?

Hi Gwen,
It doesn't matter - either choice is fine.

Dear Flooring Lady,

I have a question and a comment with a question. First how will cork work with radiant heating? And I am confused. Your original comments said that cork flooring was good for the kitchen, self healing and durable while the questions and experiences above seem to indicate that it is not durable and doesn't stand up to high traffic or wear well. Can you help clear up my confusion?

Hi Julia,
Cork is great, especially if you seal it. Sealing is going to help protect any type of flooring. Cork is on the soft side, and using a poly type finish is going to make the surface harder and less prone to damage.

I am planning to put cork in my kitchen. The color I have selected is Western Saddle. My kitchen is fairly large. I'm wondering if it will be too dark? Will it show scratches and dust? It's just my husband and myself.

Monique

Hi Monique,
As always, I recommend sealing cork with something like Diamond Coat Varathane Polyurethane. The reason for this is because it will protect your floor by literally making the surface harder.

Any flooring is going to show dust eventually - it depends on how often you clean. You shouldn't notice too much in the way of scratches hopefully since it's just you and your husband.

We put cork floating flooring in our kitchen and living room. It was prefinished and the installation instructions didn't say anything about sealing it. All I can say is that it was a big mistake! Between the moisture in the air in our humid climate, and our geriatric dog having accidents that we didn't notice until too late, it's been a disaster. The seams are swelling an buckling up and it looks awful. It's only been a couple of years, and will need to be replaced.

Hello Flooring Lady, I love your site. I desire to have a cork floor installed in my kitchen and one bedroom. I just had tile removed and their was layers of linoleum underneath. There are still chunks of linoleum left on the subfloor. I've heard of a this plywood that could be laid for a smoother surface. What is it called? Also I live in Atlanta, GA. I have called 5 installers that claim to install cork and none of them have ever installed cork tiles, the glue down type. They all say it is the same as gluing down vinyl or any other material. but i know from reading on your site that cork is a natural material that has different properties. Where can I find a professional that has laid glue down cork tiles? I really want someone that has experience in this specifically. Also I was going to use Lisbon cork, sunset, tiles. They are 1 sq ft and only 4mm thick. very very thin. One side is finished. Someone recommended that I go to Georgia Oak and they have tiles that are 2 feet by 3 feet, unfinished, but almost twice as thick. ONly it is usually used as an undelay for hardwoods. Would I be able to use this and finish it ? Thanks a million. I have been struggling with this for months. I must get my kitchen floor in to get a kitchen and finally move in my first place. thanks again.

Hello Semone, Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you found me.

If you put plywood down on top of the linoleum chunks you may get a wavy floor, but you'll also add thickness to your flooring results. If
that's ok, given doors, cabinets and appliances then go for it. I don't know what you are thinking of when you ask its name, though.

There are lots of good cork floor companies out there. Based on my experience I'd go with an unfinished product and seal it once it's in
place and the glue has dried and cured. If you like the look of a cork tile you can use it, even if it's made for something else -- as long as
you are putting a durable finish on it.

I agree that a thicker cork will be more durable than thinner.

I think if you find an installer you like who has glued tiles down you will have a good person to work with. I like the Bostik's Best Glue
because of its elastic qualities and durability, and because it's a low VOC product. You want the low VOC because it keeps your air quality better. Then use the water-based Varathane Diamond Coat Urethane formulated for floors to seal it; follow their directions for the best results.

Good luck! I hope you enjoy your cork floor.

I have heard that cork flooring leaves permanent dents from bar stools, chairs and such. Is this true? Or will the flooring "bounce back in time"?
Thanks
Heather

Heather,

Cork has memory and will bounce back depending on the manufacturer. I would consult a local professional to inquire as to the memory or hold the cork you are interested has.

hi - thanks for this site
i have just purchased rickory (color) 1ft x 3ft planks from ifloors for my new small apt. iplan to use it everywhere there is floor. thi floors come with polyurethane(?) on them already. have i made a mistake and/or should i put another sealer on the floor
thanks for your reply
ps the apt gets a lot of sun and heat from the radiators

Gia

Gia,

No. It is not a mistake. It should not hurt anything to add another coat of polyurethane to be sure the floor is well sealed and protected. I would check with the manufacturer on what the best products are for your flooring.