Cork flooring’s pure insect repellency, insulative qualities, and comfortable underfoot really feel make it an awesome choice all through the house. It is also an eco-friendly alternative. Nevertheless, it is not as sturdy as different flooring supplies and might be broken simply.
Listed below are the professionals and cons of cork flooring that will help you determine whether or not it’s a good selection to your residence.
What Is Cork Flooring?
Cork is a pure and simply replenishable materials that comes from the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber). To create flooring merchandise, cork is floor up, compressed, and fashioned into sheets bonded with resins.
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Professionals of Cork Flooring
Listed below are a number of causes to decide on cork flooring over conventional flooring supplies like hardwood and tile:
- Consolation: Cork’s softness makes it well-liked for rooms the place individuals stand for lengthy intervals, reminiscent of kitchens. The comfortable floor can even present a cushion when somebody by accident journeys and falls, making it a superb alternative for kids’s rooms and the properties of older residents liable to falling or harm.
- Eco-friendly: Cork comes from the cork oak tree, and the harvesting course of is renewable. The tree’s outer layer is eliminated with out harming it and may solely be harvested once more after it has grown again. At its finish stage, cork is biodegradable and recyclable.
- Pure insect repellency: Cork incorporates a substance that naturally repels bugs. This identical substance additionally makes cork flooring proof against insect development and colonization.
- Insulative qualities: Cork’s pure insulative qualities for sound and temperature can prevent cash on utilities whereas making a extra snug environment in your house.
- DIY pleasant: Cork is a well-liked DIY flooring choice, as it is simple to put in and keep, with click-and-lock floating planks or glue-down tiles.
- Mildew and mildew resistant: As a result of cork naturally repels germs and is hypoallergenic, mildew and mildew is not going to take maintain.
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Cons of Cork Flooring
Cork flooring has some downsides which may make it a poor alternative for particular environments. Listed below are a number of the notable cons of cork flooring:
- Poor sturdiness: Cork’s sturdiness is lackluster in comparison with different well-liked flooring choices. If in case you have pets, this is usually a drawback, as it could actually simply scratch from cat and canine nails. Moreover, cork is liable to getting divots from heavy furnishings.
- Requires sealing: Reseal cork flooring periodically to guard it from water and different injury. It usually must be resealed each 5 to 7 years.
- Fading tendency: If direct daylight hits a cork ground every day, discoloration could happen, and a patch of the ground could tackle a distinct hue than surrounding areas.
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Cork Flooring Prices
The price of cork flooring planks or tiles can vary from $3 to $9 per sq. foot, relying on the fabric’s thickness, the cork’s high quality, and the end’s high quality.
Skilled set up is comparatively economical, including about $2 to $4 per sq. foot for a floating ground. A glue-down ground set up will value roughly twice as a lot, just like the price of a bamboo ground, and nonetheless barely lower than most hardwood flooring.
Cork Flooring Score and Certifications
Cork flooring with excessive scores and certifications originating within the Mediterranean is the very best high quality and the most costly. For instance, cork flooring from Asia makes use of a distinct wooden species (Quercus variabilis) and isn’t as sturdy.
Flooring with the GreenGuard Gold and World GreenTag markings is licensed to have low to no environmental ramifications, reminiscent of off-gassing unstable natural compounds or made with dangerous components like formaldehyde.
Rankings from 21 to 33 or AC1 to AC5 (decrease numbers signify much less put on resistance) point out how sturdy or how a lot use the flooring can deal with. The upper the worth, the heavier the advisable use. Flooring with a better put on score will normally value extra.
Cork Flooring Upkeep
When put in appropriately, cork flooring is comparatively low-maintenance. It requires solely common sweeping or vacuuming to take away small grit and filth particles and damp mopping often. Nevertheless, wipe up spills instantly to forestall staining.
Probably the most troublesome a part of sustaining cork flooring is often resealing it. The preliminary ending course of entails sealing the cork to create an invisible barrier over its floor, which presents some safety in opposition to water stains and injury. Nevertheless, sealers are imperfect; cork flooring can warp and discolor if a room floods. Excessive humidity can even trigger the cork to twist or plump, which can trigger tiles to come out or planks to buckle.
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Cork Flooring Restore
The most effective issues a few cork ground is that periodic refinishing, just like hardwood, provides it a contemporary new look. Cork flooring is repaired throughout the refinishing course of.
Refinishing entails sanding the stable cork tiles or planks down previous the purpose of any imperfections after which staining and or reapplying the end sealer to the floor. You may refinish such a flooring a number of instances, relying on the thickness of the fabric. Nevertheless, refinishing is inconceivable on engineered cork flooring, because the floor cork layer is simply too skinny.
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Cork Flooring Designs
Conventional cork flooring has a heat, pure look that works greatest in areas with casual, informal decor. Some individuals suppose its distinctive cork-board look is limiting as a method; nonetheless, newer manufacturing methods have created cork flooring that may resemble hardwood, marble, and concrete.
At the moment’s cork flooring can be utilized nearly wherever, offered it’s sealed properly. As with vinyl tiles, a talented installer can create practically limitless seems to be utilizing completely different colours to create customized designs.
Cork Flooring Set up
Putting in cork flooring is a comparatively straightforward DIY undertaking. It’s out there in a number of completely different varieties, with two well-liked choices being conventional glue-down cork flooring and laminated plank cork flooring, which is assembled with locking edges, just like laminate or luxurious vinyl plank flooring.
A simple floating ground set up is mostly put in over a skinny foam underlayment pad. If the cork flooring shouldn’t be prefinished, it should be coated with a number of layers of sealer as soon as put in.
Cork Flooring vs. Bamboo Flooring
Cork flooring is usually chosen as a result of it is a renewable useful resource. Searching for a equally renewable choice? Think about bamboo flooring. Bamboo is constituted of the fibers of the bamboo grass plant, which continues to develop after the stalks are reduce.
Whereas bamboo flooring has a distinct look than cork, each supplies are recognizably distinct from hardwood flooring, giving your ground a singular enchantment. Bamboo’s primary benefit over cork is that it’s a way more inflexible materials, giving it higher resistance to scratches and dents. Nevertheless, bamboo is not going to have the comfortable, resilient really feel underfoot supplied by cork, nor does it have the sound and thermal insulation properties that cork does.
Prime Manufacturers of Cork Flooring
Cork flooring might be bought economically at most main big-box residence enchancment shops, however for one of the best choice, take a look at the choices at specialty flooring shops. Listed below are a number of the main suppliers of cork flooring:
- Globus Cork Flooring: This firm ships merchandise from its New York manufacturing facility. It presently presents cork tiles in over 38 colours and 34 completely different sizes.
- WE Cork: WE Cork sells tiles and planks in varied sizes, types, shades, and floating and glue-down choices.
- iCork Flooring: iCork Flooring is a factory-direct distributor of cork merchandise. It sells on to customers by its web site, with economical pricing on floating and glue-down tiles and planks.
- APC Cork: It is a main provider of cork flooring throughout North America. It presents a number of strains of floating and glue-down tiles and planks in 87 types. APC Cork is obtainable by a community of specialty flooring shops.
Is Cork Flooring Proper for You?
Cork is an efficient alternative if you happen to’re in search of a heat, engaging flooring materials with a snug, casual look. Nevertheless, it isn’t the proper alternative if you happen to insist on a wonderfully pristine ground, as cork is a considerably comfortable materials that develops a patina of damage over time. It could be for you if you happen to’re in search of a flooring materials that is extra budget-friendly and simpler to put in than hardwood flooring.
Cork Flooring Options
If you happen to’re uncertain if cork is the proper alternative to your subsequent undertaking, listed here are some reasonably priced and sturdy flooring options.
- Bamboo is a renewable, sturdy, and economical flooring materials. It’s a type of grass used as an alternative choice to hardwood.
- Linoleum is renewable, biodegradable, reasonably priced flooring made from cork mud, wooden flour, linseed oil, and pine resin. This sturdy flooring is available in rolls, tiles, or planks in lots of designs and colours and feels comfortable underfoot.
- Laminate is composite wooden flooring that appears like hardwood. It is cheap, scratch-resistant, and simple to put in.
- Vinyl is a water resistant flooring constituted of PVC resin. It’s out there in rolls or tiles. Vinyl is reasonably priced and simple to put in however not environmentally pleasant.
- Tile flooring is sturdy, water resistant, and low upkeep. It presents many design choices and is normally greatest for loos, kitchens, and laundry rooms. Ceramic and porcelain tiles are reasonably priced, however tile flooring might be troublesome to put in for DIYers, so hiring an expert can drive up prices.
FAQ
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Cork flooring is water-proof however not waterproof, so the flooring can warp and discolor if a room is flooded. Wipe up liquid spills shortly; permitting liquid to sit down on cork flooring too lengthy can stain the tiles and injury the sublayers. Cork flooring is handled with a sealant that protects cork from on a regular basis stains, however when deeper cleansing is required, use a moist—not moist—mop or towel.
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Whereas cork is mostly low upkeep—it may be simply cleaned utilizing a gentle, pH-neutral ground cleaner, and sealant ought to be reapplied solely each 5 years—that easygoing nature doesn’t suggest it seems to be good. Cork will present its age over time, and it’s a comfortable materials that dimples beneath stress.
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Impeccably maintained cork flooring can final a long time—some 30, 40, or extra years—however cork producers’ warranties vary from 10 to 25 years.
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It’s best to set up a vapor barrier if you happen to set up cork flooring over concrete. Plastic sheeting is enough as an efficient vapor barrier. A vapor barrier is pointless when putting in cork flooring over plywood or areas unaffected by moisture.