Is a Cork Floor the Best Option for Your Home?

Bricoflor Eis White Cork Flooring

For any of you who are longtime viewers of my website, you will certainly know about my really like affair with cork. It is just one of my all-time favorite elements for so many explanations and right after I frequented the cork harvest in Portugal again in 2019, I became an even even larger supporter of this normal, sustainable and flexible materials.

More than the previous handful of many years, we have noticed architects, designers and decorators rediscovering and embracing cork as they have recognised its exceptional traits and the gains that it can supply to their assignments. We have progressively seen the building sector adopt cork as the content of preference for household and business assignments, notably when it arrives to insulation and wall and floor coverings.

And this is what I’d like to talk about these days. A cork flooring is chosen by lots of house owners nowadays thanks to the very clear strengths that it features over alternate options. And no will need to fret about it catapulting you ideal back again to the 1970s. Thanks to innovations in know-how and a robust aim on style, nowadays cork is integrated into advanced ground coverings in a wide variety of textures and colours, great for modern-working day tastes.

Offered the move toward pure resources, natural textures, biophilic design and sustainability in interiors it’s no speculate that cork is getting a little bit of a instant.

Bricoflor Mystic White Cork Ground

So let us consider a seem at some of the homes that make cork this kind of a special material.

What are the Rewards of a Cork Ground?

Thanks to the innate attributes of cork, this fascinating all-natural content features quite a few advantages that make it ideal for use in flooring.

Hypoallergenic

Cork is 1 of the most effective options for people who experience from allergy symptoms for the reason that it does not assemble static energy and for that reason does not attract or take up dust, pollen or little fibres. This, together with its resistance to humidity helps make it a fantastic option for all those at danger of allergies or for bronchial asthma victims.

Warmth and Sound Insulation

Cork delivers clear benefits in terms of acoustic insulation and can aid to reduce sound owing to the pure absorption capacity of cork. It also aids with thermal insulation, regulates room temperature, and stops reduction of warmth into the ecosystem. This can in convert minimize vitality consumption and consequence in financial discounts for property owners, which is a significant as well as presented the present expense of electrical power.

Waterproof

Cork is a naturally water-resistant creating substance and because of to its composition, it does not absorb h2o. So is a cork ground watertight? Very well, this is dependent on the kind of flooring that you choose. The glue-down cork flooring tiles can be put in in any place, but click cork tiles or floating tiles, are unable to be set up in wet rooms, as there is an HDF board in the plank composition, which is prone to h2o harm.

So if you’ve been asking your self ‘is a cork ground superior for kitchens?’ or ‘is a cork flooring excellent for bathrooms?’ the response is yes. As extended as edges are sealed, a h2o-resistant lacquer is used and the cork flooring has a h2o-resistant core, then a cork floor is correctly suitable for loos and kitchens.

Bricoflor’s Sprint Cork Floor

Hearth-retardant

Cork also performs effectively went it will come to fireplace as it is a pure hearth retardant. It is even used by the aerospace industry due to its special attributes. When it undergoes combustion it burns with out a flame and does not emit poisonous gasses.

Resistant to Mould, Mildew and Termites

Cork is the natural way resistant to mould, mildew and termites because of to a compound known as suberin. The inner partitions of cork cells are lined with suberin, a fatty compound that is really impermeable to gases and drinking water. This is what will make cork inherently antimicrobial.

Smooth and Heat Underfoot

Cork is a excellent flooring content mainly because it is comfy to wander on and stand on for long durations of time. Cork is always pleasurable to the touch owing to weak thermal conduction.

Elastic and Compressible

Cork floors are shock absorbent and will retain their first form when exposed to ordinary compression. This suggests that they execute nicely under large furnishings. Cork can basically be compressed to all-around fifty percent its thickness and will recuperate its form and quantity once released. Its elasticity indicates it is in a position to adapt to variations in temperature and pressure without having being altered.

Eco-helpful

Cork is a genuinely fantastic content since it is 100% purely natural, sustainable, renewable and recyclable. Cork oak trees have the unique potential to take in C02 from the atmosphere. It is believed that the cork oak forests can take in up to 14 million tons of CO2 per calendar year.

Cork is also classified as an eco-efficient substance. This is simply because any squander created all through the production method can be reused as biomass to produce new solutions.

It is a genuinely green substance that does not hurt the ecosystem.

Bricoflor Castello-Terracotta Cork Ground

So now we know the rewards of cork, let us get a appear at some other routinely questioned concerns when it comes to deciding irrespective of whether or not to pick out a cork flooring.

How is Cork Flooring Manufactured?

Cork is harvested from the cork oak forest in Portgual. The cork oak tree has a daily life span of 250-350 yrs and the cork can be harvested for the first time the moment the tree reaches maturity at 25 a long time of age. The harvesting approach is completed by hand somewhat than with equipment so that the trees are not harmed. At the time the cork has been stripped it will grow back again and can be harvested every single nine a long time. A cork oak tree can be properly harvested up to 20 moments in the course of its everyday living cycle.

Once harvested, the cork planks will need to relaxation for up to 6 months exterior so that they can stabilize. Then the planks are picked by high-quality and thickness and the proper ones are picked out for flooring.

Is a Cork Ground Tough Donning?

Indeed, cork flooring is tricky carrying and is exceptionally resistant to abrasion. Its honeycomb structure tends to make it resistant to effects and friction so it is much more tough-wearing than quite a few other tough surfaces. Having said that, it is even now really a smooth materials does need sure measures to ensure that it is stored in fantastic affliction. Specially if you pick raw cork tiles, you will need to have to guarantee that they are varnished accurately in purchase to secure the grain construction from injury.

How to Clean up a Cork Flooring?

A cork flooring is very simple to manage and continue to keep thoroughly clean. When hoovering a cork flooring you should often use the hardwood ground location on the vacuum cleaner, or even use a floor duster. This is mainly because cork flooring are quite comfortable and you might possibility scratching the varnish.

Cork floors can be washed just like laminate flooring with diluted cleansing detergent alternative and a damp mop. Make guaranteed you wipe up any big spills promptly, especial if the cork floor has an HDF board in its composition.

What Look Can I Reach with a Cork Flooring?

For many people, a cork flooring stirs up terrible recollections from the 1970’s, but technological developments suggest that cork flooring has arrive a lengthy way since then and can now be made use of to obtain many different appears and styles with numerous unique colors and finishes.

The all-natural colour of cork is a light tan shade which immediately provides warmth to a place. It can arrive in several brown shades depending on the tint and varnished applied. But it is also accessible in black versions as well as grey and whitewashed shades.

You can also increase different levels of texture to your area relying on the measurement of the granules in the cork ground. Even larger granules add much more texture whilst smaller granules give a smoother finish.

If you choose a much more textured look, then you must go for even larger granules. The smaller granule cork offers a clean texture. Peeled cork is yet another alternative and this is manufactured by getting strips of cork and placing them following to each other to generate a streamlined glance.

The natural cork types are not that multipurpose when in comparison to the versatility available in LVT or laminate flooring, as they are constrained by the cork pattern. But the many rewards that a cork flooring can give much outweigh this minor aesthetic drawback.

Where by can I get Cork Flooring?

Bricoflor provides two distinct models of cork flooring and focuses generally on floating cork tiles with manufacturing facility utilized finish, as these are best to set up and can be utilised instantly right after set up.

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If you have observed this publish useful, never fail to remember to save it for later by pinning the graphic down below. And as often, I would like to study your feedback about cork flooring. Do you have it installed in your household? If not, would you consider it?