All you need to know about Cork Tile Flooring

Posted by Mason Perez on March 2nd, 2017

Most of us are familiar with  the cork that is used as a stopper for wine bottles. It is also for schools and offices as a board for posting notes or reminder. However, the most common function of cork is as flooring. Cork is the only flooring material that is renewable.

Cork floors are available in several shades and colors ranging from light to dark. It comes in natural shades that blend well with any color theme. Cork floor tiles are custom made and designed to suit any kind of interior space. Cork tile flooring contains patterns that resemble marble and wood grain, thus they provide a sense of depth and texture to any space. Each tile has its own swirls and specks, thus, each of these tiles is unique.

Advantages:

Cork floor is not just known for its aesthetics. There are several benefits that only cork flooring can provide. Read on to know some of them:

Insulating Feature: Cork is a good kind of insulating material. Thus, it can keep your space cool in the summers by absorbing heat and keep it warm in the winters by absorbing the warmth. Thus, this feature enables one to save on energy and thus saves money.

Absorbs Sound: Cork not just absorbs coldness or warmth, it also provides good sound insulation. The acoustics of your space can be improved by the installation of cork tiles as they absorb noise or sounds coming from the inside and also prevent noise from outside coming inside

Soft floor: When compared to other floor materials such as stone or wood, cork floor is softer. Thus, this added comfort makes it a good choice for home, especially in areas where a lot of time is spent walking or standing up.

Resistant to fire: Cork floors are resistant to fire. Thus, they are a recommended material for kitchen flooring. The soft texture also provides additional safety and prevents any items that drop from breaking. Cork flooring also provides more friction compared to the wood or stone flooring, thus it prevents accidents such as slides and slips.

Environmentally Friendly Option: The raw materials used for making cork floor tiles are environmentally friendly. The materials for this floor are derived from the bark of the cork wood tree. The bark of the tree is stripped away and used as a material for making cork floor tiles. As this process does not involve cutting of trees, it makes it an eco-friendly flooring option.

Low maintenance: The cost of maintaining cork flooring is low too. All one needs to do is simply sweep it with a broom occasionally and it would be enough to keep the dirt away.

Thus, looking at all these benefits that cork floor offers, it is clear that it is the best flooring option whether you wish to install cork flooring in basement, bathroom, kitchen or any other area in your space. It is an eco-friendly, durable and cheap carpeting solution for any home or office.

Technical Basics: The market has two main types of cork floor tiles nowadays. The first or the standard type is the glue-down type. An adhesive is required for securing this kind of tile in place. The standard size is 12x12 and it is 4mm thick. These tiles may also come in larger sizes and different shapes.

The second type are cork tile floorings that are available in planks. Cork floor planks consist of a cork base of 2mm with an MDF board in the middle and a 3mm top layer made of cork wood. These planks are usually sold with a polyurethane finish.

Installation:

The process of installation for both of these types of tile flooring are similar. A strong adhesive material must be used for both of these floorings to ensure that the cork planks or tiles you are using will stay in place. Avoid using flexible glues as due to variations in humidity the cork tile floors may expand or contract.