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 blog site, you will certainly know about my really like affair with cork. It is one of my all-time favourite materials for so lots of factors and following I visited the cork harvest in Portugal back again in 2019, I turned an even even bigger lover of this pure, sustainable and versatile content.

Around the previous couple of years, we have witnessed architects, designers and decorators rediscovering and embracing cork as they have recognised its extraordinary qualities and the gains that it can give to their assignments. We have progressively viewed the development sector adopt cork as the substance of decision for residential and business tasks, particularly when it will come to insulation and wall and flooring coverings.

And this is what I’d like to discuss about nowadays. A cork ground is picked by many home owners nowadays due to the crystal clear benefits that it presents about solutions. And no have to have to get worried about it catapulting you ideal back again to the 1970s. Thanks to developments in technologies and a strong concentrate on style, these days cork is incorporated into refined ground coverings in a wide variety of textures and colors, perfect for present day-working day tastes.

Offered the shift in the direction of all-natural components, natural textures, biophilic layout and sustainability in interiors it is no marvel that cork is having a little bit of a second.

Bricoflor Mystic White Cork Ground

So let us just take a glimpse at some of the properties that make cork these a special content.

What are the Benefits of a Cork Flooring?

Thanks to the innate houses of cork, this intriguing purely natural material offers lots of gains that make it best for use in flooring.

Hypoallergenic

Cork is a person of the very best answers for people today who undergo from allergic reactions due to the fact it does not gather static energy and consequently does not appeal to or take up dust, pollen or small fibres. This, along with its resistance to humidity will make it a good decision for those at chance of allergic reactions or for bronchial asthma victims.

Warmth and Sound Insulation

Cork offers very clear rewards in conditions of acoustic insulation and can assistance to reduce sound thanks to the pure absorption capacity of cork. It also allows with thermal insulation, regulates space temperature, and prevents loss of warmth into the atmosphere. This can in flip cut down power consumption and consequence in monetary savings for house owners, which is a large plus specified the latest expense of energy.

Water resistant

Cork is a the natural way water-resistant creating materials and due to its composition, it does not soak up h2o. So is a cork floor water-resistant? Well, this relies upon on the style of flooring that you pick out. The glue-down cork ground tiles can be mounted in any home, but click on cork tiles or floating tiles, can’t be set up in moist rooms, as there is an HDF board in the plank composition, which is inclined to water destruction.

So if you’ve been asking on your own ‘is a cork ground fantastic for kitchens?’ or ‘is a cork flooring superior for bathrooms?’ the response is sure. As prolonged as edges are sealed, a water-resistant lacquer is utilized and the cork flooring has a drinking water-resistant main, then a cork flooring is properly ideal for bogs and kitchens.

Bricoflor’s Dash Cork Floor

Fire-retardant

Cork also performs nicely went it will come to fireplace as it is a natural fireplace retardant. It is even employed by the aerospace industry due to its distinctive qualities. When it undergoes combustion it burns with no a flame and does not emit toxic gasses.

Resistant to Mould, Mildew and Termites

Cork is normally resistant to mould, mildew and termites owing to a substance named suberin. The inner partitions of cork cells are lined with suberin, a fatty compound that is very impermeable to gases and h2o. This is what helps make cork inherently antimicrobial.

Comfortable and Heat Underfoot

Cork is a fantastic flooring content mainly because it is at ease to walk on and stand on for extended durations of time. Cork is usually nice to the touch due to weak thermal conduction.

Elastic and Compressible

Cork floors are shock absorbent and will retain their authentic condition when exposed to usual compression. This usually means that they conduct perfectly beneath significant furnishings. Cork can actually be compressed to all over 50 % its thickness and will get better its shape and volume after unveiled. Its elasticity indicates it is ready to adapt to variations in temperature and pressure with out remaining altered.

Eco-welcoming

Cork is a really fantastic materials due to the fact it is 100% pure, sustainable, renewable and recyclable. Cork oak trees have the exclusive means to take in C02 from the atmosphere. It is approximated that the cork oak forests can take up up to 14 million tons of CO2 per 12 months.

Cork is also categorised as an eco-efficient materials. This is for the reason that any squander made in the course of the manufacturing procedure can be reused as biomass to generate new goods.

It is a actually eco-friendly materials that does not damage the atmosphere.

Bricoflor Castello-Terracotta Cork Floor

So now we know the rewards of cork, let’s consider a appear at some other usually requested issues when it arrives to selecting regardless of whether or not to pick a cork ground.

How is Cork Flooring Produced?

Cork is harvested from the cork oak forest in Portgual. The cork oak tree has a daily life span of 250-350 several years and the cork can be harvested for the very first time the moment the tree reaches maturity at 25 years of age. The harvesting course of action is performed by hand alternatively than with machines so that the trees are not harmed. After the cork has been stripped it will mature back again and can be harvested each 9 years. A cork oak tree can be properly harvested up to 20 instances throughout its life cycle.

As soon as harvested, the cork planks will have to have to rest for up to 6 months exterior so that they can stabilize. Then the planks are chosen by high-quality and thickness and the proper types are chosen for flooring.

Is a Cork Floor Challenging Sporting?

Certainly, cork flooring is really hard sporting and is particularly resistant to abrasion. Its honeycomb construction tends to make it resistant to influence and friction so it is extra difficult-putting on than many other challenging surfaces. Nevertheless, it is nevertheless rather a tender material does call for specific steps to assure that it is stored in fantastic condition. Specifically if you pick uncooked cork tiles, you will need to make certain that they are varnished effectively in order to shield the grain construction from problems.

How to Clean up a Cork Ground?

A cork flooring is rather easy to maintain and hold clear. When hoovering a cork flooring you really should often use the hardwood ground setting on the vacuum cleaner, or even use a flooring duster. This is due to the fact cork flooring are really gentle and you might danger scratching the varnish.

Cork flooring can be washed just like laminate flooring with diluted cleaning detergent option and a damp mop. Make absolutely sure you wipe up any major spills swiftly, especial if the cork ground has an HDF board in its composition.

What Search Can I Accomplish with a Cork Flooring?

For several individuals, a cork flooring stirs up negative reminiscences from the 1970’s, but technological improvements suggest that cork flooring has come a long way considering the fact that then and can now be used to reach lots of unique seems and variations with numerous unique colours and finishes.

The organic colour of cork is a light-weight tan shade which quickly provides heat to a space. It can arrive in different brown shades relying on the tint and varnished utilized. But it is also offered in black variations as nicely as grey and whitewashed shades.

You can also insert different degrees of texture to your area relying on the size of the granules in the cork floor. Even larger granules include extra texture although smaller sized granules give a smoother finish.

If you prefer a more textured glance, then you should go for even larger granules. The smaller granule cork presents a easy texture. Peeled cork is yet another choice and this is manufactured by having strips of cork and positioning them future to every single other to make a streamlined appear.

The natural cork patterns are not that functional when when compared to the flexibility available in LVT or laminate flooring, as they are confined by the cork pattern. But the many gains that a cork flooring can provide considerably outweigh this slight aesthetic downside.

In which can I buy Cork Flooring?

Bricoflor supplies two distinctive brands of cork flooring and focuses principally on floating cork tiles with factory applied end, as these are most straightforward to put in and can be used quickly right after set up.

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If you have located this put up beneficial, really don’t forget to help you save it for later on by pinning the graphic beneath. And as usually, I would appreciate to read through your opinions about cork flooring. Do you have it mounted in your dwelling? If not, would you take into consideration it?