Cork Floors

As a harvested resource, cork floors are by far the most environmentally sound of all wood flooring options. Cork floors only require harvested bark from a cork oak tree, and it’s not at all unusual for a 200 year old tree to still be producing cork bark. The harvesting process causes no damage to the tree which simply grows new bark to replace the harvested material.

The cellular structure of cork is the characteristic most responsible for many of the benefit of cork floors. Cork consists of millions of tiny cells (comparable to air pockets) per cubic centimetre. Because the membranes of the cells retain gas cork has the capacity to float, insulate and quickly re-expand after compression.

In practical terms, this means that cork floors

• are extremely soft to walk on,
• have excellent insulating properties and
• are highly resistant to moisture.

Cork is also completely natural, recyclable and biodegradable, a claim that can’t be matched by any other natural or man-made material. Because of a cork floor’s extreme resilience, impermeability, lightness and insulating properties it’s ideal for many flooring applications including wet areas and high traffic areas.

Are you suffering from allergies?
Cork is also hypoallergenic and mildew, dust and pollen resistant, does not emit toxins or shed fibre so it’s a very good option for anyone who suffers from asthma or allergies.

A further interesting property of cork floors is that they’re also anti-static, making them ideal for areas housing computers and electrical equipment.

Kitchens and other wet areas
It can be difficult to find an easily-maintainable, attractive and affordable flooring option for kitchens and other wet areas in the home. Because cork is a non-slip surface and highly moisture resistant, cork floors are a viable option for those areas of the home customarily limited to tiles or vinyl.

Reducing heating and cooling costs
Because cork has excellent insulating products corks floors in effect help to pay for themselves by reducing heating and cooling costs. Warm to walk on even without underfloor heating, its low thermal conductivity helps to insulate against heat and cold and make cork floors and ideal option to cover cold, hard cement subflooring.