Cork flooring: Eco-friendly Versatile and Attractive
Cork flooring is becoming a very popular choice for many people these days because of it’s many unique properties.For instance, from a low-impact ecologically friendly alternative from traditional hardwood floors, cork flooring stands alone.
Harvesting the raw material required to manufacture hardwood flooring involves the destruction of many ancient trees. As we all know, the Brazilian rainforest is shrinking every year and the harvesting of exotic hardwoods is one of the reasons.
Aside from the obvious environmental damage, it is not sustainable. The demand for hardwood is on the rise whereas the number of usable trees is declining. At some point, we will run out of hardwood trees.
Cork flooring is entirely another matter.In order to harvest cork, the outer layer of bark is peeled off the tree. it takes about 10 years for the bark to grow back and then more cork can be harvested.
So What is This Amazing Tree We Get Cork Flooring From?
The Cork Oak,also known as Quercus Suber is an evergreen oak tree with a very thick bark. Cork contains Suberin which is a slightly rubbery substance which prevents moisture from penetrating.
That’s why cork makes such wonderful bottle stoppers for wine and the equally durable cork flooring. It’s virtually waterproof and it can still bounce back to it’s original shape after being compressed up to 40%, due to the Cork Oak’s unique honeycomb cell structure.This makes for a very firm yet flexible flooring material that absorbs some of the impact of your foot steps creating a gentler walking surface.
Just as cork flooring repels water it also absorbs sound. Most wood floors are inadequate in the role of sound reduction but that is not the case with cork wood floors.
Cork flooring comes in planks or tiles. Your choice would be dependent on whether you prefer a floating floor or glued on version of cork floor. The nice think about cork flooring is that it comes in styles that will match any decor and it can be refinished many times allowing it to last for years.
The not-so-nice thing about cork flooring is the price. If cork is your choice be prepared to shell out thousands to deck out your home. That being said – let’s recap the benefits of cork wood flooring:
- Spend a lot of time on your feet in the kitchen? Cork flooring is way more foot-friendly than linoleum, concrete or tile.
- Easy to keep clean and eliminate nasty allergens that normally hide in your carpeting.
- Cork flooring deadens sound. Great for noisy teenage bedrooms!
- High levels of suberin keep mildew at bay and make cork flooring invulnerable to rot caused by moisture.
- It’s sustainable,renewable,easy on the environment and no trees are harmed by the harvest.
Over all,a cork floor is versatile,durable,hygenic and pleasing to the eye. It’s no wonder, that cork flooring is appearing in more and more homes around the world.