Cork Flooring
Between the holidays, my brother and I put down the cork floor in my bedroom. It’s a laminate flooring that just snaps together. No glue or nails. It’s so simple to install that I’m sure more people will try cork floors in the future.
We started at the back left corner of the room and laid the first course along the wall. Leave an expansion gap along the edge. Luckily, the last piece was approximately cut in half, so we used the rest of it to start the second row. The first piece of the second course snaps into the first. Then you’re making connections on two sides of each plank, but it’s not hard. Snap the side into the previous piece, lay it down, and tap it gently into the first row with a board and a hammer.
The joints are all very tight and are difficult to see. Quality of the product is high — only one piece had a defect (in one corner). Planks measure roughly 1′ x 3′ (they’re a metric size). Under the finished top is a thin board (MDF?) and a rougher layer of cork on the bottom for cushioning.
My cork flooring is made by Stepco in Portugal and I ordered it from FastFloors.com. It cost a little less than $4 per square foot.
The bathroom floor is also done, but I’ll save that tale for next time.
1 comment January 2nd, 2007
