Kitchen Flooring -- Anybody have Cork??

[sas_mk]

I think we have finally saved up the cash to replace our horrible linoleum in our kitchen, bathroom and laundry room.

We had always planned on doing tile, but last night my DH told me he had seen cork flooring and loved it.

Does anybody know anything about cork? Do you have it in your home? Is it really as durable as I have read about? Does it do well in bathrooms (just a 1/2 bath, no bathtub or shower).

My husband is pretty handy, once he finds the time to do the extra's around our house. He has installed some tile in our basement and also put in a laminate wood floor in one of our rooms. Do you think he would be able to install about 550 sq. ft. of cork in a kitchen, hallway, bathroom and laundry room?

I would love any firsthand experience. Thanks!

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

We have cork flooring in our reception area at work. The only thing I can tell you is we have been here about 8 years, and that floor still looks great! It gets walked on a lot. I don't know how it would hold up in a bathroom though.

 

[abmitch01]

is it sealed somehow? I always wondered if water and stains soak through

 

[trip]

I always wondered how you wash/clean a cork floor.

 

[aea71]

We've had cork since we moved into our new home 4 years ago in our kitchen and dining areas. We love it! It's softer on the feet than tile or wood would be and it seems to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the year (as opposed to tile which is cold in the winter!). Ours is sealed and we clean with a damp mop.

 

[Charleneluvsdisney]

We use a mop on it - and in the winter, it does get wet from snow tracking in. I am not sure how the cleaning people officially clean it, but the mop does its job, and it is not water stained in anyway.

I am not sure if it is sealed with anything. It has a dull finish, not shiny.

 

[sas_mk]

Thank you for the replies. I must admit -- I am very tempted by the cork. I really like the way it looks.

I guess I need to price it out now!

 

[KristinU]

Yep, we do - we installed ours about 6 months ago and so far so good! We bought ours from Lumber Liquidators. If you've ever installed a Pergo-type floor then you can certainly do it...if not, you can certainly do it...it really is pretty easy. If your floors are nice and level then it is a snap - it is the sags and dips in the floors that are a little challenge, but not insurmountable.

Per the instructions we applied 3 coats of polyurathane over the top and so far have just damp mopped. It is nice and soft underfoot and doesn't get as cold. We're happy with it!

 

[StephMK]

For those with kids or dogs, do the cork floors hold up well? I've read that they are a soft floor and scratch easily - is that true? I like the look & would prefer a softer floor than our old tile when we replace. I guess I wonder if they are any softer than an oak floor that can scratch & gouge as well.

 

[KristinU]

We have a 65 lb. lab and a 6 year old son, and we're not a "shoes off" careful household and so far so good for us. Granted our dog is almost 14 and arthritic, so she does more shuffling than jumping these days. She actually didn't like it at first because the poly made it kind of slippery for her. Actually, now that I think about it, it is kind of slippery in socks and DS likes me to slide him around in some swing-dance and breakdance sort of moves! Not slippery like I fall all over, just smooth and slippery if we're wearing socks and want to slide around, LOL!

Ours is a dark coffee color and the only dents that we have are from us doing our kitchen install (we gutted it and did the floor first when the room was a big empty square). If you're cutting boards and a corner whacks the floor from about 3 feet up it will leave a mark. But dropping regular household kitchen stuff on it hasn't hurt it.