Cork flooring’s natural insect repellency, insulative qualities, and soft underfoot feel make it a great option throughout the home. It’s also an eco-friendly choice. However, it isn’t as durable as other flooring materials and can be damaged easily.
Here are the pros and cons of cork flooring to help you decide whether it is a good choice for your home.
What Is Cork Flooring?
Cork is a natural and easily replenishable material that comes from the bark of the cork oak tree (Quercus suber). To create flooring products, cork is ground up, compressed, and formed into sheets bonded with resins.
Pros of Cork Flooring
Here are several reasons to choose cork flooring over traditional flooring materials like hardwood and tile:
- Comfort: Cork’s softness makes it popular for rooms where people stand for long periods, such as kitchens. The soft surface can also provide a cushion when someone accidentally trips and falls, making it an excellent choice for children’s rooms and the homes of older residents prone to falling or injury.
- Eco-friendly: Cork comes from the cork oak tree, and the harvesting process is renewable. The tree’s outer layer is removed without harming it and can only be harvested again after it has grown back. At its end stage, cork is biodegradable and recyclable.
- Natural insect repellency: Cork contains a substance that naturally repels insects. This same substance also makes cork floors resistant to insect growth and colonization.
- Insulative qualities: Cork’s natural insulative qualities for sound and temperature can save you money on utilities while creating a more comfortable atmosphere in your home.
- DIY friendly: Cork is a popular DIY flooring option, as it’s easy to install and maintain, with click-and-lock floating planks or glue-down tiles.
- Mold and mildew resistant: Because cork naturally repels germs and is hypoallergenic, mold and mildew will not take hold.
Cons of Cork Flooring
Cork flooring has some downsides that might make it a poor choice for specific environments. Here are some of the notable cons of cork flooring:
- Poor durability: Cork’s durability is lackluster compared to other popular flooring options. If you have pets, this can be a problem, as it can easily scratch from cat and dog nails. Additionally, cork is prone to getting divots from heavy furniture.
- Requires sealing: Reseal cork flooring periodically to protect it from water and other damage. It typically needs to be resealed every 5 to 7 years.
- Fading tendency: If direct sunlight hits a cork floor daily, discoloration may occur, and a patch of the floor may take on a different hue than surrounding areas.
Cork Flooring Costs
The cost of cork flooring planks or tiles can range from $3 to $9 per square foot, depending on the material’s thickness, the cork’s quality, and the finish’s quality.
Professional installation is relatively economical, adding about $2 to $4 per square foot for a floating floor. A glue-down floor installation will cost approximately twice as much, similar to the cost of a bamboo floor, and still slightly less than most hardwood flooring.
Cork Flooring Rating and Certifications
Cork flooring with high ratings and certifications originating in the Mediterranean is the highest quality and the most expensive. For example, cork flooring from Asia uses a different wood species (Quercus variabilis) and is not as durable.
Flooring with the GreenGuard Gold and Global GreenTag markings is certified to have low to no environmental ramifications, such as off-gassing volatile organic compounds or made with harmful ingredients like formaldehyde.
Ratings from 21 to 33 or AC1 to AC5 (lower numbers signify less wear resistance) indicate how durable or how much use the flooring can handle. The higher the value, the heavier the advisable use. Flooring with a higher wear rating will usually cost more.
Cork Flooring Maintenance
When installed correctly, cork flooring is relatively low-maintenance. It requires only regular sweeping or vacuuming to remove small grit and dirt particles and damp mopping occasionally. However, wipe up spills immediately to prevent staining.
The most difficult part of maintaining cork flooring is occasionally resealing it. The initial finishing process involves sealing the cork to create an invisible barrier over its surface, which offers some protection against water stains and damage. However, sealers are imperfect; cork flooring can warp and discolor if a room floods. High humidity can also cause the cork to curl or plump, which may cause tiles to pop out or planks to buckle.
Cork Flooring Repair
One of the best things about a cork floor is that periodic refinishing, similar to hardwood, gives it a fresh new look. Cork flooring is repaired during the refinishing process.
Refinishing involves sanding the solid cork tiles or planks down past the point of any imperfections and then staining and or reapplying the finish sealer to the surface. You can refinish this type of flooring several times, depending on the thickness of the material. However, refinishing is impossible on engineered cork flooring, as the surface cork layer is too thin.
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Cork Flooring Designs
Traditional cork flooring has a warm, natural look that works best in spaces with informal, casual decor. Some people think its distinctive cork-board look is limiting as a style; however, newer manufacturing techniques have created cork floors that can resemble hardwood, marble, and concrete.
Today’s cork flooring can be used almost anywhere, provided it is sealed well. As with vinyl tiles, a skilled installer can create nearly limitless looks using different colors to create custom designs.
Cork Flooring Installation
Installing cork flooring is a relatively easy DIY project. It is available in several different forms, with two popular options being traditional glue-down cork flooring and laminated plank cork flooring, which is assembled with locking edges, similar to laminate or luxury vinyl plank flooring.
An easy floating floor installation is generally installed over a thin foam underlayment pad. If the cork flooring is not prefinished, it must be coated with several layers of sealer once installed.
Cork Flooring vs. Bamboo Flooring
Cork flooring is often chosen because it’s a renewable resource. Looking for a similarly renewable option? Consider bamboo flooring. Bamboo is made from the fibers of the bamboo grass plant, which continues to grow after the stalks are cut.
While bamboo flooring has a different look than cork, both materials are recognizably distinct from hardwood flooring, giving your floor a unique appeal. Bamboo’s main advantage over cork is that it is a much more rigid material, giving it better resistance to scratches and dents. However, bamboo will not have the soft, resilient feel underfoot offered by cork, nor does it have the sound and thermal insulation properties that cork does.
Top Brands of Cork Flooring
Cork flooring can be purchased economically at most major big-box home improvement stores, but for the best selection, check out the offerings at specialty flooring stores. Here are some of the major suppliers of cork flooring:
- Globus Cork Flooring: This company ships products from its New York factory. It currently offers cork tiles in over 38 colors and 34 different sizes.
- WE Cork: WE Cork sells tiles and planks in various sizes, styles, shades, and floating and glue-down options.
- iCork Floor: iCork Floor is a factory-direct distributor of cork products. It sells directly to consumers through its website, with economical pricing on floating and glue-down tiles and planks.
- APC Cork: This is a leading supplier of cork flooring across North America. It offers several lines of floating and glue-down tiles and planks in 87 styles. APC Cork is available through a network of specialty flooring stores.
Is Cork Flooring Right for You?
Cork is a good choice if you’re looking for a warm, attractive flooring material with a comfortable, informal appearance. However, it’s not the right choice if you insist on a perfectly pristine floor, as cork is a somewhat soft material that develops a patina of wear over time. It may be for you if you’re looking for a flooring material that’s more budget-friendly and easier to install than hardwood flooring.
Cork Flooring Alternatives
If you’re unsure if cork is the right choice for your next project, here are some affordable and durable flooring alternatives.
- Bamboo is a renewable, durable, and economical flooring material. It is a form of grass used as an alternative to hardwood.
- Linoleum is renewable, biodegradable, affordable flooring made of cork dust, wood flour, linseed oil, and pine resin. This durable flooring comes in rolls, tiles, or planks in many designs and colors and feels soft underfoot.
- Laminate is composite wood flooring that looks like hardwood. It’s inexpensive, scratch-resistant, and easy to install.
- Vinyl is a water-resistant flooring made from PVC resin. It is available in rolls or tiles. Vinyl is affordable and easy to install but not environmentally friendly.
- Tile flooring is durable, water-resistant, and low maintenance. It offers many design options and is usually best for bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. Ceramic and porcelain tiles are affordable, but tile floors can be difficult to install for DIYers, so hiring a professional can drive up costs.
FAQ
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Cork flooring is water resistant but not waterproof, so the flooring can warp and discolor if a room is flooded. Wipe up liquid spills quickly; allowing liquid to sit on cork flooring too long can stain the tiles and damage the sublayers. Cork flooring is treated with a sealant that protects cork from everyday stains, but when deeper cleaning is needed, use a damp—not wet—mop or towel.
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While cork is generally low maintenance—it can be easily cleaned using a mild, pH-neutral floor cleaner, and sealant should be reapplied only every five years—that easygoing nature doesn’t mean it looks perfect. Cork will show its age over time, and it is a soft material that dimples under pressure.
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Impeccably maintained cork floors can last decades—some 30, 40, or more years—but cork manufacturers’ warranties range from 10 to 25 years.
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You should install a vapor barrier if you install cork flooring over concrete. Plastic sheeting is sufficient as an effective vapor barrier. A vapor barrier is unnecessary when installing cork flooring over plywood or areas unaffected by moisture.
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