We moved into a place that had it in the kitchen (for about 10 years as far as I could tell). As part of a larger remodel, we took it out (and went with wood to unify the spaces throughout the house), but it had shown some considerable wear (and we found it not very easy to clean). It wasn't cold though, and felt pretty good underfoot.

We've had our cork floors in the kitchen for about 8yrs now and still love them. Also have an outside door off the kitchen and wears just fine. We do have some wear, but don't even mind that as it looks time worn and fits with our older home. We refinished them ourselves about 3 years ago and they looked like new. Like I say, we are noticing a bit of wear now, but I really only see it when I wash the floor by hand. Ours is paler colour so what we see is the darker colour of the cork wearing thru in places, but like I say, I don't mind the look.

I love my cork - it is my most favorite thing in our new kitchen. It is so comfortable to stand on and it always looks great. We have had it almost two years and I have seen no wear and have absolutely no complaints.

AFAIK, cork comes in two different forms. One is in wide planks of pre-finished flooring that have the underlayment (Did I just made that word up?), cork, and then protective top layer. This is the kind I have, by Wicander's. Eventually (after many years) this will wear out when the protective layer wears away.

The other way cork floors are installed is that after a foundation is laid down, squares or sheets of cork are installed and then some sort of poly finish is applied on top. All of this is done on-site. This kind of cork floor should last longer than your lifetime because the top can be refinished. There are many historic buildings - including the Library of Congress - that have cork floors like this that are over 100 years old.

Cork floors finished on-site are more expensive than the pre-finished ones because there is so much more labor involved. When I was shopping for flooring the cost was about twice as much. But there are also a lot more design options with this method, as sheets of cork are very easy to cut and fit different colored pieces together. I have seen some amazing custom cork floors with colorful, swirling, and intricate designs.

One other great thing about cork is how wonderfully it takes color. You can literally get cork in every color of the rainbow.

If I ever move to another house you can bet I will be installing cork there, too.

Nicole

We had a cork kitchen floor for 18 years and loved it! During our recent remodel, an interior designer talked me out of cork again because she didn't think the sample colors were right for our kitchen.

We put in the past cork floor when there were 2 color choices: light and dark. Our light cork floor never looked worn, although there were scratches from pets, kids, etc which could only be seen on close examination. We never got care instructions and didn't put any kind of finish coat on it. We learned that when washing it was important on our floor to not use much water because there was slight warping on the seams. You probably don't have this problem with the more modern cork floors.

Some friends just put a glue down, square tile cork floor on a concrete surface and they are having some seam warping problems. We didn't have a glue down floor which made life much easier when we pulled the floor up.

I definitely get another cork floor and wouldn't have gotten rid of the old one if we hadn't changed the kitchen layout.

We put in cork from Durodesign in two different colors in our kitchen. There are french doors to a deck and the yard and it is a much used doorway. There are no wear problems, yet. It is a glue down floor. We're DIYers and floors fall under my column in the his & hers things to do list. It was a very easy install - much easier than the marble and ceramic I put in other areas of the house. The polymerized top coat was easy to apply with a wool applicator.

I was thinking of perhaps putting cork in the laundry roomÂ

We are looking at putting cork in our kitchen and mudroom with our remodel. We have original top-nailed hardwoods stained dark throughout the rest of the house. I want to do something different since I know we won't be able to match the originals floors but something that will compliment the wood. I found that in my research some of the cork tiles are stained dark and others "toasted" which makes the color go all the way through the tile. The brand I like so far is Expanko that does a dark tile with the color throughout (so you can refinish the floor). There are also different options for finishing...either a canuba wax or urathene finish. I've been told the wax is more maintenance but you can buff out an area and re-wax just a small area. The urathene is a tougher finish but to fix an area you have to screen the entire floor (refinish) and apply a new coat. I'm leaning towards the wax, but have not decided for sure. Also, the plank flooring is a thinner veneer over wood so they can't be refinished as many times. Hope this helps some!

yes. i was hoping to install cork in our laundry room too. i posted a question about that a while back and the responses were negative since many advised cork and water don't mix. i have to wonder then, if people are happy with it in their kitchens, then why not use it in the laundry?

i'm still planning on using cork in the playroom.

Wow - thanks everyone. Lots of great suggestions and things to look for. I loved the dark color I saw today but I think it would show more dirt and yellow dog hair! The lighter ones have some pretty mottled colors that probably wouldn't show the dirt at all. I think I'll bring home some samples. I like the idea that some have the color all the way through - I'm sure they'll need some care at some point. Priscilla

I did a Durodesign glue-down cork floor with an alternating diamond pattern. I love the cork, it hides dirt like crazy and wears like anything, and feels firm but cushy underfoot.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Very pretty bunnie. Can I ask what colors you used?

That looks great - I'll have to consider that. Did you put in the glue down yourselves? I think I'm going to have to end up with glue down because my floors are not level enough for the snap together. What brand did you use? Thanks Priscilla

I briefly considered cork when we were redoing our kitchen, but our KD told us that it is very sensitive to water, and therefore rather hard to keep clean. The "not being able to get it wet" thing kinda scared me, so I passed. But I think cork floors are beautiful!

I am going to put it in our kitchen--it is currently stacked in our living room waiting for its turn during the kitchen remodel. I fell in love with the Natural Cork New Dimensions Narrow Plank in Corte. The price was very high for this product, so I kept looking. Finally found a company that had a great price online. I wanted to give my local retailers the option of getting it for that price, only one did, however they weren't able to get it right away. The online company was able to pull some strings at the factory and have it to me in 2 weeks. If you want the name of who I used I will be happy to pass it along to you.

I just can't wait to see it on the floor! It is also sealed on the top and sides 3 times at the factory. I know this is usually a concern, but no need to topcoat it since the edges are already protected.

Good Luck.

Beekeeperswife - I'd love the information. Maybe they have it around here at a local retailer. And, I'm not in that much of a hurry. I can check it out on line too. I'm in Amherst MA.
Priscilla

I used Qualityflooring4less dot com. I was very nervous because I think that they have several businesses that use the same number--they never say the name of the company when I called, just "hello". But all worked out great, I used Paypal. They charged me $6.05 sq foot + $89 shippng to freight terminal. My tapping block was on the bill of lading, but was not with the shipment. The freight company wanted me to file a claim with them, but I call Quality Flooring 4 Less told them the problem and they refunded my money. I just called the manufacturer myself and they shipped it directly to me.

Also, if you want to have it shipped to a freight terminal be careful. I told them what terminal I wanted (it's just over the state line from us) and they thought that was my home address, so they shipped it via a common carrier that serviced that area. Their terminal was about an hour further away! Live and learn. They will deliver it to your home for an extra fee.

beekeeperswife - thanks. I'll check it out. Seems like a good price.

evilbunnie - Your floor is beautiful. I would've done alternating colors like that if I'd had a larger space.

The issue with cork in a wet area like a laundry room - you DON'T want to use click flooring in that environment. Water will get between the seams and ruin your floor. That is true of any type of floating floor, it's just that unprotected cork is less impervious to water damage.

If you use a glue-down floor and it is top-coated correctly, you'll have no more water worries than if you installed a lino or vinyl. The poly creates a film that stops any water from seeping in. The only worry I would have in a laundry room is if you had an overflow, water could seep around to the edges of the wall and get in via the "side" of a tile (if that makes sense). So in that case, I would probably use silicone caulk around the baseboards to stop water from traveling to the unfinished tile edge.

HTH. Here's my floor (LOVE IT!)

Duro-Design Edipo

Close-up

Smilingjudy - that looks beautiful. Thanks for the additional information.

Evilbunnie,

I love your floor but I absolutely love your sink. Will you let me know who manufactures it and what it is called. I am looking for a similar sink which I saw in a Kraftmaid Design book. But... just try to find out what they accessorize the kitchen cabinet pictures with and you come up with "don't know".

We have had a cork floor in the kitchen since our renovation was finished in Nov. 2005, and it is one of our favorite things in the kitchen. It is quiet, soft to walk on, and easy to clean with a damp mop or Swiffer type cleaner. I use a little Method spray or Bona wood floor cleaner. Our color and pattern is the same as Smilingjudy's "Edipo". I think water/wetness issues are very similar to those for wood floors or laminate floors. The floor got a few good scratches near the refrigerator when the new one was put in two years ago, but they are only visible if you know to look for them.

Just want to put in another plug for cork floors. I love mine. It's the stick down tiles (needed bc of uneven floors that could not be easily leveled) from Globus Cork. My original idea was to use a herringbone pattern of brown cork, but I couldn't afford it. So I used the squares everywhere and, in the breakfast area, I put a border of other color cork and, within the border, I placed the squares diagonal (?) to the other tiles. (Hope that makes sense). Here's a close-up of the border and center tiles.

Another application that I really like in my kitchen. I had the cork put on the toe kick of the cabinets. It gives the illusion that the floor goes completely underneath the cabinets.

We have cork flooring in the kitchen, living room and dining room. We have extensive "peaking" throughout, and are very unhappy. Anybody else have this issue with their cork floor?
Steve