History

The general uses of cork date back thousands of years. It was used for roofing and sandals in ancient Rome and Greece, and as a fishing line floater in Ancient China. Its use in flooring goes back about a thousand years to Europe. More recently, cork had brief surges in popularity as a floor surface in the 1930’s and the 1970’s, and now it is coming back into favor. The reason appears to be the same thing boosting bamboo, environmental consciousness, specifically conservation.

Manufacture

You see, cork comes from the bark of the Cork Oak tree, Quercus suber, which grows around the coast of the Mediterranean. These cork trees generally live for between 150 and 200 years, and may not be harvested until they are 25 years old. A law called “The Nine Year Law,” passed in the 30’s, keeps them from being returned to for more provisions for that length of time. Some of the bark is stripped off the tree, with enough left to for it to sustain itself. The tree is otherwise left alone, and the removed bark grows back. That which is removed is left outside, where a natural reaction to the environment strengthens the cork. In addition to coming from such a replenishing source, cork flooring is made of the leftover materials from the production of bottle stops, so none of the harvested bark is ever wasted.
 

Durability

While cork flooring is quite a bit softer than hardwood flooring, it is actually much more durable in one particular way – denting. Cork is basically the original memory foam. You can dent it, but over time it returns to its original form, as if it was a really slow sponge. It is particularly unspongelike when it comes to spills. A waxy material called suberin, which is the primary substance of which cork is made, pretty much keeps water from penetrating into the flooring. You just need to wipe the spill up, as you would under any other circumstance. Cork is very moisture resistant, but not 100% impervious to moisture, so do get those spills up in a timely manor. Still, the moisture resistance suberin brings is at a level that makes cork work well in places other floors cannot withstand like kitchens and bathrooms.

If you expect water spillage to be frequent, such as near a bathtub, then it is recommended to caulk the perimeter of your floor before installing trims, moldings or base boards. You don’t want water to seep along that edge and lodge itself under the flooring. Mold or mildew could follow fast, not within the cork, which is naturally resistant to both, but under it, sandwiched between the boards and the floor.

For the same reason, cork’s applicability to a concrete basement floor can be a great choice, but only if done with certain precautions. You should check manufacturer’s instructions to see if they recommend such an installation, and then if they do, you must protect your flooring from moisture that would get to it from below, from your subfloor. If there is any risk of subfloor moisture, you must seal the subfloor off from your cork using a moisture barrier, a 6 mil polyethylene plastic. If your floor will float, the moisture barrier would go down, with the cork right on top of it. But even if you have glue down cork, there is still an option. Lay your moisture barrier over the concrete and make sure it is properly placed and sealed. Then lay a plywood subfloor over that, and you can glue your cork to the new plywood subfloor, both floors protected from moisture by the barrier.

Styles of cork flooring

Cork comes in solid and veneer. With solid cork, just like with solid hardwood, the cork itself gives the look. The color and the patterning all go from the top of the plank to the bottom. These may only be glued down, but they may be sanded and refinished repeatedly, so solid cork is often used in areas where a lot of wear is expected, but a lot of time (think decades) is desired from the floor. If solid cork is solid hardwood, then veneer cork is the engineered, or the laminate of the bunch. Veneer style cork flooring can be installed as a floating floor as well as via the glue down method. It flooring has a thin, decorative layer on the top, adding variety to the looks available.

Cork can come in natural looks, or can be a particular color, green and black being the most common. It comes in a variety of plank sizes; lengths, widths and thicknesses all variable.