Put a Cork in It - I Mean Your Floor, of Course!

Photo credits: Gord Whenham, flooring installer.

I helped some clients recently with a problem they thought would be impossible to solve.

They were tired of their outdated ceramic tile floors but didn't want the mess and cost of having the tiles removed. They also didn't want to raise the floor height too much, and most of the floors they looked at would have been too thick.

They wanted an eco-friendly, sustainable product that was warm and comfortable, low maintenance and high quality. They wanted a floor that could be used in the entry, kitchen, laundry and bath without risk of water damage.

It turned out that glue-down cork was the perfect solution for my clients. Unlike the floating, click-together cork planks that you see in most flooring retail stores, the Solida Cork tiles we chose could be glued to a properly levelled ceramic tile floor. They were then further sealed with 3 coats of a flexible water-based urethane specifically manufactured for cork floors.

We were able to do herringbone patterned inserts and borders in a contrasting colour. This is because with glue-down cork tiles there is a huge selection of tile sizes, formats, colours and patterns to play with, allowing you to do a truly unique custom design!

If you'd like to find out more about the sustainability of cork, and view some beautiful design possibilities, here's a great video featuring Candice Olson from Divine Design, talking about the merits of cork flooring:

To find out more about cork flooring, click here: http://www.eraco.com/cork_about_cork.asp

and here: http://solidacork.com/