how kid-friendly is cork flooring and valuable to resell?

17 years ago

I never seen any house w/ cork flooring, but it feels softer than hardwood and pricey, so I guess it is doing something good :-) I am going to put in hardwood floor the entire downstair. I was looking at bamboo, but there are too different view points, so I let it go. I wonder if cork flooring is kid-friendly? My son has eczema. And is it look contemporary? And how buyers rate it comparing to hardwood floor as they buy your house? I am living in Washington State, and never seen cork floor. Thx.

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17 years ago

The only issue with my cork floor and the kids is that it's slippery, which is perhaps a little too kid friendly - they like to slide across it. So far, the kids have been unable to injure the cork and the cork floor has been unable to injure the kids, so it's fine. As far as resale, most people have never heard of cork floors so I don't know if it would be good or not. However, everyone that comes to my house just loves the feel of the cork and end up asking me where to get some for themselve.

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sylvanarrow
17 years ago
Cork flooring is often recommended for playrooms because of its resiliency. Dents and scratches kind of bounce back (think dropped toys), and it's nice for kids because it's got a bit of natural padding (much more comfortable to kneel on and falls don't hurt as much as on hard floors). The downside is it doesn't last nearly as long as say laminate or hardwood. That might negatively affect its resale value. Here's some more basic cork flooring information.
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Ha! I'm up here saying "crap, all their installs on the site to visit and people to install it are downstate!". Call them, there might be someplace closer to you where you can see it in action. I don't think they have a store at the factory, but not really sure. You can always take the kids bowling...I think that place was in Brooklyn if I remember right. The instal should be like vinyl tiles and is supposed to be very DIY friendly. Globus has directions on the website. My GC is going to do this for me, he has done a lot of vinyl tiles so should be easy for him. No special tools needed. They even suggest instal labor costs comparable to vinyl tiles if someone is trying to price out a job and hasn't used the cork tiles before. They recommend calling if you have any questions and they can advise over the phone. I'm thinking I've read way to much about flooring lately, lol! I can't wait to get my life back after this is done! About 14 weeks to demo...
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A little late in the game, but i thought I would add my 2 cents. We have had Wicanders for 2 years in our basement, which is a family room/office/playroom. When I reasearched, I remember that the coating was actually some sort of ceramic layer (micro-thin) on top. It is fantastic. It is quiet, NOTHING gets through this stuff (and I would know with a 3 and 5 year old), it looks great, and it is comfortable to sit on (and it is on top of slab on grade!). That said, I would not do it in the kitchen. It can handle drips from doing dishes, spilling a drink, etc., but if you had a DW or otherwise major leak, it would get UNDER the floor, in which case it would get wet underneath (which is another layer of cork that is not "sealed". Thsi would be a pretty expensive redo if this happened. Cork changes color, somewhat like cherry wood, slowly over time due to light exposure. You would not likely be able to replace a few planks, but the whole floor to match the color. Also, our kids are ROUGH on stuff, and we do have a few small chips in our floor where they have nicked it while playing. Our color isn't the natural, but an almost creamy color, and it is somewhat noticeable. I don't really care because it is their play space, but I would care if it was my kitchen (but they proabably wouldn't be playing that hard on the floor in there anyway...). Another poster mentioned that it is easy to replace a plank, which I agree with. We did this ourselves on a damaged plank, and it was a piece of cake. We would make the same decision again with the Wicanders in our basement in a heartbeat! Just thought I would add my experience!
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I realize that. It's actually a bit more complicated. These flakes (def: A flat thin piece or layer; a chip.), not gouges (def: A groove or hole scooped with or as if with such a chisel.) actually showed up a year ago. Because of extended cancer treatment away from home, we are only now able to address them. So, although we bought the floor 5 years ago, the flakes appeared after 4 years. (and one year, no one was using the floor since we were away for treatment). "Wear through" was never defined to us (and is still not defined on the Cancork website) as "flaking." Again--a normal average person not trying to be deceptive by redefining words would never equate "wear through" with "flaking off." So we needed to refinish areas that are not high traffic after 4 years now? Because of water damage on another part of the floor due to a broken hose that had water on the floor for 10 minutes and buckled the flooring, we will be replacing the entire miserable thing. You just need to make sure that as you "counsel" these poor people on this site that you give them the entire story: Flaking = gouging= wear through to be expected Begin planning to refinish every 4 years even if your are extremely careful and the floor does not get a lot of wear The "super good" refinishing product is $180/gallon. You will need 3 coats the first time. Who knows how many the second? The warranty conflates the words "wear through" "flaking" and "gouging" so that Forba ensures nothing will be covered. Even with meticulous preparation and following of instructions the Loba might very well not adhere and will peel off requiring another $180/gallon reapplication, and Cancork and their former employees will blame the customer That's all. Just be honest.
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Yep. I do. The first thing you need to do is damp clean the floor. First things first - purchase TWO micro-fibre mop heads. (to be used later as your 'dry' mop and your 'damp' mop). You will NOT have enough time because it needed to start at around 8pm last night. Step #1. Sweep/vacuum up the floor. Step #2. Using an approved cleaning product (Anne in Wa. State LOVES the Vermont Natural Coatings Floor cleaner) you will DAMP MOP the floor (very lightly damp) You will USE THE DAMP MOPPING as your FIRST practice run. You will START where you THINK you will start the poly. Go ahead and damp mop/clean as you would apply your poly application. That is: Standing a full 'roller length' from your start line, you will mop from right to left (if you are left handed then mop left to right...doesn't matter just find a RHYTHM). You will end the row and move BACK to your STARTING SIDE (do not 'S' mop...this is a roller application = NO 'S' application). You will do this for the ENTIRE floor. You will FIGURE OUT how to split the floor in TWO (where the wall is) without running out of 'time'. Loba has a 5-10 minute 'wet edge' rule. You cannot leave an edge for more than 10 minutes and then HOPE to come back and start there again. It won't work. Right. So that is practice run #1. Good. Now you will RINSE the floor with the OTHER mop using CLEAN hot water (very lightly damp). You will wipe off any cleaning residue left behind from the first mop. You will rinse until the cleaning head/water STOPS getting dirty. Again start at your 'start' line and do the SAME ACTIONS again. This is Practice run #2, and possibly #3 out of the way. Towel dry the floor. Step #3: You will then use a HIGH GRIT sanding block (I like to use the drywall sanding poles = perfect = same actions as the mop). You will lightly sand (almost a buffing...you just want to give the existing finish a bit of tooth) the entire floor. AGAIN, you start at your STARTING POINT (as if this were the poly on a roller) and end at your end point (this way you know how NOT to paint yourself into a corner). You will then water-tack cloth the little bit of dust off of the floor. Use your water-only mop head and damp mop the surface - starting AGAIN at your STARTING POINT and moving towards your END POINT. See how this works? You are PRACTICING your application motion as many as 6 times before you even crack open your Loba. Step #4: Allow the floor to dry OVERNIGHT. Yep. It needs to be allowed a full 6-8 HOURS worth of drying time (I prefer 12 - 24 hours...but that's me). Step #5: Calculate and then MIX enough Loba 2K Supra AT to cover the floor in ONE coat. Mix the product in a secondary container. Never reuse mixed product after 2 hours. Do not add a lid to previously mixed product after 2 hours. It must be allowed to air dry to a hardened product in the container. Step #6: Recoat floor between 6 - 20 hours LATER. This works very well overnight. So long as your second coat is added INSIDE of 20 hours, you do NOT need to sand between coats. Needless to say, I would clean this floor and do the light sanding TONIGHT and then start your FIRST COAT tomorrow morning. Your second coat is then applied tomorrow afternoon. You can have light traffic (clean cotton socks...stepping on the floor long enough to grab a coffee cup and then jump off the floor) after 24 hours of the second coat being applied.
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User
17 years ago
There are several European cathedrals with 100+ year-old cork floors so I wouldn't worry about it not lasting long enough, particularly compared to laminate. It has to be installed correctly and then it will last nearly forever.
skivino
17 years ago
Ditto to what alice said. There are also many places in the US that have cork flooring for over a hundred years. There's a Church, I believe in the Chicago area (or somewhere in the Midwest), that has it since the mid 1800's, Lafayette College in Easton, PA has it in at least one of their original buildings, several of the US Federal Buildings have cork, just to name a few, there are many more though. Clearly it's durable, and lasts, or it would not be used in commercial places.

We have cork and 3 children. They do love to slide on it for sure, but it doesn't hurt them, nor do they hurt it. I think it would be perfect for a kids room/playroom.
newhomeower
17 years ago
Hi,
Great post! I have been so depressed the last couple of weeks/months about what to do with my basement floors! It is currently being used as my boys' playroom but they don't play much down there because of the smell! It is a buried basement and with carpet on the flooring, it traps a lot of moisture and hence, musty smell. I have been debating whether to install tile or just keep the carpet (which I loath.) I now have the perfect solution! CORK! Thank you so much. You have helped me find the perfect product for our playroom in the basement.Thanks! I promise to post pictures when it's done!
giesen5
16 years ago
How do you all feel about cork in the kitchen?
oruboris
16 years ago
Another thread back from the dead!

I've been doing a lot of research on cork, and am waiting for two more sampes to arrive, to compare with the ones I already have.

For kitchen use, Opinions are a bit mixed. While the experts seem to universally caution against it, there have been some posters in the kitchen forum that have it and like it. The Duro Design cork floor page doesn't mention kitchens, but says their floors are un-affected by humidity, making it perfect for spas. Wicanders offers a new type of finish on some products, supposed to make it non-slip and warranties for 5 years in commercial applications, 15 in redidential. Specifically mentions that it is installed in kitchens, doesn't necessarily mean its a good idea.

Since the cork itself is fairly water proof [much, MUCH more so than the hardwood so many people use] the material itself if pretty good. But the seams in the cork can allow moisture to penetrate to the core of an engineered floor, or the sub-floor on a glue down.

It won't wear as good as a well laid tile [but really, nothing does]. Maybe that's why the floor stores discourage it...
glennsfc
16 years ago
Natural cork tile adhered to a properly prepared substrate...(either stained and waxed or coated as is done to hardwood)...is a great choice for flooring.

A floating cork floor is almost a different product altogether, except for the cork design and wear surface.
naturemama
16 years ago
We used cork flooring in our kitchen and basement and love it. We have had it for over two years and the it still looks beautiful. The company we used is Natural Cork, naturalcork.com, based in Augusta, GA. They have a high quality product. I don't know about the quality of other companies. We had linoleum in the kitchen before we installed the cork and the cork made a huge difference in comfort while cooking. I used to have knee and back pain when cooking and with the cork I never have. We are moving this summer and although the kitchen has new tile, I am planning to replace it with cork.
Dimensions of Natural Cork floating floor from website:
Thickness - 1/2"
Width - 11 13/16"
Length - 35 13/16"
Top Wear Layer - 1/8" (3mm)
Edge - Square
Type - Engineered
Finish - 5 Coats UV-cured acrylic finish
Finish Sheen - Matte

how kid-friendly is cork flooring and valuable to resell?

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