My kitchen is still very much a work in progress - maybe 60% done? - but I am rather ecstatically pleased with my cork floors. I had a vision in my head of the creamy cabinets and checkerboard cork, but my DH and GC were skeptical. They're now convinced, because we really liked how it went in, and how it looks. And Henry the Cat likes them too.

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Of course now the floor is covered with rosin paper and cardboard to protect it, but I did take some photos of the floor as we were installing them. Yes, I did it myself, but my GC wanted to learn a new technique, so in a fun role reversal, he assisted me. We had a great time. So I thought I'd share the process in case anyone was interested. And I should mention that I also posted a version of this tutorial on my local bulletin board, so some of you GWers may have seen this already.

This first pic shows the subfloor before underlayment. I think it's 3/4 inch t&g. It got screwed down with some unholy amount of screws. Also featured in the pic is Henry the Cat, who would rather be outside than modeling for home improvement photos.

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I didn't install the 3/4 tongue and groove (the GC did, and a lot of other prep work to boot) nor did I install the next layer, which was underlayment. That was a 1/4 inch plywood, and that got screwed down (no adhesive) with virtually no gaps between, but with expansion space at the edges of the room. Again, it was an ungodly number of screws.

The cork manufacturer recommended that all seams, divots, holes, etc be filled and skimmed over with a layer of portland-based patching compound. The goal was a smooth finish, no holes or bumps to "translate" through the finished floor. My GC applied this patching compound, and thankfully took care of sanding the floor smooth. Here's a photo of the floor showing the patching compound and the next step, the blue glue.

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In the picture below, my GC (hereinafter John) and I had started the layout of the floor.

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I knew I wanted the checkerboard pattern to have as a focal point the door at the far end of the room (giving a long view down the length of the kitchen) and the sink cabinet, which is centered on a window that is out of view on the right hand side of the picture above. So John and I struck chalklines to define the center of the room, and then did the pythagorean triangle test (3-4-5 foot triangle) to ensure our angles were 90 degrees, then snapped a chalkline for the perpendicular layout line.

We then measured the distance to the center of the doorway from the lengthwise centerline, and struck a new chalkline extending from the center of the doorway to the middle of the room to the to give us a perfectly centered row of diamonds in the doorway. We then did the same thing to get a perpendicular row centered on the sink. We did a little adjustment of the layout to make sure we ended with a full tile at each focal point, then used a pencil to mark the edges of the first tiles, to make sure exactly where the first tiles would go. The cork tiles butt up against each other, so there are no groutlines to calculate for, but that also means there are no groutlines to hide any inconsistencies in spacing or layout.

This layout process actually took longer than most of the installation (ok, slight exaggeration). But we reaped great benefits, because our chalklines gave us a reference point for installation (the points of the first diamonds landed on the chalklines) and then the rest of the doors and walkways in the room seemed to magically end up with centered full tiles running into them, which was a happy and luck side benefit to our layout.

Next step was sweeping, vacuuming and mopping the underlayment to get rid of dust, crumbs, or other bits that could get into the glue. Then the waterbased glue was applied with a roller and extension pole. The glue had a thin consistency of paint, and looked opaque when first applied, then dried to a translucent blue in thirty minutes. We then began by laying our first tiles. The tiles came from the manufacturer with one layer of glue already applied, so the placement of the tiles on the floor was like contact cement -- the two layers of glue mated and stuck. The manufacturer said that once the tiles are pressed down, they're down for good, but we found after a while that a tile could be pulled up if done quickly, and before we rolled over the tile with a laminate roller (j-roller).

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The photo above shows the blue glue -- which isn't very gooey -- and the way the tile layout started from the center and worked out. The goal is to keep the tiles butted up against each other with very tight joints -- the cork is compressible, so you can work with the flexibility of the cork to squeeze them together as you're installing them. Here's a close up of a tight joint-- the seam is like a paper's width.

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I found that setting a point of the tile into a corner first, and making sure the edges of the tiles mated perfectly was worth the effort. Also, I found that the tiles were sometimes very slightly longer in one dimension than another, so if the tile didn't fit exactly, it might if I turned the tile 90 degrees and re-set it. And if things weren't lining up, I pulled up the tile and any adjoining tiles that were throwing it out of whack. I think as long as I didn't press, step or sit on a tile, it didn't fully adhere, and I had some ability to play with the tile for a short time. But once time passed, or if the tile was pressed in, it was stuck for good, and any effort to remove the tile after that would result in the tile getting ripped, the glue being removed with the tile, or both. Once I was satisfied with the tile placement, I rolled over it with a laminate roller, and then it was stuck for good.

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Most significantly, it's vital to work from the center of the room outward. You don't want to work in from the edges of the room. Leave the edges for last, and note where your permanent fixtures are going --like cabinets. That way, if things start to get haywire, you can tile into the corners and edges of the room, and hide under the cabinets the places where the tiles are ending up out of square, or where there's gaps between tiles. I worked with a partner for the second day of install, and found that if two people end up accidentally working in toward the center, there will be a point where the tiles won't fit, or there will be a gap. Here's a bad seam (it's hidden under a cabinet)

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I pulled up those tiles where there was a gap and re-laid them from the center outward, ending up with an eighth-inch gap that's hidden under the cabinets.

I also cut small slivers of cork tile to fit in that gap, glued them in with carpenter's glue, and made sure the whole repair got extra poly to keep it in. Not that anyone will ever know, because it's under a cabinet that's not going anywhere.

The cork cuts pretty easily and evenly with a razor knife (utility knife) and a metal straightedge. Much simpler than ceramic tile!

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Here's what the cork looked like when we were finished with the installation, but before additional sealer was applied. The tiles come with one coat of sealer on them (and one coat of glue on the back). The room looked so big once we were done, and before cabinets and boxes came back in.

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The sealer is a two-part, catalyzed, low-VOC, water-based poly. The sealer gets mixed up, then applied with an applicator pad supplied by the cork people. The first coat of sealer goes on in one direction (say, lengthwise in the room) and then the next coat gets applied with perpendicular strokes. That's apparently so you don't create streaks or humps in one direction. Also, you don't want to press the applicator into the floor when you apply the sealer, or it makes bubbles that can show up in the finish. Use long, soft, easy strokes to apply the sealer. The sealer dries fast, and can be recoated in three hours (two? I forget), and can be walked on after 24, though they were pretty much dried overnight. I checked. After two coats of sealer, you're supposed to hand sand the floor and remove the dust, then apply the remaining 2 coats. I figured the first 2 coats would go in on the whole floor, and the last 2 coats would go on after the cabinets had been installed, just in case there was any damage to the floor during the remaining kitchen installation work. That way the floor could be repaired, and the repair would get covered by the final 2 coats. This seemed to work well, as the floor now has a delicate semi-gloss (nothing really shiny), which contrasts with the very matte look above. The company claimed that the sealer was enough for 4 coats, but the cork sucked up the first coat and so we only had enough for 2, so that's another good reason to stop after 2 coats and regroup.

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Just to clarify, the first coat of sealer goes on in one direction, then you let it dry, then you put the next coat on in a perpendicular direction.

Here's a better pic of those cabs, with the new sink installed too. John did a SPECTACULAR job with the sink cutout. And those white-painted cabinets are really unforgiving -- seams and gaps are really apparent, much more so than with stained-wood cabinets, but that sink install and the fillers around it -- they're pretty damn flawless. I couldn't be more pleased.

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Finally, a last progress pic of the lowered cabinet with the walnut butcherblock top. It was a total bargain from a nice couple on ebay, made exactly to my specs, and with breadboard (keyed) edges.

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I forgot to mention that the cork was from durodesign, and cost $6.50 a square foot (tiles, glue, and sealer, plus some extra stain for scratches, and an applicator or two for the sealer, included in the price). I hope this helps anyone who's thinking about the cork, it really was a pretty easy install -- once the floor was leveled properly.