Javachick, face nailing is just nailing down the floor like you'd build a house: In from the top, vs. nailing the tongue in a tongue-n-groove flooring. I would nail them on the joists, all along the board. That way they wouldn't cup, twist or warp. Let's see: Thickness: Some are 3/4, most are 5/8ths. My existing is 3/4. I have cork underlayment that goes with the cork flooring I could use underneath. I have been thinking about this, too. I dislike transition strips, so I will do something to keep it flush and sensible. Interestingly enough, my POC Ex made the kitchen out of a garage area. He ran the joists perpendicular to the existing, so I won't have to match end to end. With them running differently, it wouldn't look like a mistake was made. Just different flooring. Cabinets: Mine are not currently attached under a countertop a friend built. Again, POC ex made them 3/4" too high, so I can slip flooring right under them. Or in my case, pull the cabs out, lay the floor and slide them right in. Someday I wan't soapstone counters, which is why I am really not concerned with securing all this. DW: Again, I can pull that baby out, lay the floor and put it back. Pulling it out will also give me an opportunity to put the fridge side panels in, which are behind the freezer in the mud room. Hmmm.... I should really save for a new fridge. Mine is from CL in 2008, at which point it was 10 years old. DW & stove, too. Hmmm. Once I build in my credenze across from it, I'll have to take that down to change the fridge. Good questions. I'm off on tangents. Oh - I almost got Sassafrass flooring thru the whole house. The vendor with DirectBuy changed and the new one wasn't carrying it -- yet. I absolutely loved the grain. It was gorgeous. I was also thinking of a matt sealer, then wax. But hard wax, not the silicone spray on kind. It's a bit more durable. Plus, I live alone. No high traffic anywhere. Another weird blessing! :) Thanks for the thoughts. You bring up things I've not thought of.

@Glenm, and @Olivertwistkitchen , thanks for sharing your experience here. Though this post is old, I came across it as we're considering redoing the floors in our new construction home on the upper level where the bedrooms are by switching out the builder-provided carpet to cork - for its soft foot feel, relative moisture resistance, and sound insulation. I wonder if you all ever got to the bottom of the denting issue with iCork products? Did the manufacturer help? We are seriously considering iCork but due to the lack of commentary on cork in general online, finding it difficult to decide. thanks in advance!

I'm the OP. We just returned from visiting a couple more flooring stores (we've now visited four flooring stores in total). One place today was absolutely excellent as far as having a long-time salesperson/owner who really knows her products and their uses in various applications. In a situation like ours she highly recommends using luxury vinyl sheet with a glue down installation. It will adapt to minor dips in the floor, it is all vinyl so could withstand possible water incursion, it won't have potential dirt in the edges like tiles would if there is a water event in the basement, it is durable (she showed us some great examples of what can be done to it without harming it), and it is reasonably priced (not cheap but not as pricey as many other options we've seen). I liked what I saw in the Mannington line wood-replicas because it is not cheesy looking, and it has an aluminum oxide coating to prevent damage to the floor. This floor would cost about 50% of what a marmoleum floor would cost us. Hope this helps anyone else who is facing the same dilemma we are facing about flooring.

Now that I'm on a key board and not a tablet, let me explain what is needed to keep cork flooring going for 25 years. I will work with the 'traditional cork polyurethane finish' that I used to sell (I'm no longer in the flooring business...but still keep my fingers in the pie because flooring is a fascinating business). The traditional polyurethane (not polyacrylic or acrylic or PVC finish...yes...that's vinyl) finish is the one that requires refreshing of the finish ... a couple of times. And it is the finish that ACCEPTS more finish as it ages...the others mentioned above DO NOT (booooo! hissssss!). Icork Floor's cork have this type of finish so I'll use the WHITEST floor they have = White Bamboo 1/2" cork floating flooring White Floor - White Bamboo - 12mm Floating Flooring (icorkfloor.com) Ok...you've purchased this CRISP WHITE cork floor. It has been delivered to your home. It is sitting in your living room (or den) acclimating for 1 week or so. Excellent. You pay a WOOD flooring professional to install it (not a laminate guy...they won't know how to do the finish) for $2.50 - $3.50/sf. It is a snick more expensive than laminate because cork requires SLOW and EASY install. It requires a 'deft touch'. You cannot slam a cork floor together....the edges will puff up and look like 'lippage' = 100% installer error = 100% p!ssed off customer! Excellent! Floor is in and looks DAZZLINGLY WHITE. You will have noticed the white is ONLY SKIN DEEP! That skin is delicate. Which is why I SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND (ahem...demand is the correct term but customers get 'uppity' when I use it in a conversation) the TWO COATS of the super-tough Loba 2K Supra AT finish to be applied AFTER the floor has been installed. These are the prices for WINTER shipping. Costs of product/shipping DROP for summer time: Water Based Polyurethane for cork flooring and cork tiles. (icorkfloor.com) Anyho. Your WOOD PROFESSIONAL will go ahead and clean the floor (vacuum and lightly damp tack cloth...water only). Then the pro will let the floor dry. Then a LIGHT buffing (high grit sanding pole = SUPER FAST = SUPER CHEAP!) and then vacuum/tack cloth again. Floor dries again (probably the next day). Now the pro mixes the two part polyurethane and applies it over the cork floor. They can use a low-nap roller or a T-bar. Whichever the pro feels comfortable using with the size of floor infront of them. Single rooms do VERY well with a roller. The first coat of finish is allowed to dry x6 hours and then the SECOND AND FINAL coat is applied. Pro leaves....you pay him/her for their services. They WILL charge $1/sf for the two coats of finish....be OK with that! The floor is allowed to cure for 5 days. After that you do what you want with it. Do not install rugs for the first 6 months....cork LOVES to fade so let it do it!. First 'damp' cleaning = 14 - 25 days after the last coat of finish is applied. You will follow 'hardwood floor cleaning' guidelines for polyurethane finishes. Loba has a great cleaner. Feel free to purchase it. Now you have a very tough floor ready for your life on it. 'Dimples' are what other people call 'dents'. A dimple is like your face dimple. It can go away!!!! Yep. If you have a heavy chair sitting on the cork it will cause a small indent = NOT PERMANENT. It will take time for it to 'pop' back. If that's not something you like, then go ahead and 'warm' out the dimple. You soak a cloth in 'hot tap water' = as hot as you can hold in your hand...if it causes burns on YOUR skin then do NOT apply it to cork...common sense rules here. Apply the hot wet cloth to the dimple. Let it sit until it goes cold. Inspect the dimple. If some of it still exists simply repeat. Cork does not crush. It CONDENSES and then SPRINGS BACK. That's the 'dents' taken care of. Now onto scrapes that have BREACHED the white coating (ie. showing raw/gold cork underneath). That takes a HUGE amount of effort to do this. Like dragging a refrigerator across your floor. Number #1...don't do that. Number #2...use glides under heavy pieces. If it HAPPENS that you scrape back finish to expose the raw cork...find the 'scraped' bit and see if it fits back into the spot (like a chunk is missing...go find the chunk and fit it back in). If it does then GREAT! To 'patch' cork you need the CORK bit that fell out (or was VIOLENTLY RIPPED OUT...to be more accurate) and some 'Elmer's Wood Glue' ($2.97 at Home Depot). Simply glue that bit back in. I like to use a bit of wax paper to sit over top and a 'shoe' to hold the chunk in place for 24 hours. A brick works. A book works...whatever you have on hand to hold the glued bit in place for 24 hours. I don't care. Use your imagination. If you scrape past the colour (again...someone has to be figure skating on your cork to get this to happen...shame on them!) then you simply take a bit of 'white latex paint" and paint over the the missing colour. If you have a stained cork (like it is dark brown) then use a stain pen ($5 at Home Depot) that most closely resembles the colour of your cork. Permanent markers work as well. If you have some left over poly (it is only good for 1 year in the can) then drop a bit on there...if you don't then don't worry about it. You will get it next time. After about 7 years, you will feel you want your cork to 'perk up' a bit. Great. Add ONE MORE coat of polyurethane and you should be 'done' with protecting it. With three coats of Loba 2K Supra AT on there and you should NOT have to do it again. I'm serious. You will have coated that floor in SOOOO MUCH ceramic nano-beads you would need a chisel to do any more damage. That's it. That's cork.