You have already lived with (and loved) a cork floor. You are the perfect client for a cork flooring professional. Simply get your samples ready to go. Have them on hand when you pick your hardwoods and go ahead and order your cork floating flooring for your bedrooms.

The cost for the cork floating flooring will range from $3/sf right up to $15/sf depending on the manufacturer. Many of the cork floors on the market have a delivery delay of 10 - 18 WEEKS! Yes. I've seen 18 weeks for a back-order colour/pattern to arrive from Europe.

Many flooring companies do NOT carry stock. They do everything 'made to order'. And that's where the delays come in. Companies like iCork Floor LLC have stock ready to be sold from their warehouse. Delivery can be 10 days...depending on where in the USA you live.

Do you have your cork flooring samples? If not, go ahead and order them ASAP. When placing your order you will need to know the DELAY. If you work with a flooring store (that does not specialize in cork) then you could be looking at product being shipped from Europe. And right now Spain and Portugal are on their summer break (the factories are not air conditioned = too hot for people to work safely in a manufacturing facility). The summer break ALWAYS means huge delays for companies that use the 'made to order' type of delivery system.

You are a cork flooring owner. There is no surprise waiting for you. You already know it and accept it. Cork is a PREMIUM product. It is NOT a down-grade. It carries more value than carpet, laminate or vinyl.

Remember to work with 3mm or 6mm cork underlay if the floating cork floor is THINNER than the hardwood you are ordering. That keeps the transitions through door ways nice and simple. And it adds acoustic insulation for spaces you want to keep quiet....like bedrooms.

Thanks so much for all that input. Alas, I did not know about the long wait time, so not sure if we can wait that long, drats! When I had it installed 20 years ago, it was only 20 sq feet, easy peasy. I've been watching Green Building Supply, which carries a variety of brands. I'll inquire ASAP. Thanks again.

p.s. Here's what I've been looking at--especially those intriguing $3.99 sale options--feel free to offer input!: https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Flooring-Cork

For a Wicanders product that is a good price. It is an 11mm wide plank (12" x 36") with a microbevel edge. That is a BIG plank for a bevelled edge! It is an awkward look. A bevelled edge product is more acceptable when presented in the 5" - 7" wide plank.

For Wicanders this is a lower grade product than their entry level product. The finish is UV Acrylic. Which means it CANNOT have the finish 'refreshed' (that's when you put down a single coat of finish when you feel the floor needs it). Acrylic is the lowest level of finish in the cork industry. Wicanders is trying HARD to cash in on the 'entry level' cork flooring products. To me that says the PREMIUM PRICED Wicanders is having a difficult time.

Wicanders are known for the EXPENSIVE products. And they are MAGNIFICENT FLOORS. Don't get me wrong. The $15/sf Wicanders floors are STUNNING and TOUGH AS NAILS.

The acrylic finish is NOT what I would have expected from Wicanders.

Here's iCork Floor's version: https://www.icorkfloor.com/store/floating-cork-floor-12mm-forna/

The difference is the THICKNESS of the cork plank (Wicanders has a total of 11mm of floor with a total of 5mm of cork) and the POLYURETHANE finish. The iCork Floor product is a premium 12mm (1/2") plank with a total of 6mm of cork. The polyurethane is a snick tougher than the acrylic and it can be refinished. In fact it is DESIGNED to be refreshed.

And NO BEVEL. The planks are the same size but NO BEVEL. The 'flat floor' is HIGHLY attractive to home buyers who have never had cork. And the pattern (Silver Birch = iCork's version) is the MOST accepted cork pattern on the market. It has the widest range of 'happy converts' to cork floors.

With a thousand square feet of flooring (you will need roughly 10% waste because the planks are wide) you will easily make up the cost of shipping with the iCork project.

My experience is iCork Floor has 10,000sf of this pattern on hand at any given moment in time. I recommend grabbing some samples from both companies and compare. Greenbuilding is located in Iowa and iCork Floor is located in WA state.

Thanks again! Appreciate the direction. I'd forgotten about iCork Floor.

The cork tiles I had in my tiny kitchen were solid cork (1/4" I'm guessing?), so I hadn't given much thought to other materials in the cork flooring. We sealed them with a few coats of polyurethane and cleaned them once in awhile with a damp rag and mild dish soap. Easy peasy.

I definitely like the idea of 1/2" thick top layer. I'm somewhat concerned about fibreboard in the middle. Keep that away from water, I guess?

We definitely loved our floating hardwood (Junckers) that we had for 20 years, so floating planks of cork sound good, at least in theory, since I prefer a little "give" underfoot. We're installing on both new concrete slab and 50 year old concrete slab. I'm guessing we need to have a perfectly level slab before installing? Does cork require an underlayment?

Any thoughts on cork crumbling with age? I realize everything crumbles at some point but wondering if there's a way to maintain its freshness so to speak? We live in coastal SoCal, where it ranges from cool/foggy to hot/dry. Our doors and windows will be open most days.

A cork floating floor will always have a limited life expectancy. That being said, the original cork floating floors from the 1990's are still going strong. They have surpassed the 25 year life expectancy they were given when they were created.

Of course these were the high-end European products with high-end HDF in the middle. The finishes were top notch - usually a polyurethane.

Just like every other wood product cork needs a form of climate control. But I'll let you in on a little secret: cork has a WIDER range of happy than any other wood product! Bamboo has the narrowest, cork has the widest.

So long as cork is maintained between 35% - 65% humidity (compare that to your engineered hardwood or solid hardwood range...cork's happy range is almost 10% wider) it will be just fine.

A floating cork floor (especially one like iCork's 12mm floating floor) doesn't always need underlayment. But it certainly is nice. I have always used cork underlay as a quick, easy, cheap, efficient form of a floor height raise. It is easier to lay a layer of cork to raise a floor 1/8" - 1/2" than it is to lay plywood.

Installers love cork underlay. It can be cut or snapped like drywall. It can be loose laid or glued into place (please do NOT nail it or pierce it with metal of any sort).

A floating floor will require a level subfloor. The cork floating floor will require expansion gaps at all walls...but so too every other floor on the market.

Cork will crumble with EXTREME neglect. A cork glue down floor, with maintenance, will last 100+ years (Library of Congess anyone...laid in 1887!). A cork floating floor, like most floating floors, has a life expectancy of 25 years. But with maintenance there is no reason why that can't go further. So long as you maintain the finish (adding a coat of finish every 5-7 years) your cork floor will last as long as you are happy with it.

And installing a cork floating floor should be (roughly) $0.50 per square foot MORE than your local cost of installing a laminate floor. The reason? Cork needs a snick more time. A bedroom should take your professional an extra 30 minutes to install. You cannot slam the planks together. They require a bit more love when being installed. That extra 30minutes needs to be accounted for = $0.50/sf more than laminate.

When getting quotes for cork install, make sure you SPECIFY floating flooring and not glue down. Many installers will quote $10/sf thinking you have glue down. In fact it should be closer to $2.50/sf...like laminate.

One of the nicest floors we had in our last house was solid cork tiles, super nice.

How have I never heard of such flooring? I am so looking into this!

I wanted cork for a basement but with more research was told it is not recommended for damp areas or where it will get wet. One never knows when a basement will get wet.

That's true, though I don't think I have to worry about that here in the desert southwest.

@arcy_gw, I had a hand-painted cork in my kitchen for 20 years and it was constantly being sloshed by water, milk, juice, wine, etc. Plus, my cleaning man (my husband) always used of soapy water on it. Never a problem!

When we demoed the house, the only thing the demo crew could not remove was the last remnants of our cork floor, still clinging to our slab! Tough stuff, in our experience.

I’m even more convinced this is what I want in my home. I love the colors, the distressed wood look, everything.

@Mittens Cat We are considering a cork floor for our kitchen (which is currently a vinyl black and white checker board pattern like your floor--but impossible to clean!) and I was thinking of stenciling it. Haven't seen much info on people who've painted over cork. Any idea what type of paint was used on yours? I was thinking of polying over to lock it in?

This is the look I'm going for:

@J.F.G, when we bought our little house 20+ years ago, the floors were covered almost entirely in 18"x18" white ceramic tile. It was brand spanking new, but I couldn't wait to replace it with solid wood floors! But in my very compact kitchen, I decided to go with cork tiles, which I painted myself. I remember seeing a floor like this in a magazine (remember those?) and even though I'm one of the least gifted people when it comes to DIY, I figured it was a pretty inexpensive gamble...right??

I followed the lead of the magazine article and used milk paint, mainly because I had a toddler in the house and I was looking for the least toxic finishes. Somehow I convinced my brother in law (even less into DIY than me) to assist, and we painted each tile, one by one, in my garage. I think we gave them at least two coats of milk paint. Probably should have done three coats, but I'm lazy that way.

Once dry, I turned them over to my hardwood flooring guy to install onto our concrete slab. He insisted the install would be a no-brainer. Um! He used way too much glue and when he brought in his giant metal roller (felt like it weighed 500 pounds) to press it down, all that excess glue squeezed up through the cork and onto everything. Of course he didn't realize this was happening until after the glue got all over the roller, and the roller rolled all that excess glue not only onto the cork but also onto our brand new hardwood floors--what a mess! Worse, he let the glue dry on the hardwood.... Eee gads.

Brother in law and I ended up hand sanding the tiles to remove the excess glue then re-painted each one. (I'm shaking my head as I type wondering why the heck I didn't insist that the flooring installer do this.) At the last second, I decided to hand stamp the four middle tiles with a knife, fork and spoon stamp in silver paint. Lastly, I used a couple coats of a basic clear coat poly to seal the deal. It turned out pretty nice! But it would take me 20 years to ever want to try anything like this again! Ha.

Long story short: if you're glueing down, be very careful how much glue you use! Also, if I could go back in time, I would do about 4-5 coats of sealer to protect both the cork and the paint. The blue milk paint seemed to wear fine but the white...not so much. All in all, though, I really enjoyed having that soft, nontoxic flooring under my feet in the kitchen. I now have beautiful hardwood floors under my feet, but man are they HARD. Shopping for a cork runner right now, in fact!

p.s. My remodeled kitchen on move-in day. Missing that soft cork underfoot!

Wow Mittens! Such a cork story. I love hearing them. Your kitchen looks great. My fingers are crossed for your flooring!

As for the painting of cork tiles, the suggestions made by Mittens are bang on. In my former life, I was a cork flooring expert. Here's what I would do if I wanted to paint/stencil a cork floor.

1. Purchase the thickest "basic" glue down tile I could afford. The CORK is the biggest part of this so you might as well go with the thickest you can afford

2. Make sure the product has polyurethane finish that is ALLOWED to be recoated - that's where you START! If you can't reseal it, there is no way the paint will stick around long enough (unsealed paint on a floor won't last very long...maybe 2 years before it starts looking worn and tired)

3. Glue down the cork tiles as per manufacturer's instructions. Today's cork tiles require water based CONTACT cement adhesive - which is where Mitten's GC got it wrong...he used a 'wet stick' approach that is a BEAST to get right!

4. Clean the SNOT out of the floor once the glue has cured (24 hours) - Windex is AWESOME for this...followed by a couple of 'water damp' mop passes.

5. Scuff up the finish a little bit (you need to do this to get anything down over it anyway).

6. I always recommend the highest grit for a 'drywall' sanding pole that you can find (it makes the light abrasion much much easier...kinda' like mopping the floor)

7. Do another wipe down of the abraded floor (water only tack cloth) and allow to dry (over night)

8. Get out your stencil stuff and have fun!

9. Once you have applied your last coat of paint, let the stencil dry/cure for 24-48 hours (rather important this part).

10. Another quick clean (water damp) and allow to dry for 2-4 hours.

11. Roll on the water based polyurethane you want to use over the cork. Apply 2 coats for regular use. Be careful with too many coats at one time. Off the shelf polyurethane is very RIGID. If it gets too thick, it will start to crack and splinter (looks like fractured glass). This is because the cork underneath dents and dimples and compresses nicely...and then pops back. A rigid layer of polyurethane can't handle that type of movement...which is why it starts to fracture.

Or you use a high-end European polyurethane that is DESIGNED for cork - like Loba 2K Supra AT. It is SUPER flexible and intensely tough. For me it is well worth it on a floor like cork.

@Mittens Cat What a reno story! Man you must have been so frustrated after all that hard work! Hopefully its far enough away that you can laugh about it now!

Thanks @SJ McCarthy--your advice is appreciated but now I am thinking this may not be an option.....

I feel like my plan keeps getting foiled--I just read that you need to have clearance under the dishwasher for the flooring and we have so little that the sample click/lock cork flooring won't fit. The only thing that could possibly work is the 1/4" floor tile from icork.

I was hoping do that instead of the glued option because this is not our forever floor--just something to hold us over until we do a full reno in a few years. Plus it seemed a bit less messy and something that my husband I could easily handle.

Now I am wondering If I have to completely go back to the drawing board!

@J. F.G., I have been back to the drawing board SO many times, I keep a sleeping bag and set of clothes there just in case! Ha ha.

Good Luck!!!

Cork is glued down with contact cement (adhesive). It's not as messy as you think. It doesn't seep through. If, you use polyurethane adhesive. The adhesive will seep through the cork. Polyurethane or silane based adhesive is used only, when cork is installed as an underlayment.

Is it easy to remove though (since we are looking to reno our kitchen in the future and aren't looking for something that is permanent or difficult to undo. )?

If, properly done, it's never easy to remove. You would need to rent a self-driven floor scraper to remove it, about $150 per day. If, you're lucky the cork will peel off, nice and easy. Most of the time it crumbles into little bits and pieces.

You are never sure exactly when the reno will happen. You can plan 2-3 years or 7-10. Life happens, which is a big variance in timing and can change in an instance. You need to make sure the installation last as long as possible, until the day of your kitchen renovation arrives.

okay thanks for the insight. Sadly I think that takes the glue down option off the table. True we don't know exactly when the reno will happen but i'm not willing to take on a project that could potentially make things much more difficult when it is finally time.

I called icork to discuss options with them and she suggested to remove the dishwasher panel on the bottom to see if there is any wiggle room there. She mentioned there needs to be for expansion. Here I assumed its in case the dish washer breaks and needs to be removed. If that does happen-- could we remove the floating cork panel to service it or is that not possible without doing damage? Thanks for your help an insight!

@J.F.G., not sure if this would work for your situation, but if it's just a matter of making the cork tile fit with (against?) the dishwasher, surely a crafty flooring installer can find a way to make it work? Our GC had quite the creative knack for making things fit when others said they couldn't.

Another option might be the new WISE "waterproof" cork tiles from Amorim that can be floated (no glue!). I learned of this product a couple months ago, shortly after giving up on cork and am definitely putting in my "future" files. It's not for cork purists, perhaps, but looks pretty good on first glance, especially if you're into the green scene. @SJ McCarthy, wondering if you have thoughts? The link: https://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Waterproof-Cork-Flooring-Cork-Look-Amorim-WISE?faux=100941

@ JFG - My former colleague, Anne, at iCork floor is a wealth of information. What she proposed is this:

Look to see if the FEET or your dishwasher are FULLY EXTENDED. That means you have to look underneath to see how much room (with a measuring tape) you have between the existing floor and the bottom of the dishwasher. In theory, you can remove the dishwasher (for the renovation) shorten the feet to their LOWEST LEVEL, and then then reinstall the dishwasher after the floor has been extended underneath the counter top.

My personal suggestion is this: 10mm cork floating floor that runs UP TO the feet of the dishwasher. Yep. I know. You will have effectively 'bricked up' your dishwasher. I get it. Pain in the arse.

But here's why it will probably work: you are planning a full GUT of the kitchen in the future. I'm guessing that will come in the next 5-7 years. Perfect. Great. A cork floating floor can be a temporary floor (for now). Think of it as a 'cork test run' to find out how well your family DEALS with cork. Not everyone has the personality to live with cork.

That being said, I can hear you saying, "But what if the dishwasher brakes down and I need to fix it?" My answer is: time to gut the kitchen.

A dishwasher malfunction RARELY is a 'dry' malfunction. When dishwashers give up the ghost, they leak water ALL OVER THE PLACE. My oh my what a mess. And that leak can/will cause cabinet and flooring damage. Guaranteed.

So...you file a claim with your house insurance to repair what was damaged (take the payout so you can fund your kitchen reno) and go ahead with your plans for a new kitchen. At that stage you will have lived with a cork floor for several years...and will know if it is the right floor for you.

BTW: when you talk to Anne at iCork Floor (to get your samples) tell her Stephanie says "Hi".

@SJ McCarthy

I like it!! Great solution--makes complete sense, allows us to do the lock and click ourselves (which saves a bit of money), try out the cork for our future reno--and use the excuse that we do the reno if the washer fails.

Thanks again! Will tell Anne you say hi. Already have my samples from them so will be contacting them for the full order soon.

@SJ McCarthy, what do you think about a floating cork floor in a cabin in N Wi? Heated to 50 degrees all winter (with occasional weekend warm ups when we’re there). Will swings in humidity be too much? I think I read another comment of yours suggesting that anyone who can install hardwood can install cork, but I’ve also read that installers need knowledge about the 1/2 gaps needed at walls and the need to be gentle with the clock system when tapping into place. I’m not sure I’ll find an experienced cork installer in N Wi. Is cork still an option for me? I ordered iCork samples and really love the Tasmanian Burl. Would love to use it, but I’m not sure it fits my situation. Would really appreciate any advice. Apologies to OP for the thread heist:)

Hi kell0382

I've seen the cork floating floor used in a hunting cabin in your neck of the woods. When it comes to the big swings of temps/humidity cork can handle it SO LONG AS the gaps at the walls and the transition strips at doorways are observed.

Cork floating floors are VERY dynamic. They LOVE to expand and contract which is why the 1/2" gap at the walls is super important in your situation. If you are worried that the temp swings are a big concern, the installer can use an adhesive on each of the click edges. The short edges being most important.

If you are going to use the bead of glue on the edges, then ALL the edges of ALL the planks will need it. This makes sure the ENTIRE room will move as one unit instead of stressing just one or two joints.

Talk to Anne at iCork (not the people at head office in Canada...I've heard they have ruined a few floors). Tell her that you sent a message to Stephanie her old colleague on the Houzz website.

Get her to WALK YOU THROUGH the install. She's the one who helped the gentleman install cork in the hunting cabin (which is why I know about it). Ask her how that install is going. She helped put that floor in 5 years ago (or so). She gets feed back from that owner from time to time.

And remember: Tasmanian Burl looses all the beautiful light brown colouring when exposed to sunlight. That's normal. That is to be expected. The 'black tiger strip' stays nice and crisp looking for the entire life of the floor.

If you want to keep the darker colouring, then look at the Walnut Burlwood. The Mahogany Ripple will also loose 50-80% of it's colouring as well....but it should keep SOME of the colour after a year or two.

Ask Anne about her experiences with fading. I know we have faded a few colours in our windows over the years and have come to different conclusions for each colour. If fading concerns you then a quick chat with Anne will help you find the floor that you want.

That's excellent (and hopeful) information! Thanks again, SJMcCarthy. I've reached out to Anne and hope we can get a floor ordered soon.