Cork Flooring

Cork flooring has been used in churches and other public buildings for decades, and it has recently become more popular as a floor covering choice for homes. Those in the market for new wood flooring should consider installing good cork flooring, as it has several advantages over traditional solid wood or engineered wood flooring.

Even when it is made from trees grown in sustainable forests, the production of quality wood flooring - be it solid wood or the engineered type - always involves the cutting down of trees. No trees have to be killed to make solid cork flooring, and engineered cork floor tiles does not require manufacturers to cut down as many trees as is required to produce a wood floor.

The cork outer layer is scraped from living trees, after which the trees are left alone for nine years to allow the cork to replenish. The structure of natural cork also makes even the most inexpensive cork floor tiles easy on the feet and legs.

Cork has a natural softness and give that makes it comfortable to stand upon for many hours, making it an ideal flooring for the kitchen and other rooms in which people do a lot of standing. Cork is naturally fire and mould-resistant, and has similar insulation qualities and resiliency as carpet.

Cork floors are as easy to care for as solid wood or engineered wood floors. When this benefit is considered along with all the other advantages of cork, then it is clear why cork flooring is one of the best environmentally-friendly home flooring options on the market today.

Cork should only be used as bathroom flooring if a sealant is applied to the product before use. This is very important to avoid damaging your cork flooring. 

Cork oak forests cover approximately 2.5 million hectares primarily in seven countries: Portugal, Algeria, Spain, Morocco, France, Italy and Tunisia and has a life span of about 250 years.

Each cork tree must be 20 to 25 years old before it can provide its first harvest of cork bark called "Virgin". This type of cork has a hard and irregular structure. After extracting the virgin cork a new layer of cork starts generating.

A typical tree produces several hundred kilograms of cork at each harvesting and will survive for many generations. The cork harvesting is made in a sustainable manner and does not harm the tree in any way.

With the increasing concern for the environment cork is becoming a more and more popular choice as it remains the only tree whose bark can regenerate itself after harvest leaving the tree unharmed. It is truly, a renewable, environmentally friendly resource.

Furthermore, the cork oak tree has the remarkable capacity to retain carbon and a harvested cork tree fixates almost five times more carbon. This exceptional characteristic makes cork a naturally sustainable product and its use contributes to the preservation of a unique habitat in the world.

The cork industry itself is also incredibly eco-efficient. All cork is used and not one gram is wasted. Cork by-products, are used in different products (flooring, decorative items, automobile industry), and recycling (post-industrial and post-consumer) is a common practice. Even cork dust is used to generate energy!

Cork Floor Tiles

Naturally stylish, silent and comfortable yet easy to maintain, water resistant, hard-wearing and environmentally friendly.

The remarkable natural properties of cork floors will create a warm, quiet and relaxing ambience. And because cork is naturally antimicrobial, non-toxic, resistant to mildew and have no VOC emissions, cork floorings contribute to a safer indoor environment as well.

The water resistant nature makes them ideal for bathroom and kitchen areas where they will not absorb spilt water but are comfortable enough to stand on for a long time and, unlike many other types of flooring, they are not cold to step on to when getting out of a bath or shower.

Engineered Cork Flooring

Quiet, soft and warm, easy to care for and maintain, durable and environmentally friendly. Cork's natural beauty and comfort will create surprisingly beautiful and elegant spaces.

The insulation properties of cork will reduce sound transmission and temperature variation, creating a more intimate atmosphere. Easy and fast to install, requiring few accessories, cork floating floors are perfect for residential and light commercial areas and bring natural warmth and comfort to your environment.