Cork flooring may not be as popular as wood, carpet or other flooring materials, but that may be beginning to change with time. There are many advantages to cork flooring that may not be as apparent with other materials. In this article we’ll go over five reasons to love cork flooring.
Water Resistance
Cork is naturally water resistant and as such, makes a great flooring material for bathrooms and kitchens. Cork is much better in high moisture environments than carpet or wood by because of its ability to withstand water’s degradative tendencies. Cork is durable and requires a lot less maintenance than most other flooring materials
Insulation Properties
Because of the internal cellular structure of cork, it’s a highly insulative substance. Unlike flooring materials such as stone or tile, cork is much warmer under foot due to its unique cellular structure. Again, this makes cork ideal for the bathroom or anywhere that you find yourself barefoot. The insulative properties of cork will not only make a room feel warmer, they dampen the sound of footsteps and keep the room quieter.
Sustainability
Cork is a renewable resource that makes it a highly sustainable material. There’s no need to cut down old growth forests to fulfill demand for cork. As a matter of fact, trees don’t need to be cut down at all. Only the bark of cork trees is removed to create the raw materials and it grows back within 10 years. There aren’t any trees in the world that can be grown to commercial maturity within 10 years.
Aesthetic Feel
Cork flooring is very soft underfoot which makes it comfortable to walk on in barefeet or socks. Cork gives a feeling of cushion that just isn’t found in wood, stone or tile floors. This also adds to the quiet factor mentioned above.
Air Quality
Cork is a hypo-allergenic material which means that it doesn’t attract dust, hair or other microscopic materials. This makes the floor easier to clean and promotes a higher level of air quality in the house. Cork also has antimicrobial properties, due to a substance called suberin, which repels insects and rodents while resisting the growth of funguses and moulds.
