6 Excellent Reasons to Choose Cork as Flooring

Last month, I wrote about my trip to Portugal with The Colour Flooring Company where I visited the cork oak forest, saw cork being harvested and processed and found out what kinds of things cork can be used for. I also learnt about its amazing sustainability credentials. You can read that post here.

In today’s post, I want to take a look at one of the products that cork can be used for and that is waterproof cork flooring. Since we moved into our flat almost six years ago, I’ve been struggling to decide what I want to replace all our old carpets with and now that the girls are growing up a bit we’re getting close to being able to do that. After my trip to Portugal, I am now 100% convinced that I want to get cork as flooring.

Six Reasons to Choose Cork as Flooring

There are just so many benefits to be had from the unique properties of cork as flooring. Let’s take a quick look at what some of those benefits are:

1. It is extremely lightweight (one of the lightest solid substances there is)
2. It can withstand a lot of pressure and bounces back easily so has great impact resistance
3. It has a high resistance to penetration by water
4. It is a great thermal insulator and has the same core temperature as human body temperature making it warm to the touch
5. It is a good sound insulator and absorbs vibrations
6. It is stable, tough, durable and hard-wearing.

These are all properties that the new range of waterproof cork flooring from The Colour Flooring Company benefits from. Working together with Amorim, the world’s largest cork manufacturer, they have recently launched Corka, an ultra-green, super-tough, easy-to-fit waterproof cork flooring and I think you’ll be surprised by just how sleek and elegant it is.

Many people, when they think of cork as flooring, have this image of the cheap and tacky cork tiles that were popular in the 70s and this really puts them off. But this new generation of cork as flooring couldn’t be further from that.

Corka is available in a range of six beautiful finishes that will totally make you re-evaluate your opinion of cork flooring. From the wide-grained natural beauty of Amizade to the subtle block patterning of Camada to the modern grey washes of Bacana, the Corka range brings cork flooring into the 21st Century with its contemporary new look.

It is also the first-ever waterproof, pure cork, floating floor to be introduced to the UK. Normally when we talk about cork flooring, it is made from two layers of cork that have a layer of high-density fibreboard (HDF) between them. But Corka is different because it is made purely from cork with no need for the HDF layer.

Corka is actually composed of five layers:

1. Super tough protective surface made with environmentally sustainable materials
2. Natural cork veneer
3. Cork inlay
4. Cork rigid core with click installation system
5. Integrated cork underlay

Because of the way that Corka is made, it is actually waterproof cork flooring making it ideal for use in kitchens and bathrooms. We’ve got a cork bath mat in our bathroom and it is so lovely to step onto when coming out from the shower because it is always warm to the touch. This is one of the properties that really appeals to me. There is nothing worse than stepping barefoot onto a cold floor in winter. This would be a thing of the past with waterproof cork flooring.

For anyone who is interested in trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and this is something we should all be focussing on quite frankly, you’ll be pleased to know that Corka cork flooring is climate positive. That means that it is made from sustainable raw materials and has a green production process. No trees are cut down during the harvesting of cork and the cork oak forests capture five times more C02 than is used in the manufacturing process. That makes Corka not only carbon neutral, but carbon negative!

Other benefits that appeal to me are the lifetime guarantee for domestic use and the fact that it is easy to fit on top of existing floors with minimum subfloor preparation. You also don’t need any glue or varnish during the installation process as it simply clicks into place thanks to the universal locking system.

I don’t know about you but I’m totally convinced. I am going to make it my goal to fit out our entire flat with waterproof cork flooring. I’ve loved cork for years, as you can tell by my extensive Pinterest Board. And now I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the whole process from growing and harvesting the trees right through the production process to the final products, I am so enamoured with this amazing material and all of its benefits.

Once again I’d like to thank The Colour Flooring Company for taking me to Portugal and for introducing me to the new Corka range of waterproof cork flooring.