Your choice in flooring has a major impact on the use and feel of your home.
Think about it, you ‘interact” with your floor every day. The floor is what you feel under your feet when you step out of bed in the morning, it’s what you drag furniture across, it’s the surface that someone spills food on and you clean it every day. Plus, you constantly hear the sound of footsteps on your floor surface as people and/or animals move in the building.
We chose cement floors over a radiant floor heating system in the basement because we want to use that mass for a heat sink. We chose natural stone in the entryway and bathrooms for significant water resistance, ease of cleaning and the feeling of nature. And, we chose cork flooring for the main Mandala, kitchen, master bedroom, study, hallways, stairs and downstairs bedroom. There are many reasons why we went with cork. I list them below with accompanying snapshots.
Benefits of cork:
- Environmentally Friendly- Cork is harvested by peeling the outer bark of the mature evergreen cork oak (Quercus Suber) every nine years. This peeling doesn’t kill the tree. The life span of a cork oak is 150-200 years. The harvesting methods allow the trees to thrive without the use of fertilizers, herbicides or irrigation. Cork oak forests are prime habitats for migrating birds and endangered species. (from Nuno Leitao, Cork- Renewable Vegital Tissue)
- Warm to the Touch-Cork’s natural thermal insulation properties make these floors pleasantly warm and comfortable; even first thing in the morning, even in winter, even in bare feet!
- Resiliency-Air pockets between cells and natural elasticity mean that the floor has a subtle spring that is pleasant to stand on and walk on. It prevents and relieves strain on the feet, joints and back.
- Health Properties- Cork is naturally hypo-allergenic and has anti-fungal properties; the smooth finish discourages trapped dust and hair.
Clean. Beautiful. Quiet.
- Sound Absorption -Cork has a unique natural ability to absorb sound. The floors are very quiet. This quiet contributes to peace and harmony in the home.
- Installation– With a floating floor , wide pieced, click together system – these floors are quick , non-toxic and easy to install. Lars and I installed the floor in the downstairs bedroom in a weekend using a mallet, a small bar,a measuring tape and a cutter
- Stability-When wood expands, it does so only across the grain, so the expansion is concentrated in one dimension. However with cork, any expansion or contraction is dispersed in all directions. The expansion and contraction of a cork floor is less noticeable.
- Compatibility With Radiant Heat – As long as the temperature doesn’t exceed 29 C or 85 F, a floating cork floor is fine to use over a radiant heat floor (but not a glued cork floor!). The cork has insulation properties, so it may take a little longer to warm but it retains the warmth longer as well.
In our Mandala, the kitchen and study are Natural cork (EZ Cork) , the transitions are bamboo. The main Mandala is clad in Burl Mocha (Cork Art) cork.
Burl Mocha cork in the main Mandala. Natural cork in the kitchen. Bamboo transition
The bedroom has Napa Port (Cork Art) cork floor. It’s a rich wine-coloured warm, soft floor that is heavenly to walk barefoot on.
Port Cork in Bedroom
We installed Natural cork on the stairs with bamboo bull noses.
Natural Cork on the stairs
Find the source for cork flooring on our resource page listed under Kokanee Peak Interiors .