Cork is a material widely known and used to manufacture wine bottle stoppers, but another great application this unique wood has is in providing an amazing flooring option. Cork flooring is really popular because of its pleasant and warm look, as well as its sound control making people feel like they are walking on air. Parents choose cork floors for their kids’ rooms because this type of floor absorbs all the noises you make by walking and permits them check out their children sleep without waking them up. Another reason why parents decide on cork is because it is environmentally friendly. In the United States, cork has been used for decades, especially in churches and libraries, but nowadays, cork floors are quite common. The idea that this type of flooring is sustainable makes the decision simpler for the modern man concerned with finding eco-friendly solutions for their homes. How is a cork floor made? To answer this question, it is better to start with how cork is obtained. As already mentioned above, cork is a sustainable material, which means that the oak tree that produces cork is not cut or harmed in the process. Cork is actually obtained from the bark of the oak tree, which is hand-harvested once every nine years. A protective layer is left to ensure the tree is not damaged and that it will continue to grow healthily. The bark is afterwards left to dry in the forest and transported to a factory where bottle corks are made. The leftovers are boiled and compressed with the help of adhesive resins. The ground-up material resulted from this series of actions is cut into flooring pieces. Unique patterns can also be recreated, while some manufacturers also use dense fiberboard in the interior of the cork floor. There are more than forty colors that can be obtained through this process and usually the shapes range from rectangles to squares. The quality and patterns resulted from the manufacturing process influence the price of the cork floor. Installation methods There are two common methods used to install cork flooring. The traditional technique involves adhesives. Before proceeding to connect the tiles, however, you need to prepare the subfloor and ensure it is even. People use cement boards and plywood as sub-floors which need to be clean and dry for the glue to catch. Another popular method of installing cork floor does not require the use of adhesives, because the cork tiles are connected to each other like a puzzle. While the tiles are made to fit perfectly with each other, they are easy to install and remove, not to mention that you need no prior preparations or a sub-floor. You can connect the cork tiles to each other directly on top of the existing materials, irrespective of their nature. The floating floor installation is possible on surfaces made of wood, cement or vinyl. Because the cork has the tendency to expand when in contact with moisture, people need to pay attention and leave room for this possibility when installing cork floors. For more resources about cork flooring or about cork floor, please review this link http://www.icorkfloor.com.
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