Cork, which is a thickened oak bark, became known many centuries ago, but it has been used in construction relatively recently, due to the impudent act of the Portuguese who decided to use cork materials for roofing. Today, everything has changed significantly, and cork is becoming one of the optimal materials for the manufacture of wall and floor coverings, which, apparently, is due to the peculiarities of its molecular structure.

Content

1. A bit about cork. Main advantages  video
2. Cork floor. How to choose? Main varieties
3. What you need to know about cork flooring in the kitchen?
4. Cork floor disadvantages
5. Cork Floor Care Tips. Primary and secondary events

A bit about cork. Main advantages

What distinguishes cork materials from conventional flooring? As mentioned above, structural features. Most of the material (more than 85%) is represented by hollow cells filled with air, which determines its operational features, the main of which are recognized as elastic structure, lightness, long service life, as well as a high level of sound and noise insulation. Due to its airy structure, the pressed cork is tolerant to mechanical factors, whether it be the prolonged pressure of heavy furniture or a short prick of heels.

In any of these cases, the depreciation effect will work and the cork flooring will take its original structure. Isn't that the perfect gender? In addition, cork is recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly materials, since the features of its extraction and technological production do not contradict the laws of nature.

The appearance of cork coating also cannot be forgotten, but it perfectly reminds of the need to live in harmony with nature. The original pattern, repeating the structure of the cork, only emphasizes the natural origin of the material, and abstract pastel muted tones again and again attract the eye. All this can be attributed to the advantages of cork flooring, which is increasingly becoming more established in the building materials markets.

Cork floor. How to choose? Main varieties

Speaking about the advantages of a new type of flooring, it is necessary to give some recommendations to those who decided to equip a cork floor. How to choose a coating that meets all operational and technological requirements? Which cork floor is better from the perspective of an interior designer? The answers to all these questions will be covered in this article.

When choosing an environmentally friendly floor covering, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with existing varieties of cork flooring, and there are several of them at the moment, and their main difference is in the features of the design solution. There are adhesive cork and floating. Most often they are cork tiles of a fixed size (30x30 or 45x45 cm). Their fixation is carried out using adhesive compounds designed specifically for laying cork tiles. After laying the tiles, the surface of the freshly laid floor is varnished, which ensures the integrity of the surface.

Floating cork flooring is often referred to as cork laminate. It is based on a wood-fiber board, on top of which two more layers are strengthened: a pressed cork coating and a finishing layer represented by cork veneer. The main advantage of a floating floor is its mobility, since it does not need to be firmly attached to the base, and from the standpoint of theory, it can be disassembled and moved to another place.

What do you need to know about cork flooring in the kitchen?

But the features of its design do not allow to arrange a floating cork floor in the kitchen, since frequent contact with moisture can lead to insolvency of joints, also called locks, which will cause the cork floor to swell and the cork floor to detach from the base. That is why, for the arrangement of cork flooring in the kitchen, experts recommend giving preference to glue cork flooring, which will not become worthless under the influence of moisture.

When choosing a cork floor for the kitchen, it is important to understand the nuances and technological features of the material, as well as be guided by the principle of harmony of the components of the interior. Technologists and designers distinguish between two types of cork coating. The most environmentally friendly, but at the same time expensive is a coating with solid cork veneer. A cheaper analogue is sinter obtained by pressing cork crumbs and impregnated with special chemical compounds. The second is not recommended to choose for the kitchen in view of the increased humidity of the room.

Cork floor disadvantages

With all the advantages of cork, like any other material, cork has several disadvantages. The main disadvantages of cork flooring are recognized:

1. The high cost, which is composed of the cost of the coating itself and the cost of polyurethane varnish and a specialized adhesive base. You will also have to invest in preparing a quality foundation. In this case, you can choose adhesive cork floors, which, unlike floating, or in another way, castle floors, are much cheaper, due to the lack of a base;

2. Another feature that can be attributed to the shortcomings is the fear of scratches. But this does not testify in favor of the fact that an accidental short-term and only drop of the plug can damage the coating. No, in this case the floor will not lose its former attractiveness, but the rough movement of heavy furniture equipped with metal elements can lead to noticeable defects. But they are completely reversible, and are easily eliminated after repeated application of varnish.

Cork Floor Care Tips. Primary and secondary events

Since cork flooring is natural, it is necessary to take measures to care for the cork floor, the observance of which will contribute to the long-term operation of the cork floor and maintaining its original appearance.

1.In order to avoid violation of the floor's operational properties, it is necessary to limit the contact of the coating with the aqueous medium, in particular this applies to joints of the castle cover;

2. One of the main areas of protection for cork coating is the timely removal of contamination. For these purposes, you can use all available detergents, with the exception of those that contain abrasives. At the moment, a special set of cork care products has been developed;

3. In order to extend the life of the cork coating, experts recommend applying special paraffin-based formulations on it annually, which are designed to preserve the original texture of the floor, give it a natural shine and water-repellent properties;

4.If you notice stains on the coating that cannot be removed, you can use fine-grained emery paper or specialized cleaning agents. After removing the stain, the damaged area must be varnished or waxed;

5. In order to restore permanently abrasive varnish coating, it is recommended to conduct annual processing with polyurethane varnish. If you want to completely replace the varnish coating, then applying the varnish must be done after removing the previous layer with sandpaper;

6.To reduce the number of new scratches, it is recommended to lay a rug, which is necessary to hold abrasive foreign particles carried with dirty shoes, before entering a room with a cork floor. On all surfaces of the legs of furniture in contact with the floor, it is necessary to attach layers of felt material;

7. To prevent contact of the cork floor with rubber, furniture wheels are recommended to be replaced with any other, consisting of soft materials;

8. It is forbidden to lay mats on cork floors, the inside of which has a rubberized or latex base.

Indirect measures, the purpose of which is to protect cork, are considered:

1. Maintaining optimal air humidity (40-60%), which is necessary to prevent the drying of natural material;

2. Protection of cork floor from direct sunlight. This is due to the destructive effect of sunlight on the color scheme of the cork, which is prone to fading. For these purposes, use curtains and blinds.

Author: Sergey and Svetlana Khuentsov

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