Cork Flooring and More…

When shopping for new flooring, consider cork flooring. Known for its durability and sound absorbing ability, cork floors are a great option for anyone looking for comfort and affordability in their home. Cork is not only warm and cushiony beneath your feet, but it also has a distinct surface that prevents dust from being absorbed into it. When compared to laminate, hardwood, carpet, or tile, cork flooring has an unbeatable value.

Our Featured Manufacturer – Wicanders – Showing Parquet in Raw Umber.

When considering which type of cork flooring to place in your home, you have two main options – plank or tile flooring.  Cork floor planks come in varying lengths and click and lock together at the edges, creating a floating floor above your subfloor or pre-existing floor. On the other hand, cork floor tiles can be glued down onto concrete flooring, or even used as wall tiles and then painted to add a unique look to your room.

Once you’ve decided between plank or tile flooring, you have to determine which composition of cork flooring you would prefer:

• Solid cork flooring – this flooring is made out of a ground-up cork mixture, and is usually one that is glued to a concrete floor or plywood subfloor.
• Engineered cork flooring – this flooring is made by bonding a layer of compressed cork to a layer of uncompressed cork, forming a floating floor. This is best installed over damaged floors that you do not want to have to remove.
• Mosaic cork flooring – a mosaic cork flooring is made of recycled wine corks, and consist of circular disks that are glued to paper backing. This type of flooring is best suitable for use in wet areas like showers, saunas, and even indoor pool spaces due to its waterproof properties found in the grout used.

Finally, when choosing the perfect cork flooring for your home, it’s necessary that you look into the different textures of cork floors, each with their own unique appearance. To help find the look you want, cork floors usually come in textures including:

• Small granules
• Medium granules
• Large granules
• Peeled cork
• Burled cork flooring

Incorporating cork flooring into your home is a unique and interesting way to add a durable, warm flooring to your home that is sure to complement any style.

Flooring Options that Keep Allergies Away

The average person spends 12-15 hours in their home every day. Although you may not realize it, the flooring chosen for your home can help impact your allergy symptoms, especially during the fall and winter months. Dust mites, which can dwell in carpet or on cloth surfaces in your home, are known to cause allergies/asthma symptoms to almost 90% of people who suffer from allergies. Spending so much time at home with the potential of these dust mites living in your carpeting can worsen your allergy symptoms!

Carpeting might not be the best answer for your home flooring; here are some other types of flooring that can help air quality in your home:

Vinyl floors
The smooth surface of vinyl flooring minimizes the accumulation of dust or other allergens on your floor. If you suffer from allergies and want to install vinyl flooring, be sure to use low-VOC glue to prevent having an allergic reaction to the adhesive.

Cork flooring
Another innovative and environmentally-friendly source of flooring is cork flooring. Cork is not only warm and cushiony beneath your feet, but it also has a distinct surface that prevents dust from being absorbed into it.

Ceramic tile
As one of the most hypoallergenic flooring options, ceramic tile offers a hard, slick surface on your floor, reducing dust, mold, and other allergens. Although this flooring is the number one choice of people who suffer from allergies, ceramic tile is known for being very cold, limiting its installation to certain rooms.

Wood, bamboo, and laminate flooring
Wood, bamboo, and laminate flooring are other hard surface floors that help reduce dust and allergens and are much easier to clean; one dry mop is enough to eliminate any dust or allergens present on your flooring. In addition to wood flooring, try using wooden blinds in your home instead of curtains or drapes.

When making purchase decisions regarding the flooring in your home, it’s important to realize the benefits of using alternate forms of flooring rather than carpeting. These simple substitutions for carpet can help make all the difference in your indoor allergy symptoms!