You are here
Natural Comfort and Resiliency
Cork flooring is known for its comfort underfoot, quietness, fire resistance, and excellent insulation properties. Additionally, it offers remarkable acoustical advantages by absorbing sound waves and dampening the sound of footsteps.
Organic Decor
Cork flooring has a natural and organic appearance with its swirling patterns of light and dark colors, resembling a coastal landscape. The unique shapes vary greatly between different types of cork, ranging from uniform pebble-like designs to more pronounced and modeled variations. With the advent of new high-definition digital printing technology, cork floors can now be imprinted with hardwood flooring designs, offering an even wider array of decorative options.
Cork’s Unique Properties
Cork possesses exceptional qualities due to its distinctive natural composition. A single cubic inch of cork contains around 100 million fully enclosed air cells, each measuring only 1/1000" in diameter. These properties make cork comfortable underfoot, noise-reducing, fire-resistant, and highly insulating. Furthermore, cork flooring absorbs sound waves and softens footfalls, offering impressive acoustical benefits.
The air cells also allow cork to bounce back quickly after being dented, making it highly resistant to impact. Additionally, cork floors do not attract dust and are naturally resistant to bacterial and fungal growth.
Cork is a Renewable Resource
The cork oak tree, scientifically known as Quercus suber, is the source of cork, which comes from the tree's outer bark. Cork oak forests span nearly 5.4 million acres across seven Mediterranean countries, with Portugal and Spain hosting the majority.
For centuries, cork has been harvested using traditional and sustainable land use practices. These trees can live up to 200 years, and the first harvest can only be taken from trees that are 20-25 years old. After extraction, a new cork layer begins growing, requiring nine years before the next harvest.
This sustainable process ensures that the tree is never cut down or removed. The cork is carefully stripped by making vertical cuts in the bark and then twisting the ax to separate it without breaking. The larger the cork board, the higher its value.
