Cork Flooring in the Kitchen (hardwood, dishwasher, Home Depot, refinish)

[Domsey]

I have heard a lot about how cushiony and durable and "green" cork floors are. Does anyone have experience with cork flooring and can comment about its functionality and durability in a kitchen/laundry setting? Will it dent? Get moldy? Look awful? Stay dirty? Does it withstand dog claws? Milk spills? Hot coffee??? I just don't know what to expect. Thanks.

[mkarch]

We went with cork in the kitchen, as well as dining, hallways and bedrooms. It's only been 6 month so long term durability is not apparent yet. So far, we haven't done any damage despite the fact that since the floors went in we've done a lot of remodeling and moving of heavy furniture and appliances. Dropped tools haven't been a problem. I've only marred one tiny eraser sized spot doing something really dumb - drilling a metal rod in a vice with the other end of the rod touching the floor - but that would have completely wrecked the finish on hardwoods. On cork, the imperfection blends to the point where I didn't even find it until weeks later.

I went with a mid grade click lock floating floor, so it has some of the drawbacks that all floating floors tend to have - you can't leave standing water on it. Straight up glue down cork tile is very water resistant. If you can't avoid standing water, that is the better option. If I were to do a bathroom in cork, I'd glue down solid cork. Over time there's some chance the area by the dishwasher and sink will be exposed to too much moisture. But floating cork is cheap and easy to lay, so if it comes down to replacing a few planks years from now I don't see that as a huge trade off for the comfort.

Then there's the cleaning. It's a dream compared to carpet. Since it's a polyurethane finish, everything wipes right up. Extra handy when our infant was in a barfy phase.

Initially I was hesitant to go with cork as another friend with dogs had their cork floor severely worn. After talking to him about how it was damaged, it seems more of an issue with the grade and finish of they cork they used rather than an unavoidable problem.

[PNW-type-gal]

Had cork plank in the kitchen for 6 years over a radiant floor. A dream underfoot, but it did not hold up to traffic (3 people and 2 medium-large dogs) and was looking pretty shabby and scratched by the end. It also sun faded badly.

This was reasonable quality cork with a good poly coat from a reputable mfr, not some cheap junk from Home Depot, either. I remember it as running about $8 sf.

[Cabot]

Friends had it in their kitchen for years. They had LARGE dogs. Let's just say it was pretty beat up quite quickly but it was in a typical country kitchen in the UK so it really didn't look out of place! They still have big dogs but now have tile.

[Coldjensens]

We have maple flooring in the kitchen and put a very expensive two part epoxy type coating over it. It did not hold up (2 200 lb doogs and 5 kids, plus their assorted followers). I cannot imagine cork holding up. It is much softer than maple. Besides if you coat cork with enough heavy poly or epoxy to work in a kitchen then you are really walking on plastic, not cork.

[mkarch]

^ in light of that, the other thing I'll add is cork is one of those floor coverings you should put in because you like it and it's relatively inexpensive. It's great for what it is, liveability wise. I don't expect it to last forever which is why I put in a mid grade product. If I get 5+ years out of it, that's fine. Most floor coverings, floating floors especially, are a replacement item.

I'll say as far as appeal goes, people under 45 tend to like the cork - older people don't have as positive response to it. I expect this is due to the fact that it probably won't last. However those people grew up in a time where floors were relatively permanent fixtures. I wouldn't put cork in a rental. I wouldn't put it in as a 'resale' item in most cases. However I absolutely love it as a finish to live with. Babies can crawl around on it (and fall on it without getting hurt), it's nice to walk on barefoot, it hides dirt and imperfections and it's easy to clean.

I'll add though that one of our neighbors pulled up their carpet to find 60 year old cork tile floors. With 2 young kids, even after 3 owners, that old cork tile is still going.

[Domsey]

Thanks for all your replies. I spoke to an installer who said cork can be sanded and refinished just like hardwood. Certain cork tiles can even be refinished many times over. That certainly makes cork more appealing to me, as I'm not one who likes to replace things over and over. Still not totally sold, but we will see what the bids look like versus hardwood.

[mkarch]

Certainly if you go with full depth cork glue down, you have a lot more flexibility in terms of re-finishing and installing in wetter areas. If we weren't still in the process of moving walls I'd have considered that instead of click-lock.