Historians claim that cork was known in ancient Rome. In those days, it clogged amphoras. In construction, cork wood began to be used in the eighteenth century. It was then that the Portuguese for the first time tried to use bark of a cork tree as a roofing material. In the mid-nineteenth century, a new method of pressing cork appeared - the appearance of this method gave a powerful impetus to the use of cork as a floor covering.
Cork oak grows in the countries of the Western Mediterranean. The territory occupied by cork forests is huge. In total, in seven countries it is more than two million hectares. The main plantations are located in Portugal (33%), followed by Spain (23%), followed by a whole group of countries: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco (33%), and Italy and France (11%) complete the list. . The main cork processing plants (over 80%) are concentrated in Portugal.
Cork oak differs from other trees in a two-layer bark. The old top layer is manually removed in summer without causing any harm to the tree. The first time cork material is obtained when a tree turns 25 years old. The average age of cork oak varies from 150 to 170 years.
Cork flooring is a natural coating of cork oak bark. It has excellent thermal insulation properties. It is pleasant to walk barefoot on such a coating, it slightly springy when walking and this removes the load from the spine. It is hypoallergenic, does not collect dust, static electricity does not accumulate in it .
Cork flooring can be of two types - adhesive and floating. The glued parquet is a 30x30 mm tile. Such tiles can be varnished. The main disadvantage of this coating is the difficult laying of cork flooring. Careful preparation of the base of the floor, which must be leveled with plywood, will be required. The main advantage is the moisture resistance of such a floor.
Floating cork flooring is cork plates that are not fastened to the base, but connected with locks. Tiles of this type of parquet are multi-layered. The middle layer is hard, made of MDF. The base of the tile is an insulating layer of
cork (substrate), and on top is a cork with a pattern. Floating cork flooring is available in the form of plates measuring 900x300 mm and a thickness of 9 to 12 mm. Both types of flooring can be coated with a thin layer of varnish. If you cover
cork floors with wear-resistant vinyl, they will become much stronger, but will lose their natural softness, become colder and slippery.
Cork flooring, consumer reviews of which are always enthusiastic, with proper installation and proper care, will last more than 20 years. Speaking of leaving. There are some features in this matter. Never use metal brushes to clean the floor so as not to leave scratches. Seal with pieces of soft material - felt or felt - the legs of tables and chairs. But do not use rubber for this purpose, it will leave spots on the floor that are very difficult to remove.