the story
Cork is nature’s perfect flooring material. It looks classy, dampens noise, insulates against cold, and its resilient surface is a boon to aching feet. Cork tiles are so durable that they can last for a century or more.
Environmentally speaking, flooring doesn’t get any friendlier. Cork is a completely renewable, carefully protected resource, and every bit that’s harvested gets used. Because it’s a natural material, cork won’t bring chemicals and noxious odors into your home.
Cork tiles are glued directly to a subfloor to form a moisture-resistant surface that’s suitable for any room in the house. You can order our Expanko tiles unfinished, or prefinished with either polyurethane or natural carnauba wax, the traditional protective coating for cork floors.
These tiles come in an array of bold designs. There are two types: the veneer style has a decorative top layer of cork glued to a cork base; the solid style has a design that goes all the way through the tile. Solid cork tiles can be ordered in custom sizes and several thickness options. The veneer style has a decorative top layer of cork laminated to a cork base; the solid style has a design that goes all the way through the tile. The laminated styles are Algarve, Douro, Coreia and Castello.
Solid cork tiles can be ordered in custom sizes up to 12 inches x 36 inches or 24 inches x 24 inches. In addition to the standard thickness option, by special order we can also provide other thickness options: 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 3/4 and 5/16 inch.
Veneer styles (Algarve, Douro, Coreia and Castello) are available only in 12 x 12 inches 3/16 inch thick.
performance
Because it contains millions of tiny air cells per square inch, cork has a multitude of stellar qualities. Its cellular structure creates a shock-absorbing effect, which makes it an exceptionally comfortable surface to stand on. Air within the cells also acts as insulation, so cork flooring can reduce heating bills as well as noise. Because the cells don’t absorb water, cork tiles are moisture-resistant enough for use in full bathrooms.
Cork’s natural defenses protect it from assaults that can ruin other floors. It contains a waxy substance called suberin, which repels insects and inhibits the growth of mold, mildew and microbe colonies. Its resilience allows it to “give” when something moves across it, whereas hard flooring surfaces can be more vulnerable to damage.
Glue-down cork tiles are exceptionally durable. Cork was widely used in commercial settings in the 1920s and 30s, and many original installations are still in place and looking beautiful today. Some installations, such as the one in the Library of Congress, have lasted 100 years or more.
Cork offers excellent acoustical insulation. A rating system called sound transmission class (STC) assigns a number that shows how effective an acoustical insulator it is. An STC rating of 50 means loud speech is not audible across the barrier. Our cork tiles, installed over a concrete slab, have an STC rating of 54.
Expanko’s factory-applied polyurethane finish is especially tough. It’s applied in three coats, making the floor resistant to abrasion and wear. The traditional wax coating requires regular re-application, but it has proven its effectiveness over decades, and it can be spot-repaired by re-waxing only the damaged area.
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