How cork floors are a good alternative to hardwood floors for use in the home. They are durable and damage resistant, and also aid in soundproofing.

Hardwood floors are becoming more and more popular-today everyone seems to enjoy the look of wood floors over the old fashioned carpets. Wood floors such as hardwood oak is very long lasting and durable as well as beautiful. The exotic woods such as bamboo are also gaining in popularity, and now there is an even newer alternative in cork flooring. Cork has been used for many years as a flooring material and is a product that competes favorably with other flooring materials such as wood or bamboo. Cork flooring is beautiful, durable and very friendly to our environment. When you are deciding among products to install your flooring, cork should be among the choices you consider.

You may not have considered cork as a flooring product because you think of cork as a soft material. On the contrary, cork is extremely hard and durable. The cork used in cork boards is a thin veneer especially designed for this use. Cork for flooring is resistant to scuffs, resistant to moisture, and extremely long lasting. Its elasticity allows it to recover easily from hard wear. There are cork floors still in existence today, over 100 years after they were installed. The Library of Congress even saw fit to use cork floors in their building.

Don't expect cork flooring to duplicate wood flooring in its looks. The traditional speckled pattern of cork will be in the flooring and this may be an interesting and different contrast to the ubiquitous hardwood floors we see today. But cork flooring can be obtained in a wide range of patterns and colors, so that you will find one design that is uniquely suited to you. You will be pleased at how comfortable cork is to walk and stand on. It also makes and excellent sound block because of its impermeable nature. If you live in an apartment or condo, this can be a real advantage, as wooden floors can be very noisy and carry sound. Installing cork floors will make you a good neighbor.

Cork flooring material comes, of course from cork trees, but it is not harvested from the wood of the tree. This is what makes it so environmentally friendly. The cork is stripped from the tree from the trunk of the tree, so the tree is not destroyed, but the same tree can give up its bark continually to supply the cork industry. There are cork trees that have been harvested for their cork bark for over 200 years! If you are like so many today and concerned about depleted our precious resources such as trees, you will feel better about using a product from a renewable source like this. But even if you are not a "tree hugger", you will find the look, feel, durability and other features of cork a great option for your floors.

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