Cork Floor Tile in Wet Areas

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Author Message Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 159 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 10:05 am:    Can Cork Floor Tile be installed on the floor around a public indoor hot tub/spa? William Wagner Senior Member Username: bill_black Post Number: 7 Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 11:18 am:    I have used a cork near an entrance of building and wont do it again. Depending on the type they can get slick... J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 134 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 11:23 am:    I have never used cork floor tile (would not recommend its use it in wet areas); however, I was surprised to see it used in bathroom floors and shower stall walls at Falling Water when I visited about 2 years ago. It is important to remember that Falling Water was designed as a vacation house and that people have rarely lived there full-time, year-round; still... Sometimes when you look at the "good stuff" real close, ya' gotta wonder. Anne Whitacre, CCS CSI Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 252 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2005 - 12:41 pm:    I just installed cork flooring in my kitchen and had some long conversations with both the cork people (I got Expanko) and the installer. The only way that either would recommend cork in a "wet" area was with a coat or two of polyurethane over the entire installation, to make it act more like a monolithic floor. Granted, the kitchen is not subject to standing water, or if there is standing water, there is a lot bigger problem than the cork. The cork used at Falling Water may have also been the "industrial" thickness -- they used to make cork flooring in 5/8" thickness for factories. most of what you get is 3/8" now. Cork also comes in two versions: a laminated plank type that is mostly an engineered wood floor with a cork veneer over it, and the actual cork tiles (12" x 12") that is only cork. I don't think the engineered planks would work any better in a wet environment than an engineered wood floor would. as for my kitchen, its been down 5 months now, and I'm convinced it made the house warmer. its a comfortable floor to walk on, and so far has been easy to maintain. Richard L Matteo, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: rlmat Post Number: 117 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 11:31 am:    I received the following response from one of my flooring reps when I sent him this thread: Rich, I agree with the comments made on 4specs. Natural cork products are good for comfort and accoustics not to mention green building. However, in this type of environment being "public" use and the chemicals used in the spa could produce a maintenance nightmare. The constant standing or pooling water could also create a problem if the product is not coated with a high quality finish and constantly maintained. Small areas such as a residential kitchen or small break rooms should be fine. By the way we get the same questions with natural linoleum. The answer is the same, natural products do not mix well with constant, standing water or harsh chemicals. Curtis Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 160 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 12:41 pm:    Thanks Richard, et. al, just what I needed to confirm my opinion of cork flooring for this particular use.