cork Archives - Tampa Flooring Company

Use sustainable materials to produce a “green” floor for your home.

We are always hearing the term “Go Green” but do you ever think of how you can follow that mantra? It’s quite simple: green flooring. Green flooring, or sustainable flooring, is an easy concept to understand: you use sustainable materials to produce a “green” floor for your home.

There are many advantages of using green flooring. The biggest is probably that it reduces the demands on the ecosystem during its life-cycle. From production to its use to its disposal, green flooring is lessening its effect on our ecosystem and is helping create healthier and safer buildings.

There are many types of green flooring ranging from hardwood substitutes to natural carpet fibers to linoleums. Bamboo flooring and coconut timber are also great alternatives because both materials grow quickly and offer good durability.

One green non-wood flooring option is natural cork, which can be harvested from the bark of a particular type of oak tree. Another great material can be produced from the sap of a rubber tree and it creates a durable and resilient green flooring material.

Linoleum is a material that is made from sustainable plant materials and it is mainly created from ground flax seeds. Linoleum can also be made up of other renewable resources such as pine resin and cork. There are also a few types of green carpet fibers, such as a carpet made from plant fibers like jute and wool.

Green flooring may have popped up overnight or it could have been a long awaited gem, but no matter, green flooring is here to stay.

This post was written by Thais Sousa. Follow Thais on Google.

Green flooring option: Cork

An appealing and comfortable option in flooring materials is cork. It’s also sustainable, which means there is minimal damage done to the environment when you decide to invest in cork floors. In order to create a cork floor, bark needs to be harvested from the cork oak tree. When it’s done properly, the tree is not harmed at all during the process. It’s also easily renewable and the bark will grow back swiftly.

A cork floors provides an elegant and interesting surface. It is naturally anti-microbial, which is a huge benefit if you have allergies or small children crawling around on your floors. It’s also great for insulation. You’ll keep your feet warm while you’re walking through the house, even during cold winters. The cork ensures minimal heat loss and you’ll always feel comfortable barefoot on your floors. It’s a resilient floor as well. Many times, hardwood floors are easily scratched or damaged when heavy furniture is placed on them. Cork floors actually return to their original position because the material is a bit springy.

Cork absorbs noise, so you won’t have to worry about the sounds of small feet or heavy boots echoing through the house. While it might work well throughout most of the house, the bathroom and the laundry room aren’t the best places for cork floors. The material tends to absorb moisture, so you’ll want to choose something a bit more water resistant for those areas of the house. You can choose a number of finishes for your cork floors; just remember that the environmentally friendly floors will see an increase in volatile organic compounds emissions when certain finishes are applied.

This post was written by Thais Sousa. Follow Thais on Google.