A Green Flooring option to be excited about

I stumbled upon Cor-Terra from Capri Cork  late last night on InteriorDesign.net and was blown away. This hybrid cork and rubber flooring product meets the requirements of sustainability, comes in many variations of color and size and can not be accused of green washing.

Capri Cork looks like it is doing everything right. Its website is packed full of information and technical data that provides the designer with clear specifications, and the installer with clear installation instructions. The company is even upfront with some of the wearing deficiencies that go along with its products.

Located in Pennsylvania, Capri Cork can source product throughout the U.S., and if you’re on the East Coast, its location helps with the principle of specifying product that is close to home. Cor-Terra will provide LEED credits as well. All in all it makes sense.

Although it did give me pause to see the pictures of cork trees stripped of bark. I know it doesn’t harm the tree, but what kind of footprint are we leaving on the cork forests?

-- Jeffery Holloway

Comments

[Margaret Buchholz]

Thanks for the write up on Capri. One thing about the cork forests, think of the bark coming off the tree like harvesting fruit off a fruit tree. The trees get the fruit back to be harvested again; the same is true with the bark, once harvested it grows back to be harvested again. In a managed cork forest the trees are at varying stages of regenerating the cork (bark) and no tree is ever completely stripped at one time.

[Kevin]

I have been interested in cork flooring for a while now. We are starting on a kitchen remodeling project. Consumer Reports just came out with a special issue on kitchen remodeling. Unfortunately they don't rate cork very high with regard to wearability or stain resistance. I looked at a manufacturer's instructions on how to maintain a cork floor. They recommended re-sealing the floor every two years - this has to be done by a professional. Seems like a lot of work and expense to keep water away from the cork. I also checked with a green remodeler in Asheville NC, he did not recommend cork in a kitchen because it has a middle layer of fiberboard that will expand if it gets wet.