Cork flooring is an exceptionally natural and environmentally friendly coating. It not only looks beautiful, but also quite practical to use, which makes it ideal for large rooms in which there are many people.
Laying the cork floor should begin with the preparatory work, as the base should be perfectly clean, even and dry. To increase the adhesion of the cork coating to the base, it must be cleaned of grease, glue, paint and wax. No seams, potholes, or crevices should be left on the surface. The finished base is covered with a primer layer.
If the cork coating needs to be laid on the old, then first of all sheets of moisture-resistant chipboard or dense plywood are laid. A leveling mixture is applied over them, which is then carefully sanded.
Cork flooring is only possible with a certain moisture content of the concrete or cement base. Too high a level of this indicator may adversely affect building material. An ideal indicator in this matter is a 25% humidity level. If the conditions do not allow you to achieve the required conditions, then before performing work, you must first lay a layer of waterproofing material. A thin roll or sheet cork is laid on top of it. Such measures will give the future coating additional heat-saving and sound-proofing characteristics.
Before proceeding with the arrangement of the floor, it is necessary to take into account several nuances. First of all, the air temperature in the room should be no more than 18-20 degrees, while the plates should adapt to the environment during the day. Unpack them only before installation.
Cork flooring is carried out using a special adhesive. It is applied with a notched trowel. Cork sheets are placed on the glue layer only after 30 minutes from the time of application. Previously, the room must be carefully marked. The guides can be either parallel to the walls, or located diagonally.
After cork flooring on a greased base, the finished area is rolled with a weighted roller and tapped with a rubber hammer.
After a certain period of time, cork boards can expand slightly, therefore, according to the technology of laying a natural cork floor, it is necessary to leave a small gap around the perimeter of the room. The width of this gap should be at least 4 mm. It is covered with a baseboard, therefore, from an aesthetic point of view, does not violate the integrity of the surface. It is worth noting that the baseboard is attached only to the wall and should be located a few millimeters above the cork coating. This will avoid possible deformation of the plates.
Laying a cork floor implies not only a concrete or cement base, slabs can also be laid on linoleum, carpet and other coatings. The only condition that must be strictly observed is to eliminate possible defects and irregularities. Such bases practically do not need additional waterproofing.
Cork flooring should be strictly oriented in the direction of the light penetrating through the window.
When the installation is finished, it is imperative to treat the coating with a cloth dampened with white spirit from the remnants of glue. Then the cloth is allowed to dry slightly during the day, after which it is again cleaned with special solutions.
At the final stage, cork flooring needs additional protection. To do this, it is varnished, and you can start this work only after a day and a half after laying.