How to lay a cork floor with your own hands. Cork flooring

Laying a cork floor with your own hands is a completely feasible task. Thanks to our detailed instructions, photo and video materials, you can easily cope with cork laying on your own.

In this article, we will consider all stages of work, from the preparation of the floor surface, and its insulation, to the laying procedure itself.

The most important condition for laying a cork floor is its cleanliness and perfect evenness. This is due to the peculiarity of the cork coating, which over time can change shape under physical influence. Therefore, the subfloor must be perfectly flat and clean so that various "flaws" do not manifest themselves in the future.

So, how to level the floor with your own hands? There are two main options here: screed or plywood leveling.

If the subfloor is concrete, then a so-called floor screed will be needed. It is carried out quite simply: we buy a dry mix for floor screed in a hardware store. According to the instructions on the bag, mix it with water in the required proportions, achieving the formation of the density of "liquid sour cream". After that, evenly distribute the mixture over the floor of the room. The screed can dry up to several days, so all that remains is to wait.

If the room already has an old wooden floor, or its flooring is planned, plywood or OSB sheets are ideal here. This is an excellent leveling material for the floor, characterized by reliability and durability. All that needs to be done is to screw the OSB sheets to the old floor or to the logs using wood screws. In the end, you will get a smooth wooden subfloor covering that you can already work with.

Issue cost

Of course, we could not get around the question of the cost of cork flooring. The simplest option here would be the so-called cork laminate.

The price of one package of the castle cork floor is about 1600 rubles. In terms of area, this is about 2 square meters of surface.

Not the most affordable price for flooring, but there are plenty of advantages of such a floor.

Do cork floors need to be insulated?

Indeed, cork is one of the most effective insulation that can be found in the construction markets. But during the repair, the question arises - is it necessary to insulate the floor if the cork is the final coating?

If the cork floor is laid in an apartment or in an already equipped house, then additional insulation is not needed. Do-it-yourself additional insulation should be laid if the floor itself is cold and extra thermal insulation will not hurt here.

How to insulate is a matter of taste and wallet, you can use both the most budget option in the form of polypropylene films, and the same cork substrate.

Cork flooring

In most cases, cork flooring is sold as a laminate, i.e. wooden planks of standard sizes, which are connected to each other using a special "lock". The difference from a simple laminate here is only in the top coating.

So, the first panel of your cork floor is usually laid in the far corner from the entrance, with the end lock “towards you”. Between the cork panels and the walls you need to leave about 1 centimeter of distance, the easiest way to do this is by placing wooden blocks of the right size between them. The next panel is attached to the joint - with a little effort it must be “inserted” into a special section of the first panel at the same angle. The best way to see how this is done is in the video at the bottom of the article.

When the first row of cork flooring is laid, proceed to the next. Here we will have to face the so-called "castle". The second row is laid with your own hands simply - at a slight angle (see photo and video), the panel is inserted into the end of the first row and fixed with a slight downward movement.

Important! there should be no gaps between the panels.

After that, we do this with each subsequent bar and next. In the adjoining walls, you will most likely need to cut some panels, for this you can use a hacksaw for metal or a regular hacksaw with fine teeth.

It is very important to lay the cork floor "out of the way", i.e. joints should not coincide with the previous row. How to do it right with your own hands can be seen in the photo.

Now, we bring to your attention a video instruction for laying cork on the floor with your own hands:

After the entire floor is laid, you need to let it settle and take shape during the day. After that, you can fix the plinth and use the room.

The floor inevitably enters our field of vision, forming the image of the room as a whole. It should be comfortable and beautiful, because every day you have to come into contact with its surface. The main requirements include insulation performance, environmental friendliness, wear resistance, representative appearance. The choice of surface material should also include the specifics of the room, so the level of humidity, the number of visits in the bathroom, hallway and nursery are different. Among the many options, of course, preference should be given to the tree. It is always in fashion and goes with any style and color. This material is capricious and unacceptable in rooms where the level of humidity is high, condensate and steam often appear. Thus, it is worth excluding the bathroom, toilet, kitchen. Wooden floor - this is solid boards, and MDF, and laminate, and combined coatings. There is another way to arrange the floor in living rooms - to do the laying of the cork floor with your own hands. This procedure will take the whole family, becoming a vivid joint memory. The material is supple and pleasant to the touch, and its fixation and distribution do not require special skills.

Origin of material, its types

Cork is a relatively new material. It was only in the 17th century that it began to be used to clog wines, guided by the properties of the material, which did not affect the taste of the wine. Now the cork tree is used in construction and decoration. This is a layer of cork oak bark that is removed from the tree starting on its 25th anniversary. It is during this period that the bark easily moves away from the branches and does not harm it. The material then goes through several stages of processing, which at the moment work quite effectively with large volumes of cork.

Cork floors are divided into types, installation differs depending on this, because the video instructions differ from each other, taking into account the type of material used. The most expensive material is solid cork veneer. This is a cut that can be of various thicknesses. The form can be either solid - in the form of a board, or flexible - in the form of rolls. Surface color - yellow-brown, with a large natural pattern of dark saturated color. The material can be cut into tiles, since a single piece is difficult to decompose, and the surface under it is ideally prepared. The bottom side can be covered with a film for better adhesion of the adhesive to the surface.

Laying cork flooring with panels is like putting together a puzzle. In this case, a special technology is used for each board. The MDF base is covered with a layer of pressed cork chips, and then a cut of cork veneer is glued to the front side. This type of flooring can use the scraps and scraps that are collected when making a solid cork sheet, so it costs less. In addition, for those who are going to do the work on laying the cork floor on their own, it will be easier to work with this material. A separate category is cork laminate, which is already prepared for fasteners and can be laid after a preliminary calculation of the footage.

There are also offers from hardware stores, where knowledge of cork flooring technology will help create a masterpiece. We are talking about cork tiles, which are made from crumbs. Under the influence of high temperature, it is pressed, resulting in a yellowish basic tone, speckled with small grains of a darker color. Material properties, such as elasticity, thermal insulation, environmental friendliness, are preserved in this case. The size of the tiles traditionally repeats the parameters of ceramic tiles - these are squares and rectangles with an edge of 30, 60 cm. There are also smaller tiles, they rather resemble parts of a stained-glass window, due to their bizarre shape and small size. Only an experienced craftsman will be able to assemble with high quality.

Laying work

Any construction and repair work requires concentration, remarkable desire and strength. In order for everything to succeed and the result not to disappoint, you need to choose the right materials in the store, calculate their required volume, find out where it is better to start work and what to do with the room after it is completed. The work of laying a cork floor is not easy, as it requires accuracy, a good eye and patience, but from a technological point of view, even a child can handle it.

The basis is the draft floor. It must be flat, clean and dry. If your base is made of concrete, clean it of dirt and dust, examine the surface for cracks and chips. If there are any, they need to be repaired with putty, and if the floor is all covered with irregularities, it is better to apply a layer of screed. Do not forget that the liquid layer must dry completely, and this may take up to a week. The wooden floor can be additionally covered with a layer of plywood.

Next, you need to buy glue, depending on the type of coating you choose. The packaging usually indicates the parameters of this product, so you should focus on the instructions and advice from sellers. Do not use ordinary water-based glue, it will not dry completely and will transfer dampness to the cork, which will quickly swell and begin to peel off and rise in bumps.

In the case of cork flooring, it is more about panels of different sizes, and it is very important to position them correctly. We start not from the walls, but from the center of the room. It can be determined by pulling the ropes from the corner to the injection and fixing their middle. It is from this point that the layout will go. It is important to maintain symmetry so that the stripes of the laid panels or tiles are parallel to the lines of the walls.

Cork laminate and solid panels

There are two ways to lay a cork floor - glued and dry. Solid cork, laminate, veneered MDF panels can be laid by attaching them to each other with special grooves. Such a floor is called "floating" or castle. On one side of the tile there is a narrow hole along the entire length, and on the other side there is a comb. One panel is placed under the other and snapped into place. This method is pleasant, since there is no need to fiddle with glue, rub it off and breathe in its vapors. This method requires a specially prepared layer on the subfloor for better insulation. It can be a plastic film fastened at the joints with tape or a furniture stapler, or maybe a layer of wood. Laminate or solid cork flooring can also be installed over carpet, as long as it is clean and even.

The laying of the cork floor starts from the wall. A second one is applied to the first panel, slightly at an angle, then it is lowered, and the lock itself snaps into place. After laying the first row, you can move on to the second, and so on. It is better if the tiles are placed in a checkerboard pattern; for this, you need to start with a half of the plank in a row. Laying such a cork floor does not even require a training video, everything is intuitive. It got its name both due to the gaps between the boards, which must be left (about 7 mm), and due to the lack of attachment to the wall - the plinth only hangs over the floor, not attached to it in any way.

Tiles - the weapon of the master

Cork tile is a cheap coating, but it does not regulate the laying pattern, giving room for imagination. It is very important to work with glue correctly. It is better to buy an expensive sample so that the work does not go down the drain. The first step is the distribution of tiles. To do this, we determine the center of the room, from which we begin to lay out the tiles dry. To begin with, we determine the main points, laying out the largest tiles. Having covered the space of the room, we lay out small tiles in the crevices. Once you like the result, start gluing. It is made according to the same principle - starting from the center, with the largest tile. Remember that they must be adjacent to each other.

The glue is applied both to the tile and to the base, the cork impregnation time is indicated on the package. The technology of laying the cork floor involves the application of tiles with pressure so that the glue grabs better. Excess must be wiped off immediately so that no stains remain, for this you can use a sponge. After the large tiles are glued, you can fill the space between them with smaller pieces. If you do not have a suitable size, the tile can be cut with a knife into several smaller ones.

Installing a cork floor can take from one to several days, depending on the subsurface. If you filled the floor with a screed, it is better to wait an extra day for everything to dry completely, if you laid a cork base, then the period may be shorter. When choosing a cork floor, take care of matching skirting boards. Knowing how to lay tiles, you can put together a whole composition using different shades of cork or even tinting it, but such panels are more suitable for walls.

A number of warnings

Cork also has a number of disadvantages. It swells and expands from moisture and shrinks from dryness and heat. These are normal properties of wood, so there is no way to get rid of them. Plus, it absorbs odors. Such a floor is unacceptable in the country house, which you leave closed and unheated for a long time, in the bathroom, where the humidity is constantly high, in the kitchen, where the smells of food will saturate the material.

Despite all the advantages of natural material - softness, cushioning when walking, a feeling of natural texture, there is a downside to the issue - cork is not an antiseptic. In this case, you can see under the chipped tile or in another area that microbes have probably started up under the coating. It's plaque, a dubious liquid that looks like glue.

Of course, if the surface is glued with the right glue, the humidity is always right, and you clean regularly, the chances of getting to know germs face-to-face are minimal.

Care

Cork will serve you for a long time with careful handling. For regular cleaning, clean water or a soapy solution is enough, but you should not use chemicals, there is a risk of damaging the natural surface. If you have a lot of furniture that also moves, it is better to fix pieces of cork on the legs, this trick will avoid scratches. Do not use rubber or latex mats, such as those sold for yoga classes, as they leave stains on the cork that cannot be removed later.

The cork floor is warm for your feet, the ability to lie and sit on the floor for your children. It will not allow such injuries when falling as a concrete base, it will absorb when you walk, creating the effect of contact with nature. Choose a high-quality floor, follow the instructions and your apartment will acquire an unsurpassed look and convenience.

How to lay cork floor? Laying a castle cork floor is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. A video on laying floating cork floors and expert advice will help you get the job done.

Floating cork floor. What is it?

Interlocking cork floors are often referred to as "floating". The panels are connected to each other in a way reminiscent of laying a laminate. A tongue-and-groove system is used.

They are not firmly attached to the base. If necessary, disassembly of the coating is possible. Joints are glued with special glue for cork, which is not afraid of moisture.

Cork panels are used to equip the castle floor, consisting of several layers. Top glued veneer of precious wood or cork. The uniqueness of the pattern of each panel makes the interior unique.

How to properly install an interlocking (floating) cork floor

Useful tips for laying your own cork floor:

• Before you start installing your cork floor, stock up on tools and supplies. Don't forget the PE film and cork backing for the insulation layer;
• After the purchase, the coating must be placed for a day or two in the room where the laying will be done, for its acclimatization;
• Do not perform work if the room is cold: below + 17C - + 18C;
• Prepare the base. If the old one is linoleum or carpet, it is important to check that it is perfectly even. Deviations from the norm are unacceptable - there will be distortions of cork slabs;
• The concrete surface must be dry, clean and always flat. The consequences of level violations are poor-quality docking, distortions, etc.;
• Use a fine-toothed hacksaw or jigsaw to cut the boards. It is convenient to mark perpendicular angles with a square.

Video on how to install cork flooring.

Laying technology

• Work begins with the laying of a polyethylene film and a substrate, if the base is a cement screed;
• If the base is carpet or PVC (linoleum) coating, it is enough to clean it;
• The first panels are fixed in the front right corner, always perpendicular to the window. So the joints are invisible;
• In the first row, the end parts of the panels are connected. To do this, the end of each panel following the one already laid is applied at an angle of 30 degrees to the previous one;
• The panel is gently lowered to the floor, and the lock secures the connection. Lightly tap with a rubber mallet on the short right side through a small piece of panel inserted into the lock located on the short side;
• Be sure to leave a gap for expansion of 5-10 mm;
• The second row is started with trimming the last panel in the first row. Size - at least 20 cm;
• Experts recommend laying cork panels in a checkerboard pattern so that the beginning of every second row is a panel trim, and not a whole product;
• If there are heating pipes on the way, you need to cut a gap in the coating to expand the material. The size is the same as near the walls;
• A profile called a sill will help secure the cork panels in the locations of the doorways. It is attached directly to the floor at the junction between the panels;
• Pegs or spacer wedges are removed immediately after the installation of the floating cork floor;
• The plinth is attached only to the wall, leaving a gap that will allow the coating to move.

Video instruction for laying cork on the floor.

Cork floor underlay

When laying the castle cork floor, a substrate is used. It is made from crushed and pressed bark of a special cork oak.

Substrate- an important layer that is needed for heat, sound and waterproofing. Natural, eco-friendly, non-combustible, durable cork substrate is several times superior to other insulating materials in its characteristics.

Substrate laying

• A day before the start of work, a technical cork in rolls is brought into the room where work will be carried out on arranging the lock floor from the cork;
• First of all, a PVC film is laid to protect the surface from moisture;
• Entry to the walls - at least 5cm;
• The pieces of the film are overlapped, the margin reaches 20 cm. Between themselves, the parts are fastened with special adhesive tape;
• A rolled cork coating is placed on top of the film layer;
• The distance between the wall and the substrate, as well as between adjacent pieces of technical cork, is 15mm.

Castle cork flooring prices

The cost of cork flooring varies depending on the reputation of the manufacturer, brand, collection, the presence of a moisture-resistant coating, the thickness of the material.

How much does a castle floor from well-known companies cost?

Average price per 1 square meter:

• - 1033 rubles;
• CORKART - 2083 rubles;
• Ipocork - 1103 rubles;
• Go4cork - 1321 rubles;
• Granorte — 1027 rubles
• KWG 349 - 1027 rubles.

Installation prices

If you are not confident in your abilities or do not have the necessary amount of free time for self-laying lock-type cork floors, contact the experts. A team of experienced craftsmen will quickly and efficiently carry out all the preparatory work, installation of the cork floor and give recommendations on its operation.

An integrated team that performs turnkey floating cork flooring takes for its services, on average, 130 rubles. for 1 sq. meter. In different regions, prices may vary slightly depending on the demand for the service.

Be sure to conclude an agreement that will insure you against unscrupulous performers.

How to care for a cork floor, how to clean it

Natural cork floor care pretty simple:

• Wipe the floors with a damp cloth;
• Vacuum them;
• Use detergents, but without aggressive ingredients such as solvents or solid particles;
• Cork flooring companies offer special care products for their products. Among them: Wicanders Power emulsion (removes dirt and grease), V-Care (gives shine and protects the surface), KorkCare (creates a protective layer to shine and repel dirt);
• To protect the room from street dust and dirt, place a doormat at the door. The base on the inside should not be rubber or latex;
• Stick special felt pads or cork circles on the legs of your furniture so that the items do not scratch the floor and do not leave dents. Rubber - not suitable!
• If your cork floor is covered with vinyl, once every three years in residential areas and annually in public areas, rub it with a special mastic.

Each cork manufacturer strives to simplify installation with the help of modern technologies and developments. In addition, detailed instructions are attached to the products, however, when laying, non-standard situations inevitably arise that only a professional can handle.

Cork flooring, especially the adhesive type, requires perfect subfloor preparation. The subfloor must be level, dry, durable, stable and clean. Any flaws will immediately be reflected in the finish flooring. That's why preparation for laying - a key stage in the installation of cork flooring.

Cork laying services

We offer a full range of services for the installation of decorative and technical cork coatings:

• Cork laminate.
• Adhesive floor plug.
• Cork wall panels.
• Cork wallpaper.
• Floor cork plinth.
• Underlay made of cork for laminate, parquet board.
• Preparation of the base, dismantling of old coatings.

The cost of laying the cork floor and walls

Prices for cork installation services are formed after the departure of the measurer. The final cost is affected by the quality of the base floor, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room, the type of cork being laid. The table shows the current prices for Moscow and the Moscow region without taking into account the cost of cork.

Work order

• Application. You can place an order for cork installation by phone, online on the website or in one of our salons.
• Departure of a specialist for measurements. After agreeing on the details, our specialist leaves at the approved time, who takes measurements and makes notes on the object.
• financial miscalculation. Based on the information received, a financial estimate is compiled, and deadlines for the completion of work are set.
• Preparatory work. Work begins with the preparation of the base and the dismantling of the old coating, if necessary.
• Cork laying. A cork floor is laid on the prepared base. Depending on the volume and location of the object, the work takes 1-2 days.
• Delivery of the object. After the installation is completed, cleaning and removal of construction debris is carried out - if necessary.

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Cork flooring is chosen by connoisseurs of natural materials. There are two ways to lay it: glue and tenon-groove.

The adhesive method is used when using natural cork, produced in the form of thick sheets. A thorn groove is used when installing a cork laminate, in which the cork acts as the top layer, and NDF boards as the base, similar to the laminate.

Preparation before installation work

Have you decided how to install cork flooring? In fact, at the stage of preparation - it does not matter, the preparation of the base is carried out in the same way. The base must be perfectly level and smooth. The better the floor is prepared, the longer the service life of the cork coating will be. Floor leveling is carried out by beacons. The base is leveled with self-leveling compounds. This process should be approached with all responsibility.

Note! A varnished cork floor will later reveal the slightest irregularities.

The leveling compound must dry completely. Otherwise, mold will appear under the floor covering. Based on this, preparatory work should be started in advance, about 3 weeks before the start of cork laying.

Adhesive mounting method

To lay the cork on the adhesive, you will need the following tools:

• roulette;
• ruler-gon;
• pencil;
• notched trowel;
• rubber mallet;
• roller and container for applying varnish.

Stages of work

1. Dust and prime the floor.
2. After waiting for the primer to dry, apply markings.
3. Draw one line in the middle parallel to the wall and mark the center on it.
4. Start laying from a wall along which there is no furniture. In this case, a gap of 5-10 mm should remain between the cork and the wall.
5. A couple of days before the installation work, it is necessary to remove the cork from the packaging and leave it in the room where the laying is planned for acclimatization.

Laying the cork in a run

1. Shift the plates to half, imitating brickwork.
2. Start laying the material from the wall and at the end insert a piece of the slab, and start the next row with the remaining piece. In this case, the amount of waste is reduced to a minimum.

Adhesive tile laying

Apply adhesive to the base in an even layer and lay the first tile, pressing it firmly. The area of ​​the applied glue should exceed the size of one tile, so when laying the next, you will not stain the one already laid. Then apply glue to the next section and fix the second tile.

In the absence of a chamfer at the edges, difficulties may arise at the joints. To fix this, take a rubber mallet and hammer in the protruding edge. The entire surface is covered in the same way.

Final row

Note! When laying the last row, you will most likely need to cut the material with a sharp knife and ruler. Do not break the material, but run the knife several times.

Laying technology may vary, depending on the selected adhesive. For example, a polymer-based adhesive is applied directly to the material, not the floor. To avoid unforeseen situations, carefully read the instructions before use.

Final stage

As soon as the cork coating dries, a varnish layer is applied to it.

Note! Especially good in combination with a cork coating is a water-based acrylic varnish, which is odorless and harmless.

Before work, the floor is dedusted, and all window and door openings are hung. Each mote will be very noticeable under a layer of varnish. If you have unvarnished cork from the manufacturer, you will need to apply at least three coats of varnish.

Video

Tongue-and-groove installation

This method is much easier and you need tools for it:

1. Electric jigsaw.
2. Roulette.
3. Ruler-gon.
4. Pencil.
5. Substrate cutter.

Cork laminated flooring is mounted in the same way as a conventional laminate. The base is cleaned of dust, then a cork substrate is laid, the joints of which are treated with adhesive tape, and the installation process begins.

Laying rules

The first row is laid out from whole planks. The missing part is cut off with a jigsaw. When laying, it is necessary to leave a distance of 1 cm between the material and the wall.

The second row begins with the trim that remains from the first. The row is collected separately, and then moves to the previously laid one. The spike is inserted into the groove at an angle, and then the row is lowered and compacted by tapping the hand. With a large length of the room, it is advisable to perform this work with a partner.

Note! Installation of cork laminate is carried out in the direction of sunlight.

The final row is cut at one length of the plank, you will need to measure them separately. The entire trimmed row is also completed and snapped into place. Cork laminate does not require a protective lacquer layer, as provided by the manufacturer.

This completes the work, and you can enjoy your new, environmentally friendly flooring.

Video