<p>I’ve been looking at floating flooring for the main floor of our house. I really like the attributes of cork, warmth, appearance, noise absorption, renewabilty… but I am worried about the durability, because I was thinking of putting in in high use areas like the bathroom and the kitchen. But taking in consideration it is basically just H & I.</p>
<p>We have century old fir floors in the rest of the house( except the basement) but for that I would have to scour the salvage places. ( which I’ve been doing- when I think of it- but cork we could do ourselves)</p>
<p>Cork floors are wonderful in a kitchen. My parents bought a 1930s house that had a big kitchen and butler’s pantry (on the idea that of course you would have servants cooking your meals for you) and both had cork floors. They were so comfortable to stand on (especially for my mother, who was cooking non-stop for her 5 hungry children!)</p>
<p>I believe they were coated with something because otherwise, a broken egg or spilled gravy would have created a stain. The cork was in tiles – a really rich reddish brown color.</p>
<p>Everytime I do a lot of cooking (like at Thanksgiving) and I stand for hours on my terra cotta tile floor, I swear my next kitchen will have more comfortable flooring.</p>
<p>I gave serious thought to cork when we were remodeling our kitchen a few years back. I got a sample from the supplier and let the dogs walk on it for a few days–they left some serious damage pretty quickly, so I used hardwood instead. My advice: get a sample and test it under your own feet.</p>