Recently, the appeal of green, or eco-friendly products, has sparked new interest in cork flooring for homes. I am a lover of products from nature; for this reason, I have chosen cork flooring for my house. I find it to be quality materials, affordable, and easy to clean and maintain during use.
But, is cork flooring waterproof? To answer this question, please scroll down and carefully read the article below.
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Is Cork Flooring Waterproof?
At first, I was worried about whether the floor was waterproof or not. The truth is that cork is water-resistant.
The bark of the cork oak tree holds water for the inner bark and provides an excellent fire retardant. It consists of millions of air sacs, more than 50% of the air in the cork. In addition, the Suberin wax in the bark is resistant to both gas and liquid.
Combining these two properties makes cork highly water-resistant and offers other significant capabilities such as insect resistance and termite infestation reduction.
What Happens If Cork Flooring Gets Wet?
Although cork parquet with waterproof capabilities, you should clean up any standing water on the floor as soon as possible to prevent the changing structure of the floor plate.
If the cork floor is exposed to liquids for a long time – for example, placing it on top of a high humidity sub-floor, over time, it will show signs of surface deformation, blistering, warping, etc. The more serious situation is that the wood core inside is rotting.
Therefore, to protect cork flooring from water absorption, you need to install it properly and check the moisture content of the subfloor. If the floor is overflowing, flooded, you need to treat it as quickly as possible.
How to Maintain Cork Floor if It Gets Wet
Wood floors, if left to soak in water, will quickly deteriorate because it evaporates slowly. So when you accidentally spill water on the wooden floor, you must immediately handle it with valuable measures to fix it in time.
The first thing I do is immediately remove the water layer on the surface of the wooden floor by using a soft dry rag to absorb the water. A small note is not to use a rag that is too hard and rough to wipe because that will scratch the floor surface of natural wood.
Besides, to avoid the cork floor from getting wet, I always maintain it regularly. It would be best if you put a floor mat in front of the door and the bathroom to prevent dirt, mud, water, or other outside dirt from sticking to the floor.
I also do daily floor cleaning, weekly vacuuming, and monthly mopping for the best floor maintenance effect. After cleaning, I use a soft mop and dry the floor again.
Verdict
The above is the complete answer for those who are wondering about “Is cork floor waterproof?” In general, cork flooring is water-resistant and prevents attacks from mold, mildew, bacteria, bugs, termites, and insects.
Cork flooring will be beautiful and bring good and healthy benefits to your life if you know how to take care of it properly. Hopefully, my information will be helpful for your family’s cork floor care.
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