You put a coat or two of poly on top to seal the seams. It won't affect the softness, but will decrease potential water damage from spills.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I wasn't sure what to do and installation time is drawing near!

Karen

Right... the floating planks are prefinished but adding a coat of poly seals the seams. I'd tell your installer to put at least 2 on.

Oil is too brittle for cork. Go with a good waterbased like Traffic or StreetShoe.

Thank you for your help! I appreciate your comments very much!

Karen

Hi Karen, have you got your floor installed yet? I conversed with you a couple months ago regarding cork flooring. We received our flooring a little over a week ago, and were waiting to get the backsplash tiled first. That's done, but now we have a small family emergency back east (my parents are having wiring problems in their house) so we're waiting to make sure we don't have to fly back and do some rewiring. Interesting thing about our fooring....we bought Duro cork flooring, that doesn't have a finish on it; we put a poly coating on it, after it's installed. All the boxes we received say "Natural Cork," Duro does not appear on the packaging anywhere. Wonder if they're the same, although I don't remember Natural Cork offering an unfinished cork floor.

Can anyone tell me if cork floating floor has to be "squared-off" or could it
accommodate a curve? We have an awkward transition from a vinyl kitchen floor installed by the PO and oak flooring in the adjacent open dining area.

Hi,

Sorry gego, I don't know the answer to your question. Maybe someone with some cork expertise will answer.

Hi Angeldolly, my kitchen is just about finished (put in the undercab lighting on Friday). So I think we're ready for the floor. My dilemna is whether to have the contractor install it or the flooring guy. I'm not sure of the "cork experience" of either. According to the Natural Cork people, the floor is already finished/treated and doesn't need polyurethane. (I wonder if we have the same "Natural Cork"?) If that is true, the actual installation shouldn't entail too much. But if it is like everything else in my remodel, there will be a few problems but in the end everything will work out fine!

Hope you are doing o.k. Is your floor already down? Do you like it? Looking forward to hearing about your experience!

Karen

Read all the instructions.

It will say, they recommend, not require, another coat of poly in wet areas.

Dear floorguy,

I respect your experience and knowledge about installing Cork, but when I called the Natural Cork manufacturer the other day the technical assistance person said the cork doesn't need a coat of polyurethane. I'm confused because the technical assistant person at Natural Cork said the free floating planks were already treated and didn't need the coat of polyurethane even in the seems.

When I read the installation directions and down loaded the maintenance info, nothing was mentioned anywhere even as an option of applying a coat of polyurthane.

What I don't understand is your comment suggesting a "coat of poly in wet areas". What wet areas? I didn't think there are "wet areas" in the installation of free floating cork planks. Maybe I'm mistaken.

I certainly appreciate your comments but just feel a bit confused now. Thanks for any help that you can give me!

Karen

I'm sure the Natural Cork people say it doesn't "need" poly because the planks already come finished. A better question for them would be, "would adding a coat or two of poly after installation harm the tiles in any way?"

I'm sure you see the point of sealing the seams, right? If you don't put a coat of poly OVER the finished planks, each area where the planks join each other is a possible area where water could leak down through the planks to the underside of the cork, destroying the plank.

I'm not floorguy, but I'm sure that when he's talking about "wet areas", he means areas in your home that see a lot of water activity, like a kitchen or bathroom.

Hi Cork2win,

Thanks for your response. That's an excellent idea to ask Natural Cork's technical support people if adding a coat or 2 of polyurethane after installation would harm the cork planks or void the warranty in any way. I'm sure rephrasing the question the way you did may make a difference in the way they can respond. That's a great idea.

Thank you very much for your help!

Karen

I have the specs from one of the many installations I have completed.

"In wet areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, it is recommended addition coats of waterbased finish be used"

Hi,

Thanks floorguy! I called Natural Cork (again) and the person I talked to in technical assistance, "Joe" told me that I can apply a coat of polyurethane but I need to scoff up the cork floor first(???). When I asked him why, he said that polyurethane would have nothing to stick to and would start to peel like a blister if the floor wasn't scuffed up first. I don't understand that comment and I'm starting to wonder about the "assistance".

I understand why the Cork seams need to be sealed especially in the kitchen and I understand that I should use a water based polyurethane. But now I'm cofused with the scoffed up thing! Have you ever heard of that?

Do you know of anyone in Knoxville, Tennessee that might be familiar with installing cork planks? Any recommendations are welcomed!

Thanks for your help and comments!

Karen

Karen, the info you received about roughing up the existing floor is probably correct. I know on our Duro cork, the instructions explicitly say that between the 2nd and 3rd coat of poly, the poly has to be sanded lightly. They don't say why, but I'm sure it's for the reason you mention. Probably just a light scrubbing with a steel wool pad would be enough, but I'll let floorguy be the final word on that.

Hi Cork2win,

Thanks for your explanation. I thought having this cork installed would be simple but now I'm starting to feel neurotic about it!

So, am I o.k. if I just put 1 coat of water based polyurethane down to cover the seams? Or do I need to scuff up the cork first?

Thanks for your patience!

Karen

Because your planks already have poly on them, you'll need to scuff them up. On my stuff, they come unsealed, so I don't scuff until after the second coat. Yours probably already have 2 or 3 coats on them, so you'll need to scuff before applying any more. At least that's what the Natural Cork people are saying...

Oh boy! IF the manufacturer of the cork recommends a topcoating, then by all means do that...but ONLY IF the manufacturer agrees. Don't use cheap waterborne polyurethane; if the polyurethane is not a two-part material and if it costs less than $50 per gallon, you're wasting your money. And, should you decide to go ahead and coat the floor, do NOT use steel wool to abrade...use a maroon 3M pad made for floor preparation and a floor prep material, such as BonaKemi Prep. Basic Coatings makes a similar product called Tykote, but has more steps involved in getting an existing finish ready for topcoating.

You are best leaving such a job to a professional who knows how to work with these materials.

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. When I asked the technical assistant person at Natural Cork about applying a coat of polyurethane, the man said if I wanted to do that I could but each plank is already treated. When I asked if applying the polyurethane would void the warranty, the man responded that Natural Cork isn't responsble if my installer is incompetent or does an inferior job of installing the cork.

I don't know if he needs to say that but it made me think about messing up the installation. The cork has a warranty of 15 years (with tons of caveats). But nowhere in the installation directions or instructions on maintenance of the cork do they mention applying a coat of polyurethane. I understand about the seams of the planks and wet areas like the kitchen but they really don't recommend a coat of polyurethane anywhere in their literature. Maybe it's a marketing thing to make their cork appear resistant to wear. Who knows!

But I still would like someone who has installed this type of cork to put down my floor and not have my GC rely on my recommendations! A very scary thought!

Thanks again for your response!

Karen

Boy, this sure is getting complicated ! Looks like a couple weeks before we get our floor down. Hubby's retired, but works part time doing arbors and sprinkler systems, and has a couple jobs. Oh well, guess I can live with a plywood gloor for a while longer.

Karen, I'm speaking purely as a consumer here so take my comments with that in mind.

I'm certain that the natural cork person is required to tell you that if you have someone install the cork that is not qualified or does something wrong to screw it up, they're not liable. Of course they're not. I think most people understand that if you buy a new refrigerator and the guy installing it drops it off the back of his truck and your refrigerator no longer works that it's not Maytag's fault (or whoever the manufacturer is). Same applies with your flooring. Can you ask Natural Cork if they can recommend an installer? If not, call Duro-Design and ask them if they can recommend an installer. They don't need to know you didn't buy the cork from them.

Also, I found these installation instructions from Jelinek Cork (same type of product as yours).
link

They specifically say:
"Hint: Although most floating floors are pre-finished with three coats of polyurethane, it is recommended that an extra coat of polyurethane is added after installation to help seal the seams from surface moisture spills. Professional application is suggested."

Just because Natural cork doesn't specifically say anything about it doesn't mean it's not a good idea. I think at this point your best option is to find an installer recommended by one of the cork companies and go from there. Since I don't think you ever mention wanting to do this on your own, I don't think you have to worry about what products should be used since a pro *should* know (although sometimes they don't have a clue either so being informed is always a good idea).

Good luck and I'm sorry this has turned into such an ordeal!

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. I think I will try to find an installer that has experience with cork. And no offense to anyone who is honest, but I find a lot of installers/subs lie about what they can do (probably because they need the money) and maybe the best I can do is ask for the name and phone number of someone else who's house they installed cork (i.e. a reference for their work). Hopefully that will work.

Thanks again!

Karen

I have old installation instructions from 2004. I looked up the newer guidelines on-line and the don't mention coats of finish. They just plain tell you no warranty when installed in bathrooms or kitchens!!

They do mention refinishing when needed, and the use of PROTECTING THE FLOOR: Applying Natural CorkÂs polish, within the first 3 months and once a year
thereafter, in accordance with manufacturer's guidelines will extend the life of the finish.

Thank you floorguy!

Karen

Karen, may I ask what you decided? How many coats and who installed? Also, if you don't mind the exact poly you used? TIA, Andrea

bump

I just finished a job installing the Natural Cork prefinished floating floor. This product had an acrylic finish, (not a "Curable Oil Finish,) and the tech. assistance guy said it did not need any further top coating. The acrylic finish is a matte and they offer a water-based Rigo Polish that will make it a satin gloss sheen but, you have to maintain that look by re-coating whenever it needs it.

To clean this type floor they say to use Rigo CleanGloss cleaner. To re-coat they say to use C-800 Cork Lacquer, and to have this professionally done.

This CLIC floating floor is not recommended for bathrooms or laundry rooms.

Thanks Jerry_T. I appreciate the info. If you don't put on a layer of something after the install, then how do the seems seal? TIA,Andrea

The cork's top edges have a slight back-cut to them, once you finally get the joints closed up it is extremely tight.

Jerry_T, thanks for the info. Andrea

But....

You don't want edge compression(edge peaking), so they won't be that tight. Moisture and spills will find there way into the joints.

Okay, so it's June '09. I am waiting for my Natural Cork Narrow Plank to arrive. It's going in my kitchen. It has 3 coats of sealer on it....Do I or don't I need to have it sealed again over the seams???? This is a DIY project, so the thought of having to find a pro to seal it is a bit scary for me. Thanks!

Is this NC Narrow Plank a floating installation? I don't know without looking it up. Imo, sealing a new Natural Cork brand "floating floor" does not offer any real benefit to the end user. Their joinery fits together extremely tight, and with seasonal movements along with normal everyday foot traffic the seal is going to broke anyway as time goes by.

Jerry, oil is brittle and will break during swelling and shrinking. Waterbased on the other hand has elastic properties. It will not break, unless it shrinks over 1/8" or more. It will stretch. When it does stretch, you get a milky white appearance, where it stretched.

It is a floating floor.

beekeeperswife, call their 800 tech number. I've called them several times and they are the nicest people in the world to talk to. Get if from the horses mouth so to speak.

I installed Natural Cork planks (12x36x1/2) in June 2007 in our kitchen. I did not seal it after installation since the planks were pre-finished with 5 coats UV cured acrylic finish. No problems so far. Of course any water spills are cleaned up quickly. Per Natural Cork the edges are sealed with EdgeSafe.

Hi,
We had a cork floor installed in our new house a year ago July. The tiles were installed right out of the box after having been carried in from the van. Our AC wasn't yet hooked up. After a few days I noticed ridges running the length of many of the tiles. I've since learned that this is called "peaking". Our floor retailer asserts that this is normal. Other retailers selling the same floor say it's not, and that the cork should have be acclimatized before installation.

Has your floor developed any ridges between the tiles?
Steve