wecork floors & denting - all cork floors dent?

9 years ago

I'm considering cork floors for my kitchen remodel. My research brought me to this long and informative blog post: http://www.thissortaoldlife.com/2011/10/14/everything-you-really-need-to-know-about-cork-flooring/

The blog poster recommended the following reputable brands: Wicanders, WE Cork, Globus, Torly's.

"Several cork brands seem to have a good reputation. We went with Wicanders for price and availability. The WE cork looked and felt almost exactly the same as the Wicanders, and if we could have gotten a better deal on it we would have been happy to go with it. " -- Blogger

I was able to obtain samples of WE Cork's "Canyon" floating floor, but much to my disappointment, the sample failed my first test. I put it under the plastic-capped leg of my dining room chair and noticed several dents after sitting on it for about 20 minutes. I then put it under the plastic rolling legs (one of five spokes) on my office chair. This did not dent the sample, but I did notice several scratches.

I performed the test about a week ago, and the dents are still visible. Even the dents I made with my fingernails are still visible. I don't understand how it could scratch this easily...The blogger said that he/she dragged a quarter across cork samples and was unable to damage them.

How disappointing. I really wanted cork for my kitchen, and WE Cork seemed like such a reputable brand (and on sale for less than $5/SF!). Do all cork floors dent this easily?

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Comments (3)

pprioroh
9 years ago
In my experience, yes they do. Cork after all is not a hard material. We have about 800 sq feet cork in the basement entertainment area and love it, but we put anything heavy on those easy-slider thingies so it disperses weight more evenly.

You just have to adapt to the material. I image high heels would destroy it ;)
susanlynn2012
9 years ago
Mkoplmn, Thank you for sharing as I was thinking of putting a cork floor under the engineered wood floors for installation but I have many very heavy 42" wide, 5-drawer high filing cabinets that will sit on the floors so I think I better just stick to a Floor Muffler Ultra Pad and get an area rug under my desk where my feet get so cold in the winter time.
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macmartha
6 years ago
I put in Forna engineered cork flooring 5 years ago in my kitchen. I chose the interlocking planks because I could not find anyone to install the tiles in the area where I live. Cancork supplied the planks I bought. It was sold as a possible DIY, but I had a remodeler do it anyway. The floors do dent, but it hasn't bothered me at all. It is a busy pattern and the dents are really not ugly. Of course, we have a more rustic style in our kitchen. The thing that bothers ma A LOT, and that I would be careful of is that the cork surface chips off and it's apparently not covered by warranty (although reading the warranty, you wouldn't know that--it's only when you ask that they "interpret" the warranty to exclude the chipping and flaking issue.) These are not gouges, they are chips. We used the very expensive Lobo polyurethane that they recommended and applied it exactly according to directions and it immediately peeled up and hasn't protected the floor like they said it would. Disappointed with Cancork and their product, but I still really love the cork. I like the way it looked, the way it felt--just think this is a poor example of the material.