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Installing Cork Floors

Bob looks at flooring options that included grinding and polishing the cement floors for a loft look, or ceramic Cuban tile, but the sound factor made both impossible. David Southard explains that the building's impact insulation class or IIC made using tile or hard-surface flooring difficult. To tile the floor would mean more than one inch of cork and plywood underneath and shaving all the doors. So, Bob opted for cork flooring from Wicanders, which is multi-layered with cork faces, a fiberboard middle, and a protective finish on top. Installed on top of cork underlayment for extra insulation, the cork floor is very soft underfoot and quiet. Installation is easy with an angle-to-angle fit. The planks are installed like puzzle pieces then tapped into place for a snap-together fit.

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Installing Cork Floors

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Clip Transcript For:

Installing Cork Floors

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" What you're looking at now -- the concrete slab down here we decided to remove the rugs and the architect's original intention was to either grind the slab and sealant so they would look like a polished loft look. Or else to install -- concrete tile which is what -- call a Cuban tile down here and that too became problematic let's talk with Dave Southard. Who's been dealing all these different issues the big problem is sound attenuation right. Yes and the building has their requirements and me or any specific requirement as well yeah. Does that sound requirement for the building be I had seen any impact insulation class. The impact insulation really means. The -- but he clock on the heels or whatever on the floor disturbing. The people that are living below you correct and the building requires a 58 and and decimal. Level and the job in order to install a cement tile and meet that. Requirement we would have needed to put down. About this much cork and plywood right exactly about almost an inch so that you would've ended up coming up with -- about an inch and a half down by an inch and a half of flooring which would come up over our threshold. And all the doors have to be shaved down and there goes the budget for one thing so we're looking at an interesting solution here. Did this is the cork flooring by which Sanders yeah and we candor is is a company has been making."

" Cork flooring since the 1860s. This is a product that is pretty much 21 century if you look at it it's similar in construction to laminated flooring there's -- core there's cork on the back. There's cork on the front that's covered over with that type of vinyl coating which is what gives is this finish this one is called T mean to. And it looks for all the world like a stone product it's very very attractive. Installation is what's really -- look at what these guys are doing. They're basically we're putting it together like puzzle pieces the and I think that was going to work there and then tapping it right into place. Without ever having to go for the glue bottle. Nick yeah no glue Bob that's floating floor systems yeah. And of course we've added a layer. Extra cork. Which is giving us additional insulating capacity or sound attenuation. As well as softer feeling book is that -- the great things about cork floors. They're very soft they're giving they're not soft carpet but the great comfortable. Underfoot. Let's just watch how they progress this."

" OK when."

" The secrets of putting this cork flooring down and getting such a nice installation is this angle angle aspect of the joint that you just get them together and it snaps. Locked like that no glue involved no fasteners of any sort and so the whole floor would be one floating. Surface. Next."

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Architectural Design of the Connection Between the Home and the Barn

Walking behind the house, Bob makes a few observations about the design. He points out that the house and old barn were not exactly parallel to each other creating some issues fo the breezeway addition. Th architect chose to build the breezeway parallel with the barn, but as the roof is right onto the house, when you look at the roof overhang right on the corner of the addition it subtly increases in width in one direction. Another interesting feature of the architect's design is a 4 ft. wide and t10 ft. long "gang plank"-like balcony coming out from the second floor masterbath.