👶 How to lay cork floor with his own hands: laying and maintenance

Topic "No woman is a thing," added another material from our readers. Olga Rybakova from Nizhny Novgorod - mother of many children. Life was such that she was a single mother with three children, and many of the "men" of the case it has to develop itself. She has all turns out just fine. An example of this - the story of how she single bed cork flooring.

Good day to all readers HouseChief! This year I decided to take a serious repair nursery. With three children have to be economical, so did everything herself. In questions painting and wallpapering I can say guru. In his life-stick and repainted more than one room. And here change floors I have not had to. To be honest, so I doubted his abilities that flipped through the ads in the search wizard. But when I learned the value of work, my insecurities very quickly turned into determination.

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1 Why I chose cork
2 Options cork in stores
3 Pros and cons of cork flooring
4 How to install cork flooring
5 How to Repair a cork floor

Why I chose cork

Until repairs in the nursery bed was carpet. My children used to run barefoot on the floor and play. You understand boys need to roll the cars, the girls - to lay the table for the dolls. You could just update the carpet, but to be honest, I only thought about how to get rid of it. Firstly, tiring constantly vacuum. Debris stuck in the pile, and even after a thorough cleaning was not a full sense of purity. Secondly, children are always something spilled on the floor. The last time just before repairs, The youngest spilled cup with yogurt and did not tell me about it. I spent two days looking for the source of the terrible smell in the room.

Selection of modern coatings is quite large. I considered all the options. Linoleum - definitely not, because it is slippery and has a specific smell, it is not for the children. Laminate - a good option, but, in my opinion, the cold in order to play it. I liked the reviews about Marmoleum, Natural linoleum, but a little expensive for me. And finally - the cork. I realized that this is exactly what I need. Material warm and pleasant to the touch, not afraid of moisture and slightly springy. And what is important: this coating is wonderful absorbs noise! Solved: I choose the plug.

Options cork in stores

The specialized flooring store my eyes are dazzled. The seller said that the cork panel has in three sizes: 45 × 15 cm, square 30 × 30 cm² and larger - 60 × 30 cm. Also the sizes of elements cork panels differ in thickness - from 4 to 8 mm. And that's not all: it turns out, coatings are further subdivided into interlocking, adhesive and specifications.

Consultant at the store advised me to take the floor adhesive. He does not need to substrates and simply attached to the base with special glue

As the experience in dealing with interlocks I did not, I would prefer this variant. Plus more and what glue floors are completely natural, there is no MDF. The adhesive stopper two layers: the top veneer of cork and the bottom - of the compressed aggregate. Plus, the coating has a special impregnation, which makes it water resistant.

Technical layer - is such material in rolls which underlie under the laminate. They say that it helps if the floors are a bit uneven. This coating "extinguishes" the irregularities and noise insulating floors.

Pros and cons of cork flooring

Now that my children have tested this floor for half a year, I can competently evaluate this coverage. What's in the black: the coating is completely safe. It is a completely natural material that does not emit any toxins, does not smell and does not support the development of mold or mildew. A huge plus for me - do not collect dust.

Yes, I'm going through a damp cloth a couple of times a week and add in a little water disinfectant. After that, the child's pure, I'm sure.

More advantage - the neighbor below began to greet me. I still do not allow children to play ball in the room, but otherwise they are completely free in their games. Cork is not slippery - I'm not worried that they guide themselves bruises on this springy surface. For six months, I noticed only one small damage on the floor, with it's my fault. And finally - a definite plus of this material that I have a bed of his own!

That the deficiencies? Perhaps the price. I bought a cover for the price of 2500 rubles per square meter. Expensive. More worries me is that a floor can catch fire. My children have not yet been seen in experiments with matches, but I always on the alert. In addition, the tube is damaged by sharp objects. The only damage was connected with the fact that I put a stool that has one leg fell off plate to screw the lamp at chandelier. Metal cut through the cork. Finally, my concern is delayed in time: how am I going to change this cap, because I was so high quality it taped?

How to install cork flooring

For the installation of the floor took me a tape and a ruler with a pencil for marking, construction knife for cutting extreme elements adjacent to the wall, roller, trowel and a rubber mallet.

Here's a glue I was offered in the store. I must say that the composition has a strong smell, so until the job was finished, the children went to her grandmother

Floors I originally carpeted plywood, so especially align them I did not have. I'm just a little grease the joints of slabs and thoroughly clean the surface from dust and dirt with a vacuum cleaner.

First of all you need to apply the adhesive on the tile. I did it with a roller.

Clay should dry out, this plug plates need to be expanded or arrange.

Glue is applied to the floor with a spatula, carefully leveling it over the entire surface.

The plug is glued back to back, you need to carefully apply the elements that was not visible seams.

If you want to fit elements on the edges, they are easily cut with a knife on construction ticker

To tightly glue the cork, I gently pressed her pen on the roller

Cork plinth is glued on the same principle: to glue after 30 minutes of drying,

When everything is ready, you need to again carefully remove all dust and dirt.

Not a woman's business: as a mother of many children herself a bed cork flooring in the nursery — The final touch - the application of polyurethane varnish. The smell of it is also very strong, it is better to use a mask and open the window.

The result was, in my opinion, good, but until all odors weathered, had to wait a week.

How to Repair a cork floor

And now that I repaired a dent on the stool legs:

On-site dent I cut flat square sharp knife construction.
Exactly the square cut in a piece of tile left over after installation. Once again I was convinced that we should not throw out the remains of material after repair.
Taped the hole and insert the cut patch.

And no one will see the patch, if choose the right direction of the drawing.

Here such I had the experience. To date, I have not naraduyus on the results of their labor, once again making sure that I can do anything!

We look forward to your comments and would like to remind that we invite domestic masters sponsor a category "not a woman's business." Useful first-person stories will be published on the pages of our online magazine. Write about your experiences, and share your impressions in the comments!

Photo: Olga Rybakova