Cork floor tiles

Glastoun

We're looking at cork glue-down tiles for our kitchen/dining room, and after doing various scratch/damp/visual/barefoot tests, the one that keeps coming up the favourite is the plain untreated cork tile - it looks natural, is fairly pale and not the almost orange that varnished tiles can be, has some texture and isn't slippy. But it's obviously not viable because it would deteriorate from scratches and moisture damage, they're designed to have a protective layer applied.

Found these ecork and Spectrum tiles intriguing, but when the samples arrived it looked like a thin layer of some material had been attached over the top of a cork tile - if we're not going to see the actual cork then we might as well go with vinyl as it would be cheaper to buy and fit.

So what is the most natural finish to use on unsealed cork tiles? Not looking for a mega-shiny varnish or a big gloss finish, just something to protect it without changing the colour or visual texture too much. Have ruled out wax as too much maintenance involved.

gmgmgm

Cork is wood, so have a look at wood finishes.

I have no idea what the best for cork is- but I would certainly check out Osmo hard wax oil which is one of the best for wooden floors.

cyclonebri1

Don't do it and certainly don't go for untreated/unfinished if you do.

It's personal opinion/advice from someone that did this in there 1st home many years ago, they lasted about 1 year

Glastoun

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Don't do it and certainly don't go for untreated/unfinished if you do.

It's personal opinion/advice from someone that did this in there 1st home many years ago, they lasted about 1 year

When you say they only lasted a year, what was wrong with them? Almost everything I've read says that they can last for decades, including in high traffic areas like public buildings and libraries. I tried a chair scrape/weight test on the finished sample tiles we had, and no scratches or indentations.

We would finish it in something hardwearing, just not looking for a shiny gloss finish. The Osmo Polyx hard wax looks really good, if pricey.

cyclonebri1

The finish wore through from foot traffic and showed discoloured walkways across the kitchen. This was when using unfinished tiles and laquering them myself. The finish you or I would apply would not be equal to the epoxy coating given by the factory.
Only problem with that is that the joints aren't sealed so any spillages, kitchen remember, gets in the joints.

As I said it's a personal thing and I'd not use them again, you may fair better;);)