Cork Flooring Installation: Floating or Glue-Down
Cork floors come either in glue-down or floating floor applications.
Glue-Down
Glue-down installation results in lower material cost but much higher installation costs. It is also more difficult to repair a tile as opposed to a floating floor installation. Also, glue-down floors can only be applied over a smooth clean substrate so that precludes renovation applications over a vinyl tile floor for example.
Floating Floor
Floating floor installations are more common and are a preferred method of installation. As the photo above shows, the cork planks come with a specially designed edge that interlocks with the adjacent panels. Some manufacturers' floating floor products can be installed over most hard surfaces such as vinyl floor coverings, wood flooring and ceramic tile, but soft subfloors like carpets must be removed. The subfloor will have to be even, flat, dry and level to within 0.1" in 6 feet. And of course the substrate surface over which the floor will be installed will have to be completely dry.
