Cork Flooring Update: Progress, Prep, and Next Steps
Aloha can mean both “hello” and “goodbye,” so after a wonderful trip to Hawaii we’re back in Richmond and diving right back into our DIY projects—starting with the cork floor we began just before we left. We had hoped to finish before our trip, but life (and some important acclimation rules) had other plans. Here’s a concise update on what we’ve done so far, what we learned, and what’s next.
We planned to finish the install the weekend before our early Tuesday departure, but we discovered late Friday that the cork planks had been sitting in their boxes for months and hadn’t been allowed to acclimate to the house for the required 48 hours. Since floating floors need to adjust to indoor temperature and humidity before installation, we had to pause. The boards spent Saturday and Sunday out of their boxes, doing just that—adjusting—so we used that time to prep the room and study installation techniques.
Room Preparation
While the cork acclimated, we removed shoe molding, trimmed door casings, and pried up transitions to make way for the new floor. Because our shoe molding is painted, we used a razor blade to slice the paint line so it would come off cleanly without peeling. With a floating floor you must leave an expansion gap around the edges (our cork’s packaging recommended 5/16″). The shoe molding will cover that gap once reinstalled.
For door casings, instead of cutting each plank to fit around every groove, we removed a thin strip from the bottom of the casing so the cork could slide beneath for a seamless look. I used a hand saw guided flat against the floor and underlayment—an odd method at first glance, but it worked well.
Underlayment and Materials
After the 48-hour acclimation period, we cleaned the planks and rolled out the recommended underlayment. We chose a recycled-material underlayment that was slightly thinner—important because we’re floating this cork over existing flooring rather than removing old vinyl (which we couldn’t due to an asbestos liner). Using a thinner underlayment plus the thin cork means the finished floor should only sit about a quarter-inch above the surrounding hardwoods. We’ll add low-profile transitions to avoid any tripping hazards.
The underlayment we used comes in strips and included a sticky edge so the pieces butt up next to each other without overlapping. That made installation quick and tidy. For tight spots such as around the stone fireplace, a regular pair of scissors or a box cutter worked fine to trim the underlayment.
Tools and Techniques
We picked up a basic installation kit with spacers, a tapping block, and a pull bar. Spacers maintain the required expansion gap while the tapping block and pull bar help snug boards together without damaging the edges. Most early pieces required cuts, so I hauled our table saw out to the carport to make straighter, faster cuts than a jigsaw would. That made the cutting process much smoother.
Installation Progress
We began working from one side of the room, staggering the end joints by about 12″ on 36″ boards to create a stronger, more natural-looking layout. Snap-in pieces went in quickly; the majority of time was spent measuring and cutting. Altogether, the section we completed took roughly five hours. We didn’t hit our initial goal of finishing the area behind the peninsula before flying out—packing, a snowstorm, and a last-minute meeting with the photographer slowed us down—but starting the floor makes finishing it this week much easier.
What’s Next
We’ve completed about 30% of the kitchen plus some work in the laundry room. Our immediate goal is to finish the entire floor by midweek so we can photograph and share the full reveal. We’ll take more detailed process photos as we go, including close-ups of the tools in action and the transitions to adjacent floors.
In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you: are you tackling any flooring projects? Do you prefer to leave the house spotless before a trip, or start a project and return to finish it? We missed sharing with you last week and look forward to showing the completed cork floor soon.