Friday, November 12, 2010

Product Review: Evora Cork Floors

Okay, so here's the deal.  The house had a mixture of flooring:
  • Oak Flooring throughout the main portion of the home.  We had to pull up a couple boards of this stuff, and it is NOT the crap you buy at the store.  These floors are solid oak BOARDS (probably reclaimed wood from a nearby pickle company after they went from wood to more modern containment systems).  It's almost an inch thick!!!  Although it was not refinished once in the 20+ years during its existence as a wood floor, this is solid material we would be crazy to replace.  It stays.
  • Really busy linoleum in the kitchen/pantry/laundry.  It was probably cute in a "kitschy" way, but seeing its poor condition now, it is hands-down on its way out the door.  Sorry linoleum!
  • Mismatched carpeting in the bedrooms.  Yuck.  I bet there was all sorts of skin flakes from the last inhabitants embedded deep is this stuff!  Gross!!  My stance on flooring is if you cannot wash it, it's gonna get gross over time.  I will stick to rugs and sheepskin.


Obviously, we wanted to keep the super awesome oak flooring, and ditch the gross linoleum and carpets. We choose a nice travertine for the kitchen (not sure what to do in the smaller areas such as bathrooms, pantry, laundry).  We would have gone for a matching wood floor in the bedrooms, but didn't feel we could match the current flooring within a certain budget.  We decided to go for:  CORK!!!  Specifically Evora Cork Flooring via Build Direct.

WELL...we ordered enough for all the bedrooms, loft, and stairs to get it at a discount price.  BUT, this stuff is SERIOUSLY hard to put down yourself.  Either we don't know what we are doing, or this material is just not well designed.  We've only done little A's room, and already have wasted about 15 sq ft due to pieces chipping, breaking, and not clicking properly. 

Don't get me wrong, the stuff is absolutely BEAUTIFUL once you get it down.  But it is a pain.  I guess that's the price you pay for beauty

Well, either way...if it really gives us more problems (i.e. we waste so much of it we fall SHORT) I am giving Build Direct a call to weigh my options (geez, I hope it doesn't come to that!)  I am sure I'm not the only one getting frustrated with this.  

Like I said, it is amazing when you can lay it down right.  Little A's room is a light Tiffany Blue color.  It looks gorgeous with this flooring!  Lucky brat!  All she needs is some kiddie-sized Bertoia chairs!!  I heard RoomServiceStore.com carries these; if I am lucky enough to get these, I will certainly do a post on them!


5 comments:

  1. Hello, How do I get in touch with you? There is no email or contact info listed .. please advise .. thanks .. Mary. Please contact me maryregency at gmail dot com

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  2. I'm thinking about cork from build direct can you let me know how it turned out and if you recommend it? It looks like you have the glue down type, right? Could you email me at culturecreator at gmail?

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  3. I have laid a few cork adn laminate floors in my houses and one thing I can suggest is to make sure there are not little pieces in the grooves and at the corner of the joint pieces as this will cause you the issues you are having! its just little chunks left over from the manufacturing. Also if you dont have one go get a laminate tap block, and a laminate hammer bar. Usually sold as a kit with wall spacers as well.

    I am curious as to how the Evora cork is holding up to scratches for you as the pricing from builderdirect is great for how it looks

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  4. Can you post an update on how the rest of your install went and how flooring is holding up? I'm also considering the Evora Cork from Build Direct. I have a 30 lb dog, and while I know scratches will happen I'm wondering if you find that the floors look fine with some wear and tear. Thanks.

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  5. Great review, this is such an interesting and informative article as well for Cork flooring. for few of people like me this article is really helpful.

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