Young House Love

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Choosing Between Pergo and Cork For Our Kitchen Floors

Houston, we have liftoff! We made a big kitchen purchase. We ordered the floor! Wait, we should back up. We originally hoped to find hardwood floors running all the way under the linoleum in the kitchen (after finding out that it ran under the fireplace side of the room here)…

Tile Hardwood Underneath

… but we removed the transition between the kitchen and the office on the other side of the room to find… booo!… plywood. So no refinishing for us. Gotta start from scratch.

But there were a few limitations off the bat. We learned from the previous owners that the kitchen floors couldn’t handle tile (they would need to be reinforced/leveled from underneath = $$$), so tile was out. Even laying down new hardwood worried us since it’s thick and heavy and not as flexible as some other options. So based on the limitations, we honed in on these three options (any of which we hoped to install ourselves if we chose it):

  • cork
  • floating wood laminate like Pergo
  • vinyl or linoleum/marmoleum

At first we loved the idea of laying some sort of sleek eco-friendly linoleum in some chic tone-on-tone stripes. Candice Olsen does it sometimes, but I couldn’t find any online pics. And I’m sure it sounds really tacky but I promise it looked really good and that lady spends five thousand dollars on sconces so she’s not exactly about compromising when it comes to form. But after checking out a ton of local places /online stores we just couldn’t find anything that we liked. And we didn’t want to give off that “we upgraded the whole kitchen but forgot to update the floors effect” (which is a pretty embarrassing result if you do, in fact, upgrade the floors but no one can tell).

So we were happy to move on from the whole striped linoleum thing. We also realized that we prefer when our floors fall back and let other things be the star (like the wall paint, textiles on the chairs & windows, light fixtures, art & accessories – etc). Next was the possibility of: 1) a Pergo type wood-look click floor or 2) cork (since it was substantially lighter than hardwood and even bamboo). So we looked at a bunch of options in both materials and zeroed in on two options that we liked best.

Cork And Pergo

One was a whitewashed Pergo from Lowe’s (for $3 a square foot called “Driftwood Pine”) that looked so much like the hardwoods we already had in the house, except whitewashed – which could have been a fun choice for the kitchen. The planks were the same size as the existing ones and it still had warm wood tones underneath so it would almost look like we had the same hardwood running through the kitchen that we had in the office, dining room, and bedrooms, but decided to whitewash them in the kitchen.

Driftwood Pine

The other option was a rich mocha cork from Lumber Liquidators (called “Porto” by Libson Cork) that was on super sale for $3.26 a square foot. Which is an awesome price since cork usually starts around $4 or $5 a square foot and can go all the way up to $10+.

Cork Floor Sample

We realized we might have initially been attracted to the whitewashed Pergo because it’s similar in tone to the existing vinyl flooring in our kitchen (so our eyes are just used to seeing that tone underfoot), but once we paint the cabinets white and add stainless appliances and make a bunch of other upgrades, we realized that we might appreciate a warmer toned floor (so the whole room wouldn’t be white and gray). Boom, option one was effectively eliminated. Buh-bye graywashed Pergo.

The funny thing was that when we checked out nearly all of the inspiration kitchens that I pinned on Pinterest, they all had one thing in common: rich dark floors. Talk about subliminal messages. Can’t believe we didn’t pick up on that sooner. They were actually similar in tone to the mocha hardwood ones that we added to our first kitchen, which we still miss on the daily. Oh and it bears mentioning that while some folks prefer lighter wood for shows-less-dust reasoning, we never had any issues with that (or keeping them clean in general) since they weren’t super dark/ebony, just deep enough to be called “mocha.”

Final Kitchen After

Decision made. Mocha cork it is! Especially since we planned to refinish the existing hardwoods in a similar tone for an even more seamless whole-house feeling down the line. But before pulling the cork trigger we googled around for cork pros and cons – just to be thorough. We learned it’s warm, quiet, naturally fire & water & bacteria resistant, soft underfoot (for less dish breakage and sore knees from standing), and eco friendly. The cons were that the finish could be scratched (like hardwoods) and it could be dented over time by heavy appliances or furniture if you don’t put those felt feet on them (like hardwoods). But if scratched or dented it could be sanded down and even restained and resealed (yup, you guessed it – like hardwoods). So it didn’t sound too out of our league since we’re definitely not strangers to oak flooring, which is apparently pretty similar.

But because we’re neurotic, we took it one step crazier further. We emailed four people we know and love who have cork and asked them to be brutally honest with us and tell us what they hate and if they’d recommend it and what they’d change and all the bad stuff. Well, not a complaint among them. Everyone said they loved their cork and would make the same choice again. Whew. So we (finally) went for it.

Cork And Pergo Sold

We put in an order for 265 square feet of it to cover the entire 25′ kitchen and adjoined laundry room (and account for about 10% of extra cork, just in case of a catastrophe cork-tastrophe). Of course I haggled with the Lumber Liquidators guy to get $15 off our $863 cork order (down to $848, baby). Haha. Every penny helps. It’s definitely not a drop in the bucket, but we’re excited to install it ourselves (it should be pretty simple since it’s click + lock and doesn’t call for any adhesive). The awesome thing is that refinishing hardwoods usually runs around $3-4 a square foot around here, and our new floors were $3.26 a square foot – so we’re psyched that new cork floors are about the same price as refinishing what we wished we had found under that old linoleum. In the words of Clara: yoi! (that’s how she says yay).

The only ironic thing: installing the floor is one of the last things we’ll be tackling (floors usually go down last so they don’t get dinged up by demo or painting or appliance installing) but the price was right so we pounced! For anyone wondering what we have to get done before cork-ing things up, here’s a brief rundown:

  • Switch out/alter some of the existing cabinets & relocate some appliances
  • Order/install new appliances (since we have some bisque mixed with black going on)
  • Open the doorway between the dining room & kitchen (still working on permits/contractors)
  • Create a peninsula out of secondhand, built, or purchased cabinetry
  • Upgrade the counters (possibly with some DIY concrete ones if the floor can support them)
  • Redo the backsplash (we have something pretty fun planned… more on that later)
  • Paint the old and new cabinets white, so they look nice and seamless
  • Add some open shelving (that’ll go along with our fun TBA backsplash idea)
  • Completely upgrade the lighting (goodbye florescent tube lights!)

So yeah… we might not have after kitchen pictures for you until 2013. Just kidding. But maybe not. Have you guys purchased flooring lately? Gone crazy for cork? Or whitewashed wood (or faux wood)? Or realized that there’s a subliminal common thread among all of the kitchens you’ve been pinning on Pinterest? It was kind of hilarious when we noticed they all had nearly identical floors.

Comments

  4. Lisa says

    I’m sorry, I haven’t finished reading the post, yet, but the comment you made in this post (and previously) just nags at me – I’ve never heard that a floor can’t “support the weight” of tile. Tile certainly doesn’t weigh as much as cabinets and appliances, and is distributed, not heavy in any one spot like appliances and cabinets. Did they mean that the floors had too much flex in them (which can be fixed by laying backerboard, which you would have to do, anyway, on a plywood subfloor). The “weight” issue just doesn’t made sense to me. Please tell me you’ve had an inspector check this out for you? If you’ve already bought another floor, it’s a mute point, but I would hate for you to have given up on your first choice if it wasn’t really necessary!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, an inspector looked it over and an architect was the one to inform the previous owners of that fact. It definitely could have to do with flex (that something heavy like tile wouldn’t flex enough to lay well) but we’re not really tile folks (well, we like it in bathrooms) so we’re happy with the cork choice! Even if we could do tile we probably would have ended up there!

      xo,
      s

    • Lindsey d. says

      Definitely not the first time I’ve heard of a floor not being able to handle the weight of tile. I live in a 75-year-old raised cottage (about 3 feet off the ground on piers). Putting tile down would require about 1 1/2 inches of additional sub-flooring, plus the height of the tile itself. It’s doable, but leaves you with a terrible mini-step up going into the kitchen or bath. For a klutz like me, it’s disaster waiting to happen.

    • Cate says

      My in-laws recently re-did the floors in the downstairs of their house an they had the same issue with weight. They originally had what looked like a 4×4 tile, but it was actually peel & stick floor. Anyway, they couldn’t put down ceramic in it’s place without redoing the underneath to support the weight. By the time they added that to the cost of the tile, it was out of the budget. They chose a peel & stick vinyl tile instead in a color I didn’t personally care for, but it was an upgrade from the 30 year old floors.

    • Alex says

      Having lots of experience in this area on our DIY home renovation, I can speak to it as an amateur expert.

      The weight of the tile isn’t the issue. The real issue is called Deflection. Essentially, how much the floor will give with normal or heavy traffic. People walking, running, jumping, etc. Deflection is bad for tile, it causes cracks, even when you have a good isolation membrane and substrate.

      Porcelain tile needs a low deflection rate or you get cracks. Stone like marble needs an even lower deflection rate.

      There are many deflection calculators online that will tell you if your room is a candidate for either stone or porcelain tile. The calculations are based on joist sizing, length of unsupported span, and subfloor makeup. A good rough and crude test for sturdiness is to fill a glass of water essentially to the top of a glass. Set the glass on the floor and stand within one foot of the glass. Now stand on your tip toes and then let your heels fall hard to the floor. If the glass rocks enough to spill a little water out of the glass then your floors give too much and your tile will probably crack sooner than later.

      That being said, suring up the structure of the joists to support tile is not a costly project. It’s also something the average DIYer can typically handle. I’ve don’t it for two of our rooms due to damaged floor joists. It’s called joist sistering.

      All you need to do is attach a similar sized floor joist to the existing ones, span to span. You glue with construction adhesive, then screw the boards at regular intervals. And, if you want to be sure, you can attach 2 lag bolts with washers every 10 inches. It is an easy and effective way to handle the project.

      So if you want to use tile, don’t hesitate to take this on, it’s very doable. Also, don’t fear normal hard wood, the weight of it doesn’t matter, and the flexibility of wood will take almost anything unless your house is essentially falling down, but I would get the falling down taken care of first if that’s the case. :-)

  5. Liz says

    I can’t tell you how excited I am about this as the husband and I have just decided to put a dark brown cork floor in the finished part of our basement and just started pricing stuff. He was just talking about how it’s cheaper at Lumber Liquidators.

    Reply

  6. John@Our Home From Scratch says

    That cork pick is beatutiful. Be careful when removing old linoleum (sorry if I sound like a parent here)… sometimes the old flooring adhesives have asbestos! Should be good as long as the old floor is a post 80s install.

    Reply

  7. Kristina says

    I can’t wait to see what it looks like. We need to redo the first floor of our house and I had thought about cork. We have three different floorings in a small space. I’ll be following with interest!

    Reply

  8. Amy says

    How exciting! I hope you do DIY concrete counter tops. I’ve been wanting to do those in my own home! I’ve heard quickcrete even put out a special mix for counter tops!

    Reply

  10. Carrie says

    Hi guys!

    We are redoing our kitchen right now, and replacing the floor. This was after we found a bunch of mice in the cabinets and the subfloor rotting. Sweet! Will you be pulling up layers of lino or just going over the top. What about the height differential?

    For tile did you do the 360 flex thing? <– yes, that is a technical term, why do you ask?

    One last thing, our neighbors have that cork and it reads very orange in the house. Can't wait to see it!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we were certain to bring home a sample before picking the color to be sure it read as mocha in the house (showroom lighting is always really different than “real” lighting at home). As for the floor, we’ll be removing the vinyl tile that’s there to keep the height as seamless as possible. Not sure what the 360 flex thing is for tile- do tell!

      xo,
      s

    • Carrie says

      The 360 flex thing (which I am sure has a name) is where you take the length of a room- In my case 24 feet over 360, so 24/360= .07, so my floor cannot flex more than .7 inches once walked on. If it does then tile will crack.

      Now that I read that, I guess that has nothing to do with weight. Sooooo, nevermind!

  11. Kathi says

    So happy that you went with cork. We had hardwood installed throughout most of our living space but used Pergo in my husband’s office (it’s our 3rd bedroom, not near the hardwood areas of the house) and I hate the way it sounds when we walk on it. It may be partially due to the fact that we have a basement underneath (as opposed to a slab foundation) but it sounds really echo-y and chinsy compared to walking on hardwood. I think the cork will be gorgeous!

    Reply

    • Kristen says

      Nope – we installed quik-loc (just like pergo) in the basement on a concrete floor (even with really good underlayment), and it still sounds “funny.”

    • Christine says

      I have the same problem with Pergo, which is installed in most of my house except for the bedrooms. It is very loud. I don’t think I would choose it again. I can tell when my Bassett Hound is coming for a little love.

    • Reba says

      I have Pergo whitewashed laminate in my entire home, including bathroom and kitchen. It’s an older manufactured homee and I replaced orange shag carpet and ugly vinyl. I’ve had it for over 1 and 1/2 years and have no problems at all. I have no noise issues and I love that it is so easy to clean. I had a flood in my bathroom that went out to the hall…I pulled it all up and let it dry for a while before putting it back down and have had no issues at all! I also live on the damp Oregon coast but still no problems.

  12. Jill says

    Thanks for sharing the options and decisionmaking process! We’re in the midst of an upstairs renovation and will need to make a flooring decision soon. I think you guys definitely made the right decision – but I’m super excited about the whitewashed pergo floors that you nixed and considering them for our upstairs! :)

    Reply

  14. Lindsay L says

    omg $herdog this is going to be one beautiful kitchen! I am ready to see it so I can continue living vicariously through your house updates! What I keep thinking about is your 250 secret projects for the book, y’all must be busy!! Love the cork choice!

    Reply

    • megan e says

      I’m going to assume that some of these projects are taking place in friends and family homes because with how much you’ve been sharing on YHL, I can’t imagine there would be 250 more things around your house you could keep secret and wouldn’t show up in photos.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re not quite done with anything so lots of in-progress stuff is happening and being stored in the playroom. It’s kind of a zoo. And we kind of hate/love it! Haha. It’s definitely harder to keep the house clean with stuff everywhere!

      xo,
      s

  15. Andrea says

    Lovely flooring choice, you guys! We ended up going with linoleum, since there are so many beautiful patterns and finishes and at such a great price. Same deal as cork in that it’s warm underfoot, softer if you drop stuff, etc. We decided against cork, because we have a big dog and worried he might tear it up with his moose-sized claws! (for real – and his name is Moose, so…) The one we chose is a slate look, and even has some corresponding texture to it – some visitors are totally shocked when we tell them it’s linoleum and not REAL slate (unless they’re in socks/barefeet and can feel it’s not cold like stone!) Anyhow, good luck with the reno!!

    Reply

  16. Jordan says

    I seem to be a sucker for white cabinets when it comes to kitchens. Luckily the house we just purchased has white cabinets in the kitchen, but the previous owners decided they liked green! Our counter tops are white with green accent tiles, the backsplash is green, the floors have green in them, the door knobs on the cabinets are green. Oh and the carpet is green. It’s pretty bad. And talk about wallpaper out the wazoo, but it’s going to be such a fun place to renovate!

    Good luck on your future kitchen renovation!

    Reply

  17. Chrissie says

    Yay! I think the cork is a great choice, that rich colour looks more cohesive with the deep wood floors to me :-)

    I never realised how easy cork tiles were to install, I shall have to look into that for our laundry/toilet. I’m guessing they wouldn’t hold up so well in a hot, steamy room like a bathroom with a shower though.

    Reply

    • Amy says

      Frank Lloyd Wright used cork on the floors of the bathrooms in Fallingwater. I believe it was cork tile, though…the click flooring has an absorbent-looking backing, so might not be a good choice for a bath.

    • diana says

      Oh, I think quite the contrary, the cork does great in a humid environment. I lived for sometime in a house that had the bathroom tiled with cork, it was great! Ask the guys at lumber liquidators, they should know about the lining and everything, but, normally, cork is the way to go. It stays on liquids after all, doesn’t it? when bottling a bottle!

    • Patti says

      I have that exact same cork in my bathroom and it still looks great after 4 years. We sealed it with floor poly after installing it. I clean it with a damp mop and it’s perfect. It’s not only beautiful, it’s so soft underfoot and warm in the cold winter.

    • Chrissie says

      Wow, thanks for all the responses guys! That’s a huge help. I’ll definitely talk to some pros before making any decisions. I’m so excited to find an affordable way to replace the scary, ugly, randomly scattered mosaic tiles in those rooms.

      Seriously, the builders mixed large and small mosaics on the floor, but in no particular order – it looks like they just threw them in and then stuck them down wherever they landed. But I guess it was the late 60’s…

  18. miriam says

    I love, love, love the floors! The grain is GORGEOUS, and a little springiness underfoot is so key, especially in the kitchen. Can’t wait to live vicariously through your kitchen reno… our rental kitchen is so tiny and dark!

    Can you sweep/mop a cork floor just like hardwood, too?

    Reply

  19. Joy says

    We are replacing engineered hardwood in our dining room and kitchen and the carpet in the living room with bamboo. Love Love IT !!!!!

    Reply

  20. Lola says

    For the $3-4 price you said for re-finishing hardwood, is that to hire someone out, or do it yourselves? We were lucky enough to find hardwood under laminate in our ’50s bungalow. (the previous owners painstakingly installed laminate over gorgeous red oak and even siliconed around corners and doors…ick…thankfully we were able to salvage it all and install it in the basement – yay!) My husband refinished the floors himself and it came out to only around $1/sq foot. They are absolutely gorgeous and so rare these days as solid red oak runs about $20/sq foot new in Canada!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes to hire it out. That’s about what we paid our floor guy to do nearly 1000 square feet at our last house (we left so we weren’t exposed to the dust and fumes). Of course DIYing it would come out cheaper, and I love that your hubby did it himself and they came out so well!

      xo,
      s

  21. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    I love cork floors! They feel so good underfoot.

    We’ll get around to replacing our kitchen floors eventually. The previous owner installed a floating tile system and unfortunately, almost every tile has cracked and shifted. There are bigger fish to fry at the Little House though, so new kitchen floors will have to wait.

    Is the cork spill/stain/sharp-pointy-object proof? I’m just thinking of durability in the kitchen.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s compacted and sealed like hardwood, so it could definitely get a little ding if you drop a hammer (just like oak floors) but it won’t shatter like tile might!

      xo,
      s

  23. Elaine says

    How do you know the current floors can’t support a lot of weight? I know you mentioned that the previous owners told you, but if they hadn’t, how would you find that out? Hopefully not with a refrigerator crashing into your basement!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We heard that from them (they learned from an architect when they were doing a kitchen remodel a few decades back) and then our inspector confirmed it (not sure what he did to confirm it though, haha). We actually think it has something to do with weight + flex (anything too rigid wouldn’t lay properly). Sorry not to have more info for ya!

      xo,
      s

  24. Laura V. says

    Nerd alert: I just squealed with delight when you picked the cork. Totally what we’re doing our kitchen in! Well, the slightly lighter color called Dali (also by Libson), but close enough. :) We’re still doing some saving for the cabinets, so we have yet to start, but I must say I’m pretty stoked to stalk your install.

    I’ve been leaning towards DIY concrete countertops for awhile (reading a lot of tutorials and pinning like crazy), but I’m a little nervous for that seemingly monstrous task. Fingers crossed you guys pick those so I can double-stalk that concrete kitchen action. :D

    Reply

  25. Alanna says

    we recently renovated our kitchen, doing 95% of the work ourselves (http://alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/09/kitchen-renovation-update.html)

    we decided to replace our existing kitchen floors, as well as the flooring in the halls, living room, and dining room for a more open and cohesive feel. we got a great deal on strand woven bamboo flooring at lumber liquidators… we love those guys! my husband, dad, and i did the installation ourselves, which was a ton of work since our house is on a slab and we had to glue the flooring down. but it was definitely worth it in the end! we’re so happy with it!

    you can see pics of the floor install in the kitchen/family room here: http://alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/06/installing-floors.html

    and pics from the living room and dining room install here: http://alanna-wendt-to-tennessee.blogspot.com/2011/08/more-floors.html

    Reply

  26. Cate says

    I’ve heard that doggie nails can scratch or pit cork floors – I know your dog isn’t a 60-pound lab, but did you hear anything about that? I’ve been considering cork floors as well, but hesitated because of my 40-pound whirling dervish of a dog.
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Two of our four friends who have cork have big dogs and they haven’t had any issues. One of them said they had zero dog wear and tear and one with a 70 lb dog said they had had tiny “invisible” scratches in the sealer but not the cork itself (they compared them to those they also get in hardwood flooring if that makes sense – and said unless you’re laying face down on the floor you don’t notice it). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

    • KM says

      This is my concern too, especially with my cat. I could see her viewing cork as an awesome new scratching post >:(

  27. Amy says

    I love that you guys purchase things out of order for a sale just like me. I bought awesome glass tile for our kitchen backsplash & marmoleum for our kitchen floors a year ago during a Black Friday shopping palooza. And yeah…we still haven’t finished installing our cabinets. I visit the boxes in the basement every now and then to keep myself motivated! And, we installed cork in basement 2 years ago and LOVE it. It has a couple scratches from our dogs, but nothing worse than what we have on our hardwood floors upstairs.

    Reply

  29. jordan says

    Do you have any plans to bring your “clara” rug into the cozy fire-side of the kitchen? Just thought that would bring it all together….

    Reply

  32. Carley Peters says

    Awesome choice! When I first read cork, but before I saw what it looked like, I thought of the episode from Boy Meets World where Cory is redecorating their nasty apartment and gets everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) from Cork World. hahaha Good stuff. I can’t wait to see it, even if it isn’t until 2013. ;D

    Reply

  33. Holly says

    oh I love your inspiration pics and selection of cork flooring! I’ve been contemplating flooring for our kitchen and have what is probably an extremely amateur question… when you install the new flooring do pull out everything (cabinets, appliances) and install the new floor wall to wall? I wasn’t planning on replacing our cabinets but really want to update the floors and wasn’t sure if it would be, kinda dropping-the-ball, to only do the new flooring up to the cabinetry (but under appliances). hmmmm

    Reply

  34. Carol N. says

    We are just beginning an addition (new master bathroom and an elevator for my bad/getting worse knees) and one of the last things we are doing is replacing all the laminate/carpet/whatever flooring with nail down hardwood to match the dining room and entry. Can’t wait!

    Reply

  35. Megan@reFind says

    I have striped cork flooring in my kitchen and I love it!! My one piece of advise – keep burgers nails clipped. Animal claws can create scratches pretty easily on the cork. Clipping is an easy solution.
    You will also love cooking on your floors – they really are soft!!

    Reply

  36. Allyn says

    I always here such awesome things about cork! I’m glad to know that no one has any complaints that you spoke to. File that under “good to know.”
    Not being able to refinish the floors is one of the worst things about our otherwise awesome rental. We’ve painted almost every room, but the linoleum (funny word) in our bedroom (!) still drives me a little crazy. It looks way better now that the walls aren’t shiny institutional white, but linoleum! Bleh. I need more rugs.

    Reply

  37. Michelle says

    OMG, I can’t tell you how happy I am that you jumped off the Pergo train. I just can’t stand it. Like someone above says, it’s the sound when you walk on it, it just comes off an chincy. My apologies to the Pergo enthusiasts in the crowd.

    We are going to put in bamboo I think. We have a 60’s ranch that was wall to wall pink carpet when we moved in. It has hardwoods underneath, even in the closets, but the clown who installed that terrible pink carpet used 10 penny serrated nails to hold the carpet pad in place. They are so long that they actually poke through the sub floor into the basement. That is except for where they are nailed right into the floor joists. Yeah, my husband almost cried when we peeled back the carpet and saw that. Anyway, good luck and I can’t wait to see the progress!

    Reply

  38. Shannon C. says

    I’m in the early stages of designing and building a detached quilting studio behind my house and was just talking to my mom this morning about flooring options, so this post was particularly apropos! I love the look of the cork and will be super anxious to see how you guys like it. It’ll definitely be something I consider going forward. I know you probably weren’t looking for it, but did you guys happen to come across any rubber or rubber/laminate options in your flooring search?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You know, I’m not sure if we did! Sometimes we looked at things in flooring showrooms and didn’t know what we were looking at (haha, so maybe we did) but not that we know of!

      xo,
      s

  39. Kelly says

    I cant wait to see how this turns out since I have foot problems and I hear that cork is easier on the feet. I have a couple questions for you. 1st, I noticed in your lovely pinterest photos that there is no place for the microwave. It’s such an odd appliance but so necessary for my life. I dont like when they put it below the counter because its hard to see what’s going on and push the buttons (i can only imagine, i dont know this for sure). 2nd – I have laminate wood-like flooring from Lowes that we installed a couple years ago (hired some handyman to do it) and i dropped a 10 pound iron key on the floor (in two places) and now i have to take up these sections and replace them. How the heck do you do that?!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love what we did with our microwave in the first house (we installed it so it looked built in at the perfect height for easy access). You can see it here: https://www.younghouselove.com/113-days-later/ As for replacing parts of the laminate wood-like floor, we’ve actually never done that. Maybe google around for tips or ask at the home improvement or flooring center where you go it?

      xo,
      s

  40. Sheila says

    Put cork click/lock tiles (approx 1′ x 3′) in my kitchen last October (super, super sale – less than $2/sq foot) and it’s the best house decision I have made so far. So soft underfoot, easy to care for (Swiffer is my BFF), I have two dogs with long nails – no scratches so far. I did drop a waffle iron once and took a chunk out… but I just superglued it back in and I think I am the only one that can tell. :) Anyway, great choice – you won’t regret it – and very eco friendly! Yay for cork!

    Reply

  41. Julia says

    Love that you picked cork! When we renovated my bedroom 6 years ago, we replaced the carpet with cork. And it still looks great today! My parents liked it so much that they installed cork in their bedroom and our office as well. We just love that it’s really warm and quiet! So I’m sure you’ll be happy with your choice!

    Reply

  42. Emily says

    I was hoping you would go with cork! I am planning to use it for an upcoming renovation/addition so this way I can learn from your mistakes first :)

    Reply

  43. Wom-mom Ethne says

    We did a darker pergo a few years back and really liked it. No issues with the color/dirt showing issues. Color seems similar to your new cork flooring. Anyway, I’ve never heard of cork flooring, so I’m interested to see what you think.

    Reply

  44. Kristen says

    It’s so exciting that you’re prepping for the kitchen makeover! I’m really interested in the cork floor, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one installed but it sounds really neat.

    Reply

  45. Ruth H. says

    I’m totally stoked that my favorite DIY bloggers just chose cork. Oh yeah, just last week I convinced my husband that’s what we needed to replace the carpet with in our super-high-traffic great room. Just for the record, I thought of it first, okay? Our issue is that the former owners of our home used FIVE–count them–different floors in five adjoining spaces. Three of them still have some life left (I guess that’s good?), but two need to go. So, the question has been, what the heck do we install to tie all of the spaces together? That’s where cork has come to the rescue. I think it is going to look great, and since I hate shoes, I’m loving the warmth factor. Way to go on finding a great deal!

    Reply

  46. Debbie says

    when we re-did all the flooring in our AZ house, we did tile on the entire main level, 11,000 sq feet worth & we love everything about it! but when we re-did the floors in our log cabin in MN, we wanted something warmer looking & feeling so we went w/ Brazilian cherry hardwood, $34,000 later, i have to say that if i had to do it all over again, i wouldn’t. as in WOULD NOT. it’s beautiful looking, but even though we were told it was super durable, it scratches way too easily. a rep from the flooring company is coming to look at it next month to see if there is a defect in the finish, but i am incredibly disappointed. we are having it all ripped out next spring & installing reclaimed barn wood instead. try, try again….

    Reply

  47. Rebecca says

    I’m really surprised you went with cork. It is an amazing product and I love that it is eco-friendly. However, it is easily damaged by water and kitchen/laundry room = potential for a lot of water. Also, I’ve heard that similar to hardwood the floor needs to be extremely level to install cork.

    Have you heard different things about water and level floors?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have heard different types have different installation necessities (and the click kind that floats is a lot more flexible than the glued down thicker not-as-flexible kind). As for kitchens, three people we know have it in theirs (two in their entire first floor actually) and love it! It’s sealed just like hardwood (and actually naturally water resistant, more so than oak flooring) so it’s completely ok for kitchens and laundry rooms – although a steamy bathroom might not be the best choice! Hope it helps.

      xo,
      s

  48. Julia @ Chris loves Julia says

    The tile in our laundry room is cracked in places. Is this what happened? The floor just isn’t level? The tile is not our cup o’ cider anyway, but I am just trying to figure out what type of flooring would be best.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yeah- that could be the issue for sure! Or someone could have dropped something on it. If it just cracked over time on its own something more flexible (like cork or laminate or linoleum) might be better!

      xo,
      s

  49. Shannon says

    I haven’t read the comments, and skimmed your post for now, but do you guys know about Ebates? (I’m not selling anything, but…) You can purchase at Lumber Liquidators through Ebates and get cash back. at the time we made our cork purchase, we got 3% cash back because we went through Ebates. Just a thought… Ebates has like every online retailer imaginable on there and with coupons and cash back, I’ve made quite the killing…

    Reply

  50. Lizzy says

    Woohoo! We plan on re-doing our kitchen in a few months and have been looking at cork flooring. I’m psyched that you chose cork – admittedly for selfish reasons so I can see how you handle the installation and how the end result looks!

    I love the look of dark gray slate but that’s pretty hard on the hooves – considering we spend most of our time in the kitchen. Did you happen to come across any dark gray or black cork in your search?

    Good luck with your kitchen!

    p.s. All this cork talk reminds me of the SNL “soaking the cork” skit with Janet Jackson.

    Reply

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