Choosing the cork oak floors that are right for your green building project

As you know, with Wicanders, the possibilities are nearly endless… We put Nature’s palette in your hands, combining textures and surprising colors. The originality and exotic contrasts of each pattern gives any surface a personal and distinctive touch.

But which floors are a better fit for your commercial design needs? Glue down or floating? Xtreme WRT or HPS? Read on, as today we help you determine which Wicanders floors are most suitable for your green building project…

Finding the right finish

Xtreme WRT—Wear Resistance Technology:
Ceramic is, after natural diamonds, the hardest known substance in the world. Our floating cork oak floors coated with Xtreme WRT finish with ceramic micro-bead technology, is a perfect choice if you are looking for a matte, unique, and durable finish with low maintenance.
We want you to feel assured that you are making a good, long-term investment when you choose Xtreme WRT flooring from Wicanders. Even with its hard and resistant features, Xtreme WRT gives the floor soft and natural qualities and none of the usual slippery and cold feel provided by ordinary finishes.

HPS—High Performance Surface:
The high traffic on commercial floors puts much demand on the floor and the finish. Wicanders commercial quality floors are produced with hard-wearing surface lying between the veneer and the HPS topcoat, which makes it extremely wear resistant.
Our HPS finish is based on nano beads technology. Extremely tiny beads are embedded in the top layer giving the whole surface improved properties such as scratch, slip, scuff, and stain resistance—without compromising the natural appearance, elasticity, and beauty of of our cork floors. If you are in search of flooring for high traffic areas with an extremely durable, low-sheen finish, Wicanders Cork Flooring with HPS is the choice for you. With a 15-year commercial warranty, we are confident you will love the look and feel of our HPS floors.

Glue-down versus Floating

Floating:
Wicanders Cork Oak floating floor planks are engineered with the patented CorkLoc® system on all four sides. Each edge is comprised of durable compressed cork fiberboard and Cork Protect®, a natural parafin-based all-around edge sealing system. This tightly pressed seal seamlessly vaccum locks against any and all moisture and debris, setting Wicanders CorkLoc® system apart from other floating floors.

Glue-down:
If your project calls for glue down tiles because of the area of application or the size of the job, Wicanders Series 200 and Series 2000 are the ideal products for you.

Wicanders Series 200 WRT "Natural"

And for a complete guide with detailed info on dimensions, LEED qualifying points, approximate installed cost, and our best-in-the-industry warranty, please be sure to download our 2008 Commercial Flooring Guide.

We’d also like to remind you that we have just launched a new Technical Info page right here on our blog. You can visit it by clicking here. Or if you have any questions you’d like answered, our master installers are always handy, so be sure to drop us a line.

Until next time…
Team Wicanders

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Installing Wicanders Cork Oak Floors

Installers! Soon there will be a section on our blog just for you…

Thank you for your questions and feedback. We are in the process of putting together an Installation FAQ’s section, which will be featured right here on our blog.

In the meantime, we thought we would share a video of DYI guru Bob Villa installing our Wicanders cork oak floors at a Miami Beach condo.

As stated on his website, “Bob looks at flooring options that included grinding and polishing the cement floors for a loft look, or ceramic Cuban tile, but the sound factor made both impossible. David Southard of DS WoodWorks explains that the building’s impact insulation class or IIC made using tile or hard-surface flooring difficult. To tile the floor would mean more than one inch of cork and plywood underneath and shaving all the doors. So, Bob opted for cork flooring from Wicanders, which is multi-layered with cork faces, a fiberboard middle, and a protective finish on top. Installed on top of cork underlayment for extra insulation, the cork floor is very soft underfoot and quiet. Installation is easy with an angle-to-angle fit. The planks are installed like puzzle pieces then tapped into place for a snap-together fit.”

Watch the video…

And if you have an installation question you would like answered in the meantime, please leave us a comment right here and we’ll be sure to post an answer. We always love hearing from you!

Best…
Team Wicanders

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Award-Winning Children’s Hospital Chooses Our Cork Flooring for Play Area

Hi, everyone!

Team Wicanders here with more exciting news from the world of cork floors…

The need to create a safe, calm, and comfortable children’s play area has led to the installation of Wicanders Series 4000 cork flooring within the central atrium, at the heart of the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton, UK.

Equally exciting, the busy pediatrics hospital won an International Health Care Award, in recognition of its innovative design and promotion of health and wellbeing.

Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital

Cork Oak Flooring in the Central Atrium

Cork flooring’s natural warmth and ability to absorb sound helps to create a comfortable play area, where children can unwind and just be kids. The layered assembly of our flooring uses a central cork layer to create a cushioned effect that, unlike hard flooring, absorbs step and impact sound, so the pitter-patter of their little feet doesn’t disturb other little kids that are busy getting well.

Cork Oak’s durability and ease of maintenance also makes our floors a strong choice, as it was essential that the chosen flooring could withstand high levels of wear and frequent cleaning. Plus, cork flooring’s excellent environmental credentials complemented the hospital’s forward-thinking design.

Our Series 4000 is ideal for high traffic commercial and public areas, comprising a cork agglomerate core, natural wood layer and hardwearing surface to deliver high durability. As a really neat side benefit, cork oak floors are naturally hypoallergenic, antimicrobial, insect repellent and anti-static, which is great for big and little kids alike.

Now isn’t it exciting to see how cork, as a fully sustainable and recyclable material, can help the heath care sector to build green?

Best…
Team Wicanders

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Green Building? Think Wicanders Cork Oak Flooring

You’d almost think architect Eric Gjerde, AIA, was writing our cork oak blog! Posted at 7:09 am and 9:25 am on Saturday, July 26th, seems like Eric was up early writing about cork floors on his GreenBuildingToday blog. Yes, cork is a really ‘green’ building product, which is why we all believe he spent several hours of his time writing about it on Saturday when he could have been sleeping in.

Two articles by Eric, “The Top 10 Reasons Why I Like Cork”, and “Cork is a Green Building Product”, are excellent. Of course, we’re a bit partial…but that’s to be expected.

He ends one post with, “Love that Cork” and “Remember to Tread Lightly or Less, Be Green, Be Happy.”

We couldn’t have said it better. Thanks Eric!

And to all the architects out there thinking about using cork in your flooring projects, we’ve got some great samples we can send to you. Just ask by leaving a comment or send us an email at projects@wicanderscorkoakblog.com.

Team Wicanders

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