Acclimation

When installing any natural product, it is important to allow the product to acclimate in the environment in which the installation is taking place for a period prior to install. Every manufacturers has their own guidelines which should be followed closely as improper acclimation can cause various problems post-installation such as; gapping and buckling or cupping.  This applies to both floors that are being glued down and floating floors. A little care prior to installation will help insure a quality installation free from product failure.

Solida Cork over Radiant Heat

When installing a cork floor over radiant heat, not all floors are created equal.
Most cork manufacturers and suppliers will only recommend the use of a floating
floor. Cork floating floors do work well with radiant heat bearing in mind that the
floor will take a little longer to achieve full temperature due to the MDF core.
Conversely, the floor will retain heat longer.
Solida also recommends the use of glue down floors over radiant heat. Many
manufacturers will not suggest this due to uncertainty with adhesive. Some cork
suppliers do not provide adhesive or the adhesive they do provide is not suitable
for this type of installation. Solida supplies a premium waterbased contact
adhesive with every order. This adhesive passes the Woodwork Institute of
California test for heat resistance and is perfectly suitable for installation over
radiant heat. Solida’s adhesive also exceeds California’s stringent air quality
requirements under Rule 1168.
When installing glue down tile over a radiant heat floor, two rules must be
adhered to. First, 5 days prior to installation, the heat must be brought up or
down to room temperature (70-72 degrees Fahrenheit) regardless of season.
Secondly, the floor temperature should never exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
After the floor is installed, the temperature can be adjusted as long as the second
rule is not broken. All other installation guidelines must still be followed.
A correctly installed and maintained cork floor will look beautiful for generations.

Maintaining a Cork Floor

Keep your floor clean. Sweep or vacuum regularly to remove grit, sand, stones etc.. These abrasive materials will damage both the finish and the cork tile. Clean up spills immediately as once they have set, spills become harder to clean up. Solida Cork floors should be cleaned with a waterbase urethane cleaner such as the specially formulated cleaner Solida Cork Cleaner, available from your dealer. Never use pretreated dusters or wet-jet type dusters or cleaners as these will damage the urethane finish. Observe the finish for signs of wear.To prevent damage to the cork tile, the finish must be recoated at the first signs of wear.
Use mats at entrance ways and in high traffic areas such as sinks and stoves. Do not use vinyl or rubber back mats which discolour floors. Install proper protectors on chair leg and table legs as well as heavy furniture. Use chair pads behind desks. A well maintained cork floor can last a lifetime!

A Little History!

Solida Cork & Bamboo has been distributing cork flooring since 1993. In 1997 Solida began manufacturing cork flooring. 1997 also marked the beginning of Solida’s entry into the USA. Solida Cork can now be found throughout most of the USA and Canada.

Each Solida floor is carefully handcrafted in our facility to meet the requirements of the end user. Every order from 10 square feet to tens of thousands of square feet is given the same attention to detail.

Solida offers both a site finish program, where the finish is applied after installation, and a pre-finished program which has the finish applied at the factory. Each of these programs is available in both traditional glue down tile and our Easy Cliq floating floor and each has its own benefits.

What sets the Solida site finish program apart from others is the virtually infinite number of possibilities you can put together! We have more colours, more designs, more shapes and more sizes than any other supplier. In addition because most of the work is done in our facility, we can offer custom colours, shapes and sizes. Each order is handcrafted to your wishes and supplied with a satin polyurethane or available matte polyurethane for on site application. This is why designers love the Solida program!