House Remodeling Thread (long)

[ny biker]

So, update. Apologies for the long rambling post here but since I'm making this decision all by myself, this helps me to think it through.

I've gone back to several of the flooring stores and spent a fair amount of time reconsidering samples that I had previously rejected. I ended up bringing home several samples that are cork but with an HD image printed on them, so they look like wood grain. I also brought home one sample that has a real cork look, in a tan color called "coffee" (which is more coffee ice cream than black coffee). A couple of the wood-look samples I brought home are a light grayish-brown. This is a trendy color right now but I ruled it out because it doesn't look good with my furniture. The coffee-colored cork was in the running for about a day but then I decided I don't like the way it looks in lamp light. And really it's too light.

So I've narrowed it down to two of the wood-look cork samples -- "Oak Fumed" from Ecotimber and "Kilmartin Pine" from US Floors. The color of the Ecotimber sample is definitely good. I think the US Floors color also works but I haven't seen it in sunlight yet -- it may have too much yellow in it.

But I had two concerns about the wood-look cork. First, is the wood image durable or is it easily scratched or marred? So I did a test with the Ecotimber sample. I put it on a hard surface (tile bathroom floor) and then I dropped a hammer on it from shoulder height (roughly 5' off the floor). Then I dropped it 5 more times. There was not a single mark from the hammer. I also tried scratching it with my fingernail -- really digging in -- and then I put on a high-heeled shoe and dug the edge of the heel into the cork. These two tests did leave marks but the cork has rebounded a bit and the marks have become less noticeable over time. BTW I also dropped the hammer onto a sample of engineered hardwood (oak) that I have at home and it left two dents. So the cork sample won that test -- it resists damage well. (I haven't tried the same test yet with the sample from US Floors -- if I decide I like the color I will try dropping things on it.)

My other concern is that the wood-look cork looks too fake. This is the main reason that I am still undecided. I think the main issue is the finish. I walked around one of the flooring stores looking at hardwood as well as LVT and laminate that look like wood. Almost all of hardwoods have a high-gloss finish. The fake wood-look products, including the two cork samples I'm considering, are all completely matte, no gloss at all. I think this is what makes it possible to tell that that they're not real wood.

On the other hand -- there was one hardwood sample with a very matte, totally unglossy finish. And it was from a brand that is considered high quality. So maybe a matte finish is not so bad? And when I first saw the Ecotimber wood-look cork at the store I ignored it because I thought it was hardwood. So it did fool me. The only reason I brought the sample home was because the guy in the store told me it was cork. And in general I'm not completely opposed to something that is fake wood. As long as it doesn't scream "cheap and fake" I think I'd be okay with it.

There is one more cork sample that I want to see in my home but haven't been able to get my hands on yet. I think the color is okay. The possible problem is the texture -- it's pretty busy and in photos that I've seen online it kind of looks like it's peeling. I'm still hoping to be able to bring a sample home so I can decide one way or the other.

So in summary my decision is:

- cork that is a good color but is imprinted with a wood-grain image that may look fake
- cork that is a good color and is a real cork texture but may look like a bad skin rash
- give up on cork and get hardwood

I'm leaning toward rolling the dice on the cork with the wood image that might look fake.

Here are some photos from the internet. The first two are the "Kilmartin Pine" from US Floors; both photos are from the manufacturer's site. The third and fourth are the cork with the good color but with the texture that concerns me. I think this actually doesn't look so bad in the third photo, which someone took in their house and posted on a decorating/remodeling forum. It does look bad in the fourth photo which is from the manufacturer.