Home Sweet Home

20 Work a maximum of 1 m at a time. If you do more, you run the risk of the adhesive skinning, and not adhering properly to the tiles.

21 Lay the first tile straight down without sliding it in place. Take great care in aligning it properly. All tiles should be laid without sliding them in place.

22 Lay the following tiles in the form of triangles towards the corner, butting each one against its neighbours.

23 When you reach a wall, tiles will need to be cut.

To mark the exact shape required, place a full tile over the last full tile laid in that row, and place another full tile over that. The top tile can then be slid against the wall or skirting. Use a pencil to mark a line on the lower tile, which corresponds to where the tile should be cut.

24 Cut the tile with a straight edge and a sharp utility knife. If you end up with a rough edge, you may need to lightly sand the edge.

25 Finish one quarter at a time, and clean excess adhesive off the floor as you go so that you will be able to continue from where you left off the following day.

26 Clean all applicators ready for the next day’s work.

27 Repeat these steps for all other sections, until the floor is finished.

KITCHEN

28 Repeat the above steps in the adjoining kitchen in the same way. The steps will need all cut tiles, and the cork will need to be measured individually. Apply the tread tiles first, then the riser tiles.

29 When the cork is down but before it is finished, it is important to avoid staining the floor with food, drinks or paint, or even stains from dirt or building debris carried underfoot. It is safest to keep traffic off the floor.

30 Once the tiles are set (leave overnight), the floor will need to be sanded to remove any high spots, or to level where the thickness of tiles was not exactly the same. (Some variation in thickness is not uncommon.) You can have the floor professionally sanded to level the joints, or do it yourself with an orbital sander or hand-float. It is a slow job — you must take care not to sand grooves or depressions into the floor. Use #120 grade paper. The dust generated is unbelievable and you should wear a mask with a fine particle filter for breathing.

31 Vacuum floor again.

32 You are now ready to coat the floor. For your breathing protection, obtain a cartridge rated for protection against hydrocarbon fumes, because the odour of many of the coatings is overpowering.

33 Open windows and provide good ventilation through the room. Close doors to other areas of the house.

34 Apply the first coat of polyurethane by brushing around the perimeter. Use a roller on an extension rod for the main body of the floor. The roller should have a medium nap.

35 Once dry, sand smooth with #120 paper and vacuum once again.

36 Apply the second coat of polyurethane as before. You start getting a shine with this coat.

37 Give the floor a last final light sand and vacuum up the dust carefully.

38 Close the windows to provide still, dustless air. Apply the final coat with brush and roller, and let this cure for at least 24 hours before light traffic, and three or four days before normal traffic is let on the floor.

• To make a perfect right- angled triangle, mark 800 mm along one line from the right angle, and 600 mm along the one perpendicular to it. The diagonal between these two marks should be exactly 1000 mm. If the measurement is not accurate, then you do not have a perfect right angle. Adjust as necessary.

• An alternative adhesive often suggested by cork merchants is to use a contact adhesive rather than the more old-fashioned latex. If this is the case, the rear of the cork tiles can be factory-coated with adhesive, and you only have to apply the contact to the floor. The tiles are ready to be applied to the floor when the floor adhesive has lost its milkiness, and is essentially dry to the touch. Tiles must be carefully aligned and set in place, as they will immediately ‘grab’ on contact. Using this system does not give you as much scope for moving the tiles around; however, the tiles will adhere better immediately.

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