Cork flooring is a much discussed topic these days amongst homeowners and interior decorators. If youve heard about it and want to learn more about this popular material, this article is for you.
Cork, an all-natural product, is produced from the bark of the QuercusSuber tree, also known as the cork oak tree. It grows mainly in Portugal and Spain around the Mediterranean Basin. The bark is carefully harvested from the tree using hand tools. This is done in such a manner so that the tree is not damaged or injured. After the top layer of bark is stripped off, the tree then regenerates and grows a new bark. This process will take up to about nine years before the regenerated bark is ready for harvesting.
To maintain the integrity of cork oak trees and to prevent over-harvesting, a law was passed during the 1930s that stipulated that the bark could be stripped from a tree only once in nine …