The cork flooring was in his kitchen, of all rooms. It was plank flooring about 8 inches wide. The color was a rich medium brown and the pattern or grain was mesmerizing.

In our project, we show you how to install natural 12-in. unfinished cork tile over a sound plywood underlayment. This is just one of a wide variety of cork flooring products that are available.

To make the tiles, Jelinek Cork takes old wine corks which “ are cut into circular discs about 6mm (1/4″) thick and glued on a special paper backing to form interesting and unique mosaic patterns.

Most residential cork flooring uses 1-foot-square tiles with natural earth-tone colors. These can range from almost white, such as a wine bottle cork color, to deep brown or almost black.

This flooring is "floated" in that it is not glued or nailed directly to the subfloor, but laid on an underlayment -- in our example, cork, although 1/8-inch foam is also used.