Put a Cork In It - Cork Tile Walls

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I spent Saturday installing cork tile on one wall of my parent's den.

They've just moved to a new apartment on Roosevelt Island and we're in the process of doing over their apartment. My mother wanted a cork wall to hang things on, and I suggested we do over the entire wall and make a statement with the cork. I did some research online and found a company that makes peel and stick adhesive cork tiles. If you've been watching my podcasts you'll remember I installed cork tile on my own desk walls years ago, and used contact adhesive. It was sticky-messy yuck, so I was very interested in self adhesion. The tiles came and we unpacked them as directed on the instructions. They need to acclimate to the environment for 48 hours, apparently. On installation day we were a bit non-plussed by the appearance of the tiles. They were starting to resemble bowls - the corners were curling up quite a bit.

We were a bit worried that they wouldn't adhere firmly. But we soldiered on, hopefully. I gathered the necessary supplies for the job:

A laser level
Pencil
Ruler
Tape measure (not shown)
Matt knife
Cutting surface
And, oddly enough - a rolling pin


The first step was to establish a level horizontal and vertical line on the wall to place the first tile on.

We did this by measuring the tiles (just under 12") and the wall (20.5") and then placing the line so that the whole tiles were centered on the wall with two strips above and below them. We also placed a strip to the left of the first whole tile that was the same width as the strips on the bottom and top. Next it was just the process of peeling off the backing and placing the tiles down and rollering them to make sure they were well adhered.

It's important to keep the tiles on the line or the whole wall will start to go off as you progress down. Also, they have a bit of give, so matching all corners - not just the edge - as you lay them down is important too. Once the whole tiles had all been placed I had to start cutting. Most of the cuts were just strips of differing widths, but there were a few complicated cuts to make around corners.

The end result was a warm, useful surface that deadens sound and gives the room a finished look. The tiles stuck very well, and are still sticking. The first one was placed off square and when pulled up had stuck so well that it pulled some of the wall board surface off with it and tore the tile! We used it for some of the partial pieces...

When we get the room completely styled I'll be sure and post a picture!

Have you ever installed cork on a wall? Did you use tiles or sheets? Did you use contact cement? How did it come out?