Buying Natural Coir Flooring

Guide to natural coir flooring including the pitfalls to watch out for and the reasons fitting is more expensive than carpet.
description | wear factors | price | widths | fitting | stairs | useful coir links

picture of coir on staircaseDescription - feel, colour, lifestyle

What is coir flooring like? Coir is fundamentally an ethnic textile and is woven using traditional weaving patterns such as boucle, herringbone and panama. It keeps its shape largely due to the latex which is poured on the back of it. The colour is a browny gold like rushes or wheat and is only modified by bleaching which produces a very light colour.

It is quite course to the touch because it comes from the outer husk of the coconut (the part we never see in the supermarket) - if you don't know what coir flooring is like - imagine stroking a coconut shell for an idea.

It is not a textile conducive to lying on, so if you often end up on the floor to watch television with a box of chocolates, this material is probably not for you. Great for rooms where you use furniture to sit on (though avoid office chairs with castors unless you use a rubber mat).

Wear factors - less hard wearing than wool, stains, intolerant of disturbance

As it is coarse to the touch, people think it is going to be fairly tough and hardwearing - this is not strictly true - wool will prove much more durable as a floorcovering (as will nylon). It is tough enough however to withstand reasonable domestic use but would not represent good value in areas with heavy public footfall (hotels, shops etc).

Coir flooring is very susceptible to staining, including water which will produce permanent marks. This obviously rules out kitchens and bathrooms which are NOT suitable (I know you're thinking yours will be OK - but it won't).

So, what is the best stain protection for coir flooring? A special sprayed on treatment called Intec. This is done by the suppliers so make sure you ask for it when you order. It costs about £2 - £3 a square metre (retail) which will help but it won't actually make coir stainproof - if kittens and puppies are a vital part of your life - avoid coir flooring.

TIP: Coir flooring is not very tolerant of being disturbed - try to make sure you don't need to get the floorboards up once it's fitted - oterwise you'll probably be left with constantly fraying edges (especially around radiator pipes) - seal with copydex at the first signs if this happens to you.

Price - lower cost than other natural flooring, alternative to sisal

The retail price for the actual material is between £10 - £20 so it is not expensive. However, the fitting is more expensive than conventional carpet floorcoverings (see below). Often customers settle on coir flooring when they really wanted sisal.

Widths - 2 metre, 4 metre (with tolerance), 5 metre

Most coir flooring comes in 4.00 metre widths, or just below (3.94 metres) with a realistic tolerance. The Alternative Flooring Company do sell some patterns in 2.00 metre widths which have been cut down from 4.00 metre. This will mean there will only be one salvage edge - frankly this is unlikely to be a problem - it makes narrow areas like flat hallways viable.

There are a small number of 5.00 metre widths available from both Crucial and The Alternative Flooring Company but don't expect many designs to be available. You will need 5.00 metre widths for the wider rooms as seaming is not very successful - lack of choice is far preferable to seams in this context.

Fitting - stairs, gripper, underlay, adhesive, acclimatising

It needs to be understood that coir flooring is fundamentally an ethnic product which would have been laid as loose mats in more basic architectural surroundings than we have in the west (i.e. huts). Western taste has demanded it be adapted to wall to wall fitting - this has been achieved quite successfully.

Fitting natural coir flooring is more expensive than normal carpet fitting - there is more involved - both in labour and materials:

  1. premium quality underlay such as Comfortbase (urethane foam) is necessary and not an option (expect it to be somewhere near £7.00m2)
  2. adhesive at £1.00 - £3.00 m2 (two layers on concrete floors)
  3. extra visit to deliver at least 48 hours in advance of fitting (some carpet salesmen/fitters doubt the need for coir to acclimatise to the local environment)

Coir is suitable for stairs and is fitted in the normal way on underlay and gripper - it's safe because it has ample friction to prevent accidental slipping - how it will wear, however is another matter - take a look at the carpet being removed to get a hint of where the excess wear is and where the coir is likely to give way.

Don't forget, natural coir flooring is not suitable to be fitted in kitchens and bathrooms where it will stain badly - even with protective Intec spray.

Useful coir flooring links

Crucial Trading - coir range; get free samples; free brochure

Alternative Flooring - coir (and jute) range; get free samples; free brochure

Kersaint Cobb - coir range; get free sample; free brochure

Facts about coir - production, geography etc

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