Eco-Friendly Walls that Soundproof Your Home

More and more uses are being found for cork. While wineries are moving to a more synthetic material, construction is moving toward cork. This is a very eco-friendly material that has very little impact on the environment. It is fairly cheap and does a lot for your home. Cork can give a nice appearance all on its own and add a certain texture to your walls that is rarely duplicated. It is very easy to install and can be done by anyone that can use glue. One of the biggest advantages for this is for parents. Cork is naturally sound absorbing. Not only will you hear less noise, but if your kids do get a little rambunctious, the cork wall acts like padding. Not only is it safer and saner to use this with kids around, it can add a nice little effect to your interior decoration.

To install this on your wall, you will want to first remove any wall paper or molding from your wall. You want to strip it down to the drywall if you can. It may take a little to get the paint off, but you will need this in order to get a good attachment with your cork wall. Once you get everything taken off the wall, you will want to use a mild soap to make sure you get all the dust and particles off the wall. Do not saturate the wall or you can cause mold and damage. A damp cloth over the wall would be fine. You don't really want to use a dusting spray, since these can leave a wax film on the wall's surface.

Now you will need to cut out the cork squares. You can install these in sheets, but if you are not painting the wall afterwards, you may want to cut them into squares. So you can alternate the grains. Some of the cork board out there will already be in this alternating pattern and you can just mount that directly. This is really a matter of personal preference. If you are going to paint over the cork, you won't have to worry about this. If you tend to change your mind on your interior decoration, you may want to use a sheet of plywood or Lauan under the cork board so that you do not rip the drywall down if you decide to remove the cork. If you are adding this as a base, you can use screws to attach it to the studs and that way, you can revert back to the drywall look if you so desire. All that you will have to do is patch several screw holes in the wall.

To install the sheets, use a generous amount of liquid nails on the back side of the board. You can then push the board into place. You will want to take a spare piece of wood or cork board to use as a guide. You will place this on the edge of the cork board and gently tap it with a hammer until it is in place and snug against the other boards. Continue this until you have completely covered the walls. Make sure you wipe off any liquid nails that push out of the seams. If you let it dry first, it can be impossible to remove and may make your wall look bad. Once you have everything in place, you may want to take some finishing nails to each square to add some stability. This is even more important in humid areas. The liquid nails could become exposed to the humidity and get a little soft on occasion. By having the nails, you can make sure that your wall doesn't start to fall off. The nails will be perfectly disguised by the natural appearance of the cork.

This is a rather simple project that can do a lot for your home. You can make a wall for your kids to hang whatever posters or pictures they want on and then return to the drywall when they move out. The soundproof and insulation qualities of this wall are also a boon for any house. There are a lot of things that you can do with this wall and it is cheap and easy to install.