Wood You Like

Articles on real natural wooden flooring and more

2008-06-03T15:43:00.002+01:00

Summary of latest articles on our FAQ & News interactive, dynamic website:

Wood You Like more info, news, questions answered?

2007-03-16T11:54:00.003Z

We like to invite you to join us at
"Wood You Like, Natural Wooden Flooring -
tips and advice on natural wooden flooring (and much more)" our FAQ & News site (replacing this site)

where you can read, discuss, comment and ask your own questions on anything related to wooden flooring, be it preparations you need to take, installation methods, care and maintenance practise.

Come and join in!

See next post for recently published articles on our FAQ & News interactive dynamic website

How to lay a wooden floor: Keep it Simple

2007-01-24T16:35:00.000Z

Installing a wooden floor (solid or wood-engineered) as DIY-er isn’t rocket science, more a case of common sense, patience, using the correct materials and making the correct preparations.

Read more....

Case-study: Duoplank on Underfloor Heating

2007-01-19T12:30:00.000Z

"As self-builders, we are very involved in specifying the materials used in our house. We wanted the look and feel of real oak planks but without too many of the difficulties associated with the shrinkage of natural oak.
We quickly identified the Duoplank product through its UK distributor Wood-You-Like in Kent. This is an Engineered Board made with a wide top solid layer of natural oak and a high-quality birch ply substrate, critical to us because we were installing on concrete with UFH embedded in the floor.
Read more......

Websites 'revamped' and Wood You Like The Bookshop?

2006-11-29T15:24:00.000Z

Updated, upgraded and we think an even better integrated and simplified menu to the many pages of our informative website. In fact there were two websites (two website domains) created over the last four years as those things happen:
www.wood-you-like.co.uk informing you about our products and services and
www.wood-you-like-diy.co.uk filled with tips and advice on many subjects relating to Natural Wooden Flooring to cater for the increasing amount of DIY-customers.
We thought the time had come to make both sites more into one informative integrated display. Have a look and tell us what you think. There will always be room for improvement.

Besides the upgraded website you can now also 'browse' (and request through simple email-links) all of our leaflets on and about Natural Wooden Flooring; the ranges we can supply and install for you; even more tips and advice and much more.

We have released our first 'technical' booklet:
Wood You Like The Benefits and Advantages Of Natural Wooden Flooring

In this E-booklet we explain (of course) the many benefits natural wooden flooring will give you;
we teach you to distinguish between the many differences in wood, wood-types, floor-types available on the market so you will never be confused again;
which floor or wood type is most suited for which area/room and we give tips on which floor suits which design style;
why different grades in wood mean different prices;
the differences (advantages/disadvantages) between an oiled finish over a lacquered finish and much more. See our bookshop for more details

Kiss Business 1 E-book, Kiss 2 blog

2006-10-19T13:31:00.000+01:00

The business novel: The Kiss Business, the "Keep It Simple Sweetheart" principle in business is now also available in E-book form (£ 6.95).
The paperback version can of course still be bought also online or in our showroom.

Interested in The Kiss Business too
(subtitled: No more "Double Dutch" in business)?

Read the Kiss2 blog, join the discussion, write your own 'keep-it-simple-business-practice' articles.
Or just subscribe to the email-feed to get notified as soon as a new article is published.

Solid Strip Flooring

2006-10-07T15:20:00.000+01:00

Wood You Like has extended its range of Solid Pre-finished flooring with a variety of strip flooring (small widths 90 - 125mm).
Oak Prime and Rustic, natural lacquer finish or stained Wheat, Gun Stock and even Walnut.

From Birch, Jatoba, Merbau to the exotic Kulim (Bawang Hutan)

More......

Solid (composed) Bamboo added to range

2006-10-06T15:27:00.000+01:00

We have added Solid (composed) Bamboo to our Standard Range although it's not even a wood. But where better, due to its construction and ecomical price, than in our standard range?

Bamboo is availalbe both in vertical or horizontal pressed and in a natural or caramel colour. More........

Indoor Thermometer and Hygrometer

2006-10-05T11:57:00.000+01:00

Maximum-Minimum Indoor Thermometer and Hygrometer. Available from our showroom for just £ 17.50 (ex VAT, including battery, instructions of use and Wood You Like’s leaflet on House-climate).

More.............

Basic and Standard Range: changes and updates

2006-09-30T14:12:00.000+01:00

Wood You Like has always been proud of its straightforward ranges in natural wooden flooring. We also keep a keen eye on price and quality relations.

Due to price increases we have now made some significant changes to our Basic and Standard range. More......

Launch of Wood You Like FAQ Blog

2006-09-30T12:25:00.000+01:00

Wood You Like has just launched its Frequently Asked Questions Blog:
Wood You Like Typepad Tips and Advice Blog

It combines specific tips and advice on all matters related to Natural Wooden Flooring (from preparations and installations to taking care of your floor) and the opportunity for 'blog' visitors to ask their own questions in various categories.

You can even register to be automagically informed by email when a new topic has been posted.

Padouk wood and bespoke parquet flooring

2006-09-08T15:15:00.000+01:00

Installing design parquet patterns is one of the specialities we do - from 'simple' herringbone to various elaborate patterns (see our 'something special' page). We have received a new (double sided) large sample board in our showroom:

Padouk (Pterocarpus) is valued for its toughness, stability in use, and, having a reddish colour, decorativeness. When freshly cut, it is a very bright red but when exposed to sunlight it fades over time to a warm brown. Its color makes it a favourite among woodworkers.

But it's not only wood in design patterns we can supply/install for you: we frequently receive requests to source missing amounts in wood strips, blocks or planks in specific measurements for renovation-projects, sizes or wood types normally not available in the main-stream supply-lines.
With help from our (Dutch) manufacturer we can provide - bespoke - flooring matching in size in various wood-types. Among these are 10mm wood blocks in Oak, Teak, Afzelia, Merbau from 50 to 90mm wide cut in any lengths or 10 - 14mm woodstrips with T&G's.
Need something even different or rare, why not give us a call? We know our manufacturer can honour most of our requests (they haven't said 'can't do' to us yet).
(N.B. colour differences between new and old blocks, strips will be noticeable in the beginning)

Another range added to our collection: Quality Cork Flooring

2006-08-30T16:18:00.000+01:00

We're happy to announce we are (again) able to supply (and install) Natural Cork (WicCork) and Natural Wood-Cork (WicWood) Flooring.

Cork flooring: a perfect solution where extra sound-insulation is needed, without compromising on elegance or well being, from a renewable and sustainable natural source.
The raw material in this product comes from the cork Oak tree (south of Portugal). The bark of the tree is harvested every nine years. This is the time it takes for these trees to produce the essential structure that provides the raw material with its unique properties and makes it the best insulating material in the world.

WicCork "Nature walks with you": a palette of ideas inspired by nature, combining textures and surprising colours. The originality of each pattern gives any surface a personal and distinctive touch.
The 'stick-down' tiles can be supplied pre-finished with a hardwearing surface layer, very suitable for high traffic residential areas, commercial and public spaces. The tiles are build up with a vinyl-backing layer, cork agglomerate core, real cork veneer and a clear vinyl wear layer.
For easy and quick installation WicCork is also available in 29.5 cm wide by 90 cm long composed floorboards (10.5mm or 12mm thick) with integrated insulating cork underlay and HDF middle layer with the Corkloc glueless system.

Ask in store for more details, technical specifications (sound reduction per range etc) and prices.

Wood You Like has a wide range of Natural Wooden Flooring, visit our 'Bookshop' to request our Range leaflets filled with details and specification.

Wood You Like Real Wood

2006-08-03T14:26:00.000+01:00

Wood You Like supports the European Real Wood promotion campaign:

FEP - the European Federation of the Parquet Industry - regroups the leading European manufacturers of parquet flooring and their suppliers.
A major goal of FEP is to communicate the benefits of Real Wood and it has developed a label to this end to facilitate the identification and act as a basic cornerstone in the process of differentiating real wood floors from other flooring solutions.

All Natural Wooden Flooring available from our showroom are Real Wood.
Call for more information, quotes or tips and advice on selecting your Natural Wooden Flooring:
01233 - 713725 or email us at info@wood-you-like.co.uk

No matter if you want us to install our quality wood flooring for you or you want to install the flooring yourself (or your builder): if you bring the measurements of the area you plan to have natural wooden flooring installed in with you when you visit our showroom we can give you an accurate estimate of all costs involved on the spot (with no obligations whatsoever).

The Kiss Business released

2006-07-31T15:07:00.000+01:00

Now available in our showroom:

The Kiss Business, the "Keep It Simple Principle Sweetheart" principle in business
(Business novel about the journey of starting and growing a Natural Wooden Flooring retails business in Kent UK. Part fiction/part fact-based)

See "the Kiss Business" dedicated website for:
Why the story
What's in the story
Who's in the story
and how to order the story

Adding value to your home with:

2006-06-19T14:54:00.000+01:00

1) Natural Wooden features increases the value of your home
ICI Woodcare reports that adding/restoring natural wooden features in your home can increase the value of it. Wooden features include (stripped) wooden doors, door and window frames, wooden banisters on stair and landing, real wooden kitchen cupboards (or only cupboard doors) and of course installing Natural Wooden Flooring in the main areas. As mentioned in last month's newsletter wooden flooring also benefits Asthma, allergy and eczema sufferers, especially when installed in bedrooms.

Talking about Natural Wooden Flooring: the most popular wood-type is still Oak and the grade mostly sold is Rustic. When deciding on Natural Wooden Flooring it's best to keep this in mind, especially when you want to climb the 'property-ladder'. A Rustic Oak floor added to your home sells it better than for instance a tropical wood-type. Even if you would choose a specific coloured Oak floor (like Smoked, White-washed, Antique stained or Castle Grey oiled), the new owner can change this more easily to his/her own liking than trying to change a dark tropical floor into a lighter coloured one.

Most customers (in the U.K. that is) find a premium grade Oak floor looks too 'neat' and resembles a Melamine (Plastic) Laminate floor too much.

Also always make sure you install (have installed) the most suitable floor-types; e.g. we never recommend Solid wooden flooring on Underfloor Heating or in bathrooms and kitchens. Most modern Wood-Engineered flooring are now available in a full-plank and bevelled version; once installed you can't really tell the difference between this type or a solid floor; while Wood-Engineered flooring is much more stable in many circumstances

2) New builds

Buying a home is a milestone for most of us; be it finally getting onto the property ladder, up-grading or down-grading. Nowadays most new builds come with a choice in floorcovering, from 'standard' wall-to-wall carpet to (mostly) Wood-Veneer or if you're lucky even proper Wood-Engineered flooring. Only, most larger developers restrict the actual choice you have: they send you to one flooring supplier where you can decide between Oak, Beech or perhaps Maple 3-strip. If you want something else or a better/higher quality you have to prepare yourself for a 'hard struggle'.

Our own experience has taught us that 'stubborn' new home buyers usual get what they want in the end: i.e. the Natural Wooden Flooring from the company they select themselves and where the difference in price between the 'standard' fixed choice and the final choice isn't (on average) that much. If the developer/builder agrees to it, the alternative choice can be included (and paid for) before the exchange date, resulting in the new home owner not having to pay the VAT on the wooden flooring nor on the installation costs.

A word of advice: when buying a new build home on a large housing estate it's better to wait with installing Natural Wooden Flooring until all building works (including the final road surface) is completely finished. Imagine the 'sanding-effect' on your newly installed floor! In these situations we advice a cheap (and cheerful) carpet, not too light in colour, until all 'dust has settled'. Or, if you insist, on a wooden flooring with an oil finish (instead of a lacquer finish).

3) Creating your dream home

Besides Wooden features, there are (several) other ways to improve and/or increase the value of your home, if you're selling or not. Most obvious is increasing the number of rooms. This can be done by building an extension, installing a conservatory or changing the loft into another bedroom, study or bathroom. Before you start with any of these, make sure if any planning permission is needed.
Not all improvements will be made just in order to increasing the sales amount when selling your home, but more and mostly for creating your own 'dream home', but it is always best to think ahead. Updating a worn-out or 'seventies' kitchen surely will keep its value, so will improving the bathroom to a more modern and practical outlay. But don't forget the benefits (now and later) of replacing rotten windows, changing an old boiler (15 year or older) for an energy efficient one; installing double-glazed windows (and no, they don't have to be imbedded in PVAC) and/or other draught eliminating measures (like insulation the loft). Some energy saving projects even come with financial help from the government.

Talking about dream homes, a recent survey (by Rhodec International on 3000 home-owners) shows that 80% prefers the tranquillity of the countryside to the 'rat-race' hustle and bustle' of the city. And U.K's fine climate makes 50% wishing for homes in sunnier locations. The survey revealed some interesting 'design' wishes: one in five would opt for the cosy cottage look over modern, minimalist or bohemian designs (something to keep in mind when dashing around with paint-brushes, attacking MDF, copying TV DIY-programs or shopping for soft-furnishing).

A personal gym or a swimming pool scores also very high on the 'dream home wish list', and we seem to be willing to spend two thirds of our hard earned savings on creating our dream home. Most would even consider building a house from scratch! (Better involve an architect from day one with this, more change you really realise the dream within time and budget.)

4) House doctoring the correct way
How many television programs do you know that show 'easy' tricks to get your house sold quicker and for more money? And how many do you believe? Neglected maintenance won't disappear overnight or under a thick coat of glossy paint, nor will cheap Melamine Laminate flooring look (or sound for that matter) like the real thing.

We've teamed up with Inspiring Interiors (Folkestone) for advice and tips that really work. The main word is DE: de-personalise, de-clutter and de-stain, de-smell. Most of this can be done on a small budget.
If you want/need to get the paint-brush out, choose a neutral colour for all rooms in order for the potential new owner to 'vision' it in their own design style. Keep an eye on the era of your property; make sure your decoration matches it.
Cut the grass and tidy-up the garden (and garden shed!) and don't forget about 'kerb-appeal': a tidy front-garden with some hanging basket with flowering plants will do wonders. Also, give the front door a fresh lick of paint; potential buyers make up their mind within the first eight seconds of a viewing.
De-clutter all rooms, most removal companies can give you boxes to start 'packing' right away (the big plan is to move out anyway, so take double advantage of this).
De-personalise; potential new owners aren't really that interested in a wall filled with pictures of your (grand)children or sport paraphernalia, they are more interested in what potential your home has for their personality. So the more you can make it a 'blanc canvas', the better it is, but don't go overboard and make your home unwelcome cool and/or cold.
Please don't be offended by the next tip: De-stain and de-smell; make sure your home is/looks clean and smells fresh (ventilate all rooms prior to viewings by potential buyers, no need for aromatic candles or perfumed oils - some people are allergic to this!). If needed, invest in a 'spring-clean team' before the first viewing, then all you have to do later is keep it tidy.
For more tips/advice and help see 'The House Doctor' service.

Feel free to contact us for your own value adding Natural Wooden Flooring

Healthy Homes

2006-05-07T13:26:00.000+01:00

1) Healthy Homes and Allergies

In our last two newsletters we already mentioned that house dust is the major cause of allergy in people with year long runny or blocked nose and/or sneezing. In addition to these allergic reactions, dust can trigger and irritate asthma and eczema.

Allergies are the result of an overactive and over-performing immune system. There are many different types of allergies. Some allergies are genetic. If one of more parent suffers with eczema, asthma or allergies, it is more likely that any children will suffer one or more of these too.
Some allergies are contact related and in order to have an allergic reaction you need to have had contact with the allergen. Eczema, asthma and hay fever (allergic rhinitis) are all considered forms of allergy.
Almost all asthma in young people is allergic asthma. This means having inherited genes which makes it possible to get asthma; plus allergy-producing things in the environment, such as house dust mites, cats, or dogs; as 'trigger' factors.

A speck of dust may contain fabric fibres, human skin, bacteria, animal danders, pollen, grains, moulds spores, food particles, mites and mites-droppings. Mites cannot be seen without a microscope. They thrive in warm and humid conditions. Because they feed on skin scales, they love bedding, carpets, upholstered furniture, clothing, closets and car seats. They usually survive ordinary vacuuming because they burrow deep and are equipped with sucking pads on their feet. Please see here for more research information about house mites and allergies, the known information could fill many newsletters.

Rigorous vacuuming every day can help to reduce the amount of mites; I don't know about you, but personally I find every vacuum cleaner 'smells' of dust, no matter how many times you empty the dust bag (one of the most tedious and dusty tasks around!) or change the filter. I use a soft-broom for day-to-day cleaning of our floor-covering, but that's a hard task on carpets I'm afraid.
Carpets - they provide a breeding ground for mites. Choose short pile carpets or rugs and or decide to have Natural Wooden Flooring.
The positive effect on your health by replacing carpets with wooden flooring doesn't take long to occur as one of our customers wrote us:
"You may also wish to know that my sinuses and allergies have been greatly reduced since the removal of carpet and the fitting of a beautiful wood floor"

2) Healthy Homes and Eczema

Eczema sufferers tend to be allergic to a wide range of substances in every day life that the non-eczema sufferer is not. For example, food, house dust mites, pollen, animals, moulds, drugs (eg antibiotics), lanolin, metals, solvents, household chemicals to name but a few.

People with sensitive skin or eczema and psoriasis suffer particularly from bathing and washing in hard water, but they also get the accumulative effect of wearing clothing with residual scale. Scum and harsh detergents in them, constantly in contact with their delicate skin their condition is continually aggravated, day in and day out, when they sleep they are still in contact with night wear and bed linen, it's a continual process.
Rain water is naturally soft, and most people understand how good it is for washing with, and many people still gather rain or fresh spring water to wash their hair with, but that is just too impractical for most people.

Water remains soft in many parts of the country, but for those of us in hard water areas (60%) the rain water dissolves calcium from the chalk downs and limestone layers beneath the ground and transforms it into the damaging and aggravating solution that we know and recognise as hard water in our homes.
By turning hard water back into soft water again, you can have all of the benefits of beautifully softened water in your own home, on tap 24/7 and no need to wait for rain!

Better Water Solutions (based in Charing, Kent U.K.) is offering you a FREE (no obligation) hard water test to help you find out if you could benefit from having a water softener installed in your home. All you have to do is to contact them by email, supply your name and address and Better Water Solutions will send you a test bottle for you to fill with water from your kitchen cold water tap. Once it has been returned to them in the envelope provided, they will test it and send you an email with the results and advice on the best suitable water softener for you.

A water softener doesn't only have a positive effect on eczema, but will also reduce the amount of detergents, shampoos and soaps needed; make your appliances work more efficient (up to 70% more!) and longer by eliminating scale deposits. Plus, everything will taste better: coffee, tea, boiled vegetables - potatoes etc and of course a normal glass of fresh water because water softeners and filters will remove the Chlorine and other chemicals from you water supply.
And, as one of our own customers discovered: softened water spilled on wooden floors doesn't create hard to remove white-spots.

3) The Allergy Show 16 - 18 June 2006 Olympia London

The Allergy show is for people with food allergies and intolerance, sensitive skin, eczema, asthma, hay fever, and chemical sensitiveness, parents of children with these conditions and healthcare professionals with an interest in these conditions.
See here for more information.

4) Simple tips for Healthy Homes

These following tips are not only beneficial for people suffering from Asthma, eczema or allergies, they will have a healthy effect on all of us.
One of the most simple ones is: VENTILATE

It still amazes us that some people don't ventilate their rooms/homes just once a day for say only 5 - 10 minutes (even in Winter!). Opening a window for a small period of time will get rid of excessive moist, dust, tobacco and other 'bad' smells, and bring in some nice fresh air. Of course you can buy 'fresh-air' from a bottle/spray, but do we really want that? Fresh air from ventilation is FREE and will do your home and yourself a world of good.

Another tip, is to make sure the humidity in your home stays at a comfortable level. Not just good for your wooden flooring (to prevent extra expansion or shrinkage) but also very good for yourself. Dry air will dry out your skin and especially for eczema sufferers not a good thing to have. See our tips and advice page for more info on healthy house climate

How to beat your Kid's Asthma

2006-04-05T10:57:00.000+01:00

In a two-part report Dispatches, Channel 4's documentation program, focuses on tackling Asthma and Allergies in children.
Asthma and allergies affect more than one million children in Britain. Twelve families take part in an experiment to eradicate the triggers of the condition by living in an allergen-free home.

First part of the program will be shown on Thursday 6 April 2006 at 9.00pm. Second part of the program will be shown Monday 10 April 2006 at 9.00pm

Ripping out carpets to replace it with a hard floor covering (like natural wooden flooring) is more and more recommended to help reduce the triggers of Asthma and Allergies. Read more about healthy flooring on our website.

Our ranges in Natural Wooden Flooring (simplicity rules)

2006-03-24T16:45:00.000Z

At Wood You Like we are always in favour of keeping everything simple, life can be complicated enough as it is.
This principle translates itself in:

- our straight forward advice; we are always more than willing to answer any of your questions or enquiries relating to wooden flooring, from advice on the most suitable flooring type for your circumstances to installation tips for DIY-ers.

- our specified quotes; no surprises afterwards since our quotation will cover all materials and labour (if applicable; our installation service covers the East Kent area) needed for the job.

- our 4-seasons guarantee on labour (if applicable); Natural Wooden Flooring needs to adjust to your unique house-climate during the different seasons, (extreme circumstance apart) our guarantee means you don't have to worry about added charges when your wooden flooring doesn't behave itself as it should do during its first year.

- our straight forward ranges (see below) in Natural Wooden Flooring; basic range, standard range, Duoplank and Solid range and Original Chapel Parket range catering for all budgets, interiors and special design ideas:

1) Our Basic range:
Wood-Engineered flooring in Premium Oak 3-strip lacquered and Rustic Oak or Maple full-plank boards in various widths and lacquered or oil finishes (normal Tongue & Groove system, full-planks micro-bevelled on all four sides)
(from £26.00 to £ £41.95 per sq m, ex VAT; Solid top layer 3.5mm, total thickness 14.5mm)
Also available: 15mm Solid floorboard Oak Nature 2-strip, bevelled on long-sides, lacquered (only £30.00 per sq m, ex VAT)
Request our Basic Range leaflet for all specifications

2) Our Standard Wood-Engineered 3-strip range
A very wide selection in wood types; from Oak, Maple, Beech, Ash to Iroco, Merbau, Jatoba and Jarrah. Available in various grades with lacquer or oil finish. Solid top layer of 3.5mm and Profiloc glueless system.
(from £32.95 to £66.25 per sq m, ex VAT)
Request our Standard Range leaflet for all specifications

3) Our Duoplank and Solid range

Duoplank is one of the most stable and versatile full-plank Wood-Engineered flooring around: 6mm Solid top layer on 15mm water-resistant-plywood, bevelled on long sides, load bearing and suitable for installation on underfloor heating.
The selection starts with Oak County (unfinished) and ends with Wenge (to be finished on site). In between are Oaks in various grades and natural colours/finishes and 14 (FSC) tropical wood species.
Most of these we are also able to supply as Solid boards in various widths and finishes
(from £41.25 to £85.75 per sq m, ex VAT; standard thickness 21mm, normal T&G system)
Request our Duoplank and Solid Range leaflet for all specifications

FSC = The wood in this product comes from well managed forests independently certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council.

Request our Complete Range leaflet of all specifications on Basic, Standard, Duoplank and Solid range.

4) Our Original Chapel Parket range in aged and destressed flooring
Solid (20mm thick) Oak floorboards in various (smoked) colours for those who want just that little extra special appearance in Natural Wooden Flooring.
Chapel uses an unique process of chastising (tumbling), heating and applying special HardWaxOil to

give their boards the appearance of Natural Old Age. Besides the range in floorboards Chapel offers hand-crafted pattern tiles like Versailles and Chevron.
The quality floorboards (T&G made after the process for excellent fit) comes in various 'Natural' colours, where the colour is part of the board, not just a stain laying on top of the board.
(from £68.75 to £83.70 per sq m, ex VAT)

Visit our showroom at Brenchley Mews, Charing (Kent, U.K.), where you can choose out of over 70 types of Natural Wooden Flooring. We have an excellent installation team (for the East Kent area).

Wood You Like Original Chapel Parket?

2006-02-10T11:10:00.000Z

In our September 2005 newsletter we introduced the Original Chapel Parket, our Aged and Destressed range in Oak flooring. This month we would like to tell you more about this quality product.
We will begin with explaining how these, in fact unique, boards are produced.

First of all: all floors are hand made to order.

Chapel Oak Boards have a natural aged look, achieved by tumbling the boards to produce a randomly distressed product. Some others on the market are destressed by machine 'imprints', which show a more routine destressing pattern on the boards.

The boards are produced with a natural colouring process, which manipulates the tannic acid in the wood. There are various processes for the various different colours, using different chemicals to obtain different effects (colours range from 17th Century Smoked Natural to 17th Century Red or White - even pitch black can be achieved). This results in the colour penetrating deeper into the wood than with other stained products available (app. 2mm), meaning the floor colour will not wear away with foot traffic.

The boards are then opened up using a special heating procedure and a coat of HardWaxOil (re-enforced with silicic acid) is applied. The heating procedure enables the HardWaxOil to penetrate deeper in the wood. The boards are then brushed and polished and a second coat of HardWaxOil is applied.

As a result of these special processes, the boards will become lighter/calmer in the first 3-6 months after installation. This means that the boards arrive with a slight different colour than the sample board was, but the floor will lighten to the colour chosen.

The Chapel Parket Collection:
Castle Floor: tumbled destressed with micro-bevel
Antico Floor: tumbled destressed with square edge
Cathedral Floor: hand-scraped with hand-cut bevel
'In-Between' Floor: Castle or Cathedral 6mm on 15mm water-resistant-plywood, load-bearing Wood-Engineered boards suitable for underfloor heating and very wide rooms. Micro-bevelled.
Pattern tiles like Renaissance, Chateau and Versailles

Maintenance (or more: the lack of need on)
A Original Chapel Parket floor is virtually maintenance free, and any cleaning products or chemicals should be avoided.
Normal daily maintenance will consist of just sweeping the floor with a sweeping mop or broom. Particularly stubborn dust can be swept using a bristle broom, even a yard brush will not damage the surface of a Chapel floor (the reason why it's also called 'The Hooligan Proof Floor').
It's not necessary to re-oil a Chapel floor and periodic mechanical buffing will improve the appearance of the floor, however this is not essential as Chapel Floors will improve with age.

Feel free to visit our showroom to see all the colours available, we have 10 double-sided large sample boards in total, plus one of the hand-made tiles.

Besides the Original Chapel Parket we offer other quality ranges in Natural Wooden Flooring; for any budget, for any interior.

Gaps appearing in floorboards

2005-11-30T11:28:00.000Z

It's that time of the year again: gaps appearing in floorboards

In this period our web site is being found by a lot by people "Googling" on: floorboard gap; floorboard gap filler; gaps in floorboards, etc.
We "wood like" to explain that in this time of the year and with this weather that gaps appearing in floorboards is pretty usual. We keep track of the air humidity in our house and shop on a daily basis and during the end of autumn and winter it can drop as low as 35 - 40%

Wood works all year round and when the weather (climate) gets dryer, wood will get dryer also (as will your skin). Then it is very normal for floorboards to shrink and for gaps to appear. These gaps will disappear again when the air humidity gets higher

It's no use to fill them; it's part of the way wood works.

What you could do (to keep the wood and also yourself healthy): hang ceramic water containers on radiators (check regularly that they are still filled with water; you can also add a few drop of a fragrant in for a nicer or fresher smell) or hang a damp tea-towel (not dripping wet!) on radiators; that will increase the humidity slightly.

For more on wooden flooring and house-climate see here

Wooden flooring finished with lacquer or oil: differences and advantages

2005-11-28T15:37:00.001Z

One of the hardest questions to answer is: what makes a better finish, lacquer or oil/HardWaxOil?

First of all it’s down to personal taste and secondly to what is expected of the floor, e.g. easy maintenance, shiny look or natural appearance of the wood.

Historical the wax floor is still seen as very labour intensive to maintain, who doesn’t have memories of caretakers buffing away endlessly week after week after week (be it your “Gran” or the school caretaker). Then came the ‘modern’ lacquer (and synthetic and affordable wall-to-wall carpets) and the original wax floor almost became extinct.

For many decades most of the wooden flooring in the U.K. was pre-finished lacquered or lacquered/varnished on site. Maintenance became simple, buffing a thing of the past and there is a choice between high gloss and matte appearance. The newest innovation in lacquer even has the same appearance as an oiled floor to make the wood look more ‘natural’.

The biggest disadvantage of a lacquered finish on a wooden floor is that it ‘sits’ on the floor. When damaged with a sharp object or due to the long term abrasive effect of dirt (‘dirty’ shoes ‘sanding’ away in heavy traffic areas or under chairs, tables) the lacquer doesn’t protect the wood anymore and dirt/moist will make the wooden floor look ‘grey’ regardless of maintenance efforts. In fact, cleaning damaged areas with a moist cloth will make things worse.
The only proper solution would be to sand the complete floor and to apply a new finish. Applying a proper lacquer layer is a job for the specialist, lacquer is not very forgiving to mistakes made.

The labour intensive maintenance of the old-fashioned wax-floor has now become a thing of the past: oils replaced the many layers of wax. The oil penetrates the wood deeper than lacquer and makes it moist resistance, but allowing the wood to ‘breathe’. A hardwax layer is applied afterwards to make the wear and tear layer water repellent.

Nowadays most oiled floors are pre-finished (or finished on site) with HardWaxOil, combining the natural oil (long term protection) and the carnauba or bees hardwax (wear and tear layer) in a two-in-one product. It’s very easy to apply and a very forgiving product when some mistakes are made, in fact an ideal DIY-finish (but we strongly recommend you read the instructions thoroughly and use the right equipment).

It has a great surface density and therefore very resistant to abrasive movements. Besides that, any (small) damages are very easily repaired with some wax or maintenance oil without the need to sand the whole floor.

The appearance of the finished wooden floor is matte satin with the advantage of making the floor look warmer, deeper in colour over the years.

An oiled-waxed or HardWaxOiled wooden floor requires slightly more maintenance than a lacquered floor, but not on the level of the old-fashioned knee and backbreaking wax floor, the modern maintenance products have taken care of that.

For advice on proper maintenance see our extensive tips and advice page.

Have we answered the question of what makes a better finish? No, sorry we still can’t; it’s still down to personal taste we’re afraid.

BTW, our personal taste is HardWaxOil.

What's in a name: laminated, engineered, composed etc

2005-11-04T15:15:00.001Z

As a member of the DIY-not forum we frequently give free advice to any "would be" wooden flooring installer. We do notice there is a lot of confusion about names of products and Wood You Like would like to introduce a more righteous terminology in types of floor covering; most times it can help to answer a question about ‘wooden’ flooring better.

The most confusion is about laminated flooring, used by DIY-ers (and even some suppliers) for both Melamine Laminated Flooring (the ‘plastic’ – Melamine’ stuff with only a photo-copy of wood) and for Wood-Engineered and Wood-Veneered flooring (flooring with a solid wood top layer between 0.2mm and 6 – 8mm with a crossed-backing of pine/plywood or mdf).

In the (English) wood-flooring profession laminate is used to describe the Melamine flooring (like Pergo, Quick-step etc).

The term Wood-Veneer is officially only used when the solid wooden top layer has a thickness between 0.2 to 2.5mm but frequently searchers mean all Wood-Engineered flooring when using this term.

Wood-Engineered covers the rest of the ‘engineered’ flooring where the solid wooden top layer is more than 2.5mm thick (and can go up to even 8mm), but has a crossed-backing of a different material than the top layer.
Solid wooden flooring with cross-backing of the same wood (to make it more stable) is called ‘composed’ wooden flooring.

Real wood is sometimes used to describe Wood-Engineered and Wood-Veneer flooring as opposed to the Melamine Laminated flooring.

Another rule of thumb with Wood-Engineered is that the backing material is minimum twice the thickness of the solid top layer (i.e. 15mm total thickness of the board means that the top layer should not be thicker than 5mm). Thicker than that will cause too much tension on the board because the solid wood is much stronger than any backing. 8mm solid top layer on a 14mm plywood backing is wrong and can cause the board to buckle/cup and even split the whole board.

Miss-use of Parquet term. Where in the mainland of Europe Parquet (Parket) means wooden flooring (any wooden flooring, from solid, wood-engineered to wood block design patterns like herringbone) in the UK the term Parquet is commonly used to describe the latter: wood blocks in any design pattern.
We have noticed however that some manufacturers and retailers use the term Parquet in the UK to promote the 3-strip Wood-Engineered (or 3-strip Wood-Veneer) flooring, which does lead to disappointed customers expecting a real (solid) ‘old-fashioned’ parquet floor instead of the T&G (or click) boards they are in fact purchasing.

For more info or quotes visit our showroom in Brenchley Mews, Charing
or one of our websites:
www.woodyoulike.co.uk
www.woodyoulikediy.co.uk

Wide range of (FSC) Tropical Wooden Flooring

2005-09-09T09:57:00.001+01:00

In our new showroom (Brenchley Mews, Charing) we now have the widest range in Tropical (FSC) Natural Wooden Flooring available.

From 'standard' Merbau, Iroco to even more exotic spiecis as Wenge, Curupau Dark, Tarara Ammarillia (see pictures) for creating that extra special design in your home.

Most are availalbe in our 'Duoplank' wood-engineered range, with it's 6mm solid top layer based on 15mm water-resistant-plywood (= load-bearing) and all can be supplied pre-oiled for easy and speedy installation.

For more samples visit our online-shop.

(FSC means: The wood in this product comes from well managed forests independently certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council.)

Showroom open

2005-08-19T18:43:00.000+01:00

Opening times:
Tuesday till Saturday 9.30am till 5pm
(or give us a call on 0845-1661190 to arrange an appointment for an alternative day or time, we are more than happy to accommodate you.

7 sample floors, over 60 large sample boards: from Solid Oak, Tropical Duoplank to Wood-Engineered 3-strip Oak Rustic with Profiloc; which by the way is on offer at the moment: £ 24.95 (plus VAT) per sq m.

For directions to our showroom at Brenchley Mews, School Road, Charing Kent: see here

2 down, 5 to go

2005-08-07T13:35:00.001+01:00

Wood You Like's new showroom in Charing Kent is definitely taken shape.
Already two of the smaller floors are in place. We used a simple, but effective Oak 3-strip Wood-Engineered for the kitchen and wc-area.

During next week the other sample floors (mainly from the Duoplank range) will arrive and be installed as will our stands for large sample boards (80) resulting in a modern, fully dedicated to Natural Wooden Flooring showroom.

Watch this space for our opening offer.

New showroom takes shape

2005-08-05T17:01:00.001+01:00

Wood You Like's new showroom at the Brenchley Mews retail development in Charing Village, Kent will get her sample floors beginning next week!
In total we will install 5 types of our 'famous' Duoplank (load-bearing full-plank Wood-Engineered boards) in the showroom and are ready to accept more than 80 sample boards of various other Natural Wooden Flooring (from Solid, 3-strip and full-plank Wood-Engineered to Wood-Veneer and Parquet/Herringbone flooring)

Watch this space for more news and our opening offer.

Not one wall is square to another !

2005-07-25T18:10:00.000+01:00

Hi, We are laying new t&g pine floorboards in our living room over the existing floorboards. (we have left the new ones in the room for a couple of months to dry / season) . Not one wall is square to another - or straight! so my husband is considering laying the new floor diagonally in the room. We think that this will not only look original but also get round the problem of the room not being square. As he will be secret nailing it to the existing floor, he doesn't have to follow the joists. Do you know of any reason why this shouldn't be done?? We can't see this in any design etc books that we have looked up. Thank you so much for any help you can give, and for such an informative site.

You have found a perfect solution for this problem!
The only things you and your husband must be aware of are:

any 'hidden' pipes, cables underneath the existing floor
to use proper nails. If you would hire a Portanailer the hire-people will know what kind of nails he should use.
Installing diagonal will cause extra saw-waste.

Good luck with the job

Installing Solid Oak Panel Floor

2005-07-25T18:05:00.000+01:00

hello,
I wish to install a solid oak panel floor. I can nail this on to an existing wooden floor, however, there is also an adjoining concrete floor that is on the same level.

Q. Is it possible to lay this timber without having to use a floating floor, otherwise there will be a 40mm step from the dining room to the kitchen?

What are my current options?

Yes it's possible to install the floor the way you described. If I understand correctly, you will not lay the floor also on the concrete part.
When installing a floor (nailing, glueing or floating) your underfloor type has to be of one sort. If you have two or more sorts (like existing floorboards and part concrete) it's best to install harboard first to create one type of underfloor to prevent difference in (moist) reactions of the floor.
For more info and advice see our DIY-site

Installing Kempass on pine floorboards

2005-07-21T10:38:00.000+01:00

Hi:

I've been reading your posts. I'm very impressed with your generosity sharing your knowledge not by being after a sale.
I wish I had seen this forum (DIYnot) and your website before I bought the wood for a renovation I have underway.

I bought several months ago Elka/Kempass solid wood floor about 18mm thick. It has been seasoning for months in each of the rooms.
I want to use plywood over the current pine floorboards. I am thinking of using 6mm plywood and Elastilon on all the rooms of the first floor. None of the rooms are larger or wider than 3.5m but I intend to have uniform transitions between the rooms (no splitting of areas)

I've searched for plywood and have found different types. Which plywood
would you recommend. (Would you have plywood to sell for flooring purposes?)

I am planning to screw the plywood onto the current boards (don't want to use nails- far tooo permanent to my perception and too messy to remove if one happens to need to do any plumbing rework). I am wondering about gaps between the plywood sheets and overall gaps between the plywood and the walls.

By the way, would you have Elka/Kempass hardwood for sale? I will need for the ground floor. That is one I didn't buy as I am doing this project in stages.

Many thanks;

Aldo

;-) Thanks for your kind words.

To answer most of your questions:
If possible, check the moist level in the Kempas wood. Normally Oak and other wood-types must be between 8 and 12%, but experience has taught us that with Kempas it's best to be UNDER 9% (we've learned the hard-way ;-)
That's also the reason we don't do solid kempass, but if you want we can source Kempass wood-engineered full-plank for you.

Reading your question, I presume your pine floorboards are not even. If so, 6mm plywood could tackle this if it's not that bad (just slightly cupped, but we would recommend a thicker version minimum 12mm.
If the cupping is not that bad, you could also place strips of thin hardboard in the 'holes' of the floorboards, to prevent a 'bouncing-effect'. An alternative would be OSB boards.

You're right about the screws, we either use them (every 25cm, so still a lot) or staples but then you need a nail/staple gun. It's fine to leave a tiny gap between the plywood boards (wood will always work, but the cross-multi layered construction of the plywood should prevent excessive expansion) and leave a wider gap between the plywood and the walls, like you would with the wood (also handy for 'hiding' cables).
And no, we don't sell plywood, even we go to Wickes, B&Q or local timber yard for that ;-)

Elastilon is a good product, but read the instructions properly, it takes a bit of getting used to, specially the first bit.

Hope this helps, feel free to contact us with further questions, or check our DIY-site

Our next project

2005-07-09T15:02:00.000+01:00

We're almost there: in a few weeks time Wood You Like will open its new showroom in the lovely village of Charing, Kent.

The new showroom is located in the new housing estate Brenchley Mews on the School Road and will be filled with sample floors and sample boards of the most popular floor and wood types.

Plus we will stock our wide range of maintenance products, materials for DIY-ers (like parquet adhesive, HardWaxOil, thresholds, beadings etc) and floor protection items.

We will update our blog with the progress we're making, so "watch this space"

Picture shows new showroom front at Brenchley Mews, Charing (creative use of copy and paste to illustrate future sign, click on picture for better view)

Solid versus Wood-Engineered flooring

2005-07-05T15:14:00.001+01:00

When thinking about wooden flooring, many people immediately think of solid floorboards. Mainly because in older houses the underfloor was/is made of 18 - 21mm thick solid (pine) floorboards; which are (secretly) nailed onto the joist.
Since 'modern' houses have concrete floors the real need to have solid floorboards no longer exists. (Although we do sometimes hear of people insisting on installing battens on this concrete base in order to secretly nail solid floorboards. An absolute waste of materials, time and money!)

In mainland Europe more and more manufacturers make/sell more Wood-Engineered boards than Solid boards: for the reason above but also to reduce the amount of solid wood (=trees) needed; environmental friendly.
The backing (cross-layers) of Wood-Engineered boards are made of pine/plywood/mdf or chipboard, materials either recycled, rest-products or grown in controlled purpose-build forests.
(We know these boards are also sometimes known as laminated floors, but in order to prevent confusion with Melamine Laminated -'plastic'- floors Wood You Like uses the better suitable Wood-Engineered term.)

Wood-Engineered flooring is now also widely available in the full-plank version, once installed there is absolutely no difference in look with a solid floor, specially when the long sides of the boards have a (micro)bevel.
The original 3-strip Wood-Engineered flooring is very suitable in smaller rooms (bedrooms) cause they make the room look wider/bigger, plus are economical priced.

There are areas in you home we strongly recommend Wood-Engineered floors over solid floors: kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms and conservatories. In these areas there is more moist or rapid changes in temperature where the stability of Wood-Engineered floors comes in very handy.
Also, we recommend Wood-Engineered floors with underfloor heating, again because of the stability thanks to the way these boards are build-up.

Check our on-line shop for our wide range in Wood-Engineered 3-strip, full-plank or our "Duoplank" (load-bearing Wood-Engineered board) floors we can supply (and install in the East Kent area).

Cork strips and beading

2005-07-03T15:39:00.001+01:00

Q:
I am fitting a parquet floor in the hallway and as instructed I have left a half inch gap for expansion. The recommendation is to fill with cork expansion strips and cover with beading. Do you have any suggestion for strips of beading that are less than 6 inches that just look out of place and also do you have tips for going around door frames?

A: Cork strips might get 'crushed' when the floor expands and will start creaking. It is not necessary to put cork strips in the expansion gap.
We sell flat beading (in any wood-type) to cover expansion gaps and once installed look like a nice 'picture-frame' We almost never use Scotia's.
Around door frames is easy or hard, depending on the amount of architrave. If almost none, try to install the beading with mitered angles. If many, the only solution is to saw underneath the architrave and door frame to create expansion gap and slide beading partly underneath.

See our on-line shop for samples:

Importance of moist measurements

2005-07-03T14:57:00.001+01:00

Wood likes water as long it's a tree, after that......

Before installing a wooden floor, there are three important items you (must) check for moist:

The underfloor, specially if concrete/screed
The wood itself
The air in the room(s) you're installing the wood in

1) When working with a new concrete/screed underfloor there is a rule of thumb: every inch (2.5 cm) under normal circumstances takes 30 days to dry-out sufficiently. Under normal circumstances means: no forced drying with heath-canons and the room(s) are not exposed to the outside climate (simple meaning: all walls, windows, outside doors are in place ;-)
Ventilate as much as possible to assist the drying process.

The moist level in concrete/screed underfloors must not exceed 2.1%.

2) Always make sure your wooden flooring comes from a reputable source. The moist content in Oak flooring (90% of all flooring in the U.K.) must be between 9 - 11 % Storing the wood in the room you intent to install it in (2 - 3 days before the works start) is good practice: it will let the wood acclimatize to the specific conditions of that room.

Beware of cheap offers telling you the wood is kilned dried: this could mean dried as normal timber to 15% Since wooden flooring is (in the U.K.) still a growth market timber yards are trying to get 'a piece of the action', but compared to traditional flooring manufacturers with 50 - 100 years of experience in drying wood for flooring, some don't really have the equipment (or knowledge! )to dry to floors correctly. So buyer beware !

3) Wood will always react to moist (or lack of) in the air. Just think of doors in Spring or Autumn jamming in the door-frame. And that's just hardly a meter wide.
Most wooden floor installation instructions speak of installing the floor by an air humidity between 50 - 65%, but does that mean you can't install your flooring when it's lower or higher?
Well, ideally 50 - 65% humidity is the best (not only for flooring, but also for your own health), but there are many days during the year that the humidity is much higher or lower (think of Winter: central heating on full, dry wind causing your skin (lips) to dry-out).

What then?

If the humidity is low, allow for a wider expansion gap between the floor and the wall (or skirtingboard). This will give the wood more space to adjust to higher humidity and to expand without getting stuck to the wall (or skirtingboard). In extreme cases the floor will still expand beyond it expansion gaps and then the only thing you can do is to ease the floor by cutting a bit of the boards hitting the wall (or skirtingboard).
If you've taken care to allow for sufficient expansion gap and your floor starts to expand in a season were it normally shrink (wood works all year round), you might have a moist problem caused by leaking pipes or rising damp.

Remember: wood likes water as long it's a tree, after that......

For more tips and advice on wooden flooring see our DIY web site

Welcome to Wood You Like's weblog

2005-07-02T18:13:00.000+01:00

Wood You Like will use this weblog to:

answer most frequently asked questions about wooden flooring
inform you about our new projects
inform you about new products

The FAQ will be an ongoing theme and if your question or query isn't answered yet (or you have a specific problem) please feel free to email us, we are here to help you.
N.B. since we are based in the U.K. some specific question from other countries will be harder to answer for us, but we will certainly try ;-)