Wood You Like F.A.Q. & News

Wood Guide turns Ebooklet

New Ebooklet (wood-guide): “7 Easy Steps to Repair/Restore your Design Parquet Floor”

Filled with tips and advice from the professionals on preparations, re installing loose blocks or installing replacement blocks, finding out what wood-species was used in your original floors, how to sand and apply a new finish and much, much more. With ‘work-in-progress’ photos.

"Wow, thanks for that -- certainly the best how-to guide I have seen to this. It's always helpful, especially, when something says "Ideally, do ABC, but if you can't, then X Y or Z can happen", instead of just "Do ABC." -- i.e. I know I should remove the bitumen from the floor, but it isn't possible to remove all of it, so it is just good to know what happens if I don't."
V.F. Northamptonshire

Extras included:

• Ebooklet “3 Easy steps to clean and maintain your parquet floor”;
• images of most common wood-species used,
• Wood You Like’s maintenance leaflet and
• Wood You Like’s report: Things not to expect from your wood floor

Buy now for only £ 8.97 and restore your newly rediscovered design parquet floor to its original glory and lustre. A labour of love result that will keep its value for many years to come!

Don’t move – improve the hidden treasures your home already has. Increase the value of your home in the most simple and cost effective way! Read this fact sheet on how and why wooden flooring adds long-term value to your home - 95% of estate agents agree.

Only £ 8.97

Gaps everywhere!

Lately we’ve seen (DIY) forum posts, questions in our own inbox and even results by diy-ers and builders alike, about (and in the results missing): not leaving enough expansion gaps when installing wooden floors

Most know about gaps and leaving them around the perimeter of the floor – using the simple rule of thumb: 3-4mm per meter width of the room with a minimum of 10mm – but then go wrong at certain points in rooms or hallways.

You have to leave an expansion gaps ALL AROUND the perimeter of the whole floor, not just here and there or where you can cover the gap with skirting boards.
If you don’t have a sufficient wide expansion gap at one single place, like a doorpost or in front of the fireplace or staircase, all the other wide enough expansion gaps are rendered useless! You wood floor is not going to think: Oh, there’s not a gap so I won’t expand there. Believe me: it will!

A wood floor, specially a solid wood floor, will expand evenly. Most of the times that is: when it is stuck at one certain point it can’t and will raise its level at or around the point that is blocking its normal movement. For instance when glue has dripped out of the T&G and sticks the wood floor to the underlayment.

Or when you haven’t undercut your doorpost or laid the floor flush against the side of a fireplace or staircase. Reasons we heard: skirting board doesn’t reach that far; don’t know what to cover the gap with around the fire place or I don’t like to use a divider between the rooms where the wood floor is installed in two different directions anyway.
We cannot change the laws of physics – it’s as simple as that!

Leave expansion gaps all around the perimeter, there are various solutions – proper and aesthetical pleasing solutions – for all situations:

• Doorposts: undercut architraves and doorpost with handsaw as far as the height of the new floor and chisel out what is needed – making sure you chisel out enough for the floor to hide its edge and still have room to expand
• Fireplace: leave an expansion gaps around and when the floor ends lower pin down a flat solid beading on the floor – covering the gap in a neat and almost flush-way. When your floor ends higher use a so-called End-threshold to finish it off: giving you both the needed expansion gap as a neat very small ‘step’ from floor to fire-place.
• Stair: if the stair carpet isn’t thick enough to cover the gap (most professional carpet fitters will ‘double-back’ the carpet at the bottom of the stair, giving you twice the thickness of the carpet) you either install a flat beading on the floor or use mastic filler (curved stairs come to mind). In some cases you could even fill the gap with a cork strip – as long as you can reach the strip to lift it out when the floor threatens to expand!

Leave gaps everywhere – as said before: we mere mortals cannot change the laws of physics!

Wood You Like Design Parquet on-line

'Old-fashion' Design Patterns are the new look. More and more property owners re-discover a treasure underneath layers of carpet or vinyl (and in some cases even underneath Melamine Laminated 'plastic' floorboards!). From 5-finger mosaic, herringbone and basket-weave patterns to Versailles type elaborate designs - all priceless floorcoverings.

But it is not just in homes built in the 50's or 60's - modern homes are now also being 'dressed-up' (and "up-valued") with new wood blocks in herringbone, mosaic, basket-weave or design tiles in Oak (or dark Tropical wood-species).

In Wood You Like's secure new webshop you can browse 30 specific designs, laser-cut by our Dutch Design Parquet manufacturer for precision, to turn your home into a 'castle' or manor house.

Or just to benefit from the easy maintenance, anti-allergic and value adding benefits wooden flooring gives any home.
All patterns can be ordered in many wood-types; the Oak used by our Dutch manufacturer is certified coming from PEFC sources.

More information on how to calculate the square meters needed in patterns and wood-blocks and how to order your own unique value adding modern design floor covering is all explained on our secure webshop pages.

Who else wants Professional Tools?

Regular visitors to this FAQ & News part of Wood You Like's websites know we are always more than happy to share tips and even tricks of the trade.

We are now also able to provide you (the sincere DIY-er) with "Tools of the Trade" - tried and tested durable and high quality tools used by the professionals.

Already added to our Professional Tool range in our webshop are:

• HardWaxOil Applicator (with sponges), applying the HardWaxOil (or any maintenance) polish very smoothly and thinly for the best end-result
• Original Duoline knocking-block (tapping-block)
• Original Duoline Jemmy Bar - with felt backing!
• Parquet Adhesive notched Trowels and a special 'trowel-knife' for small areas (like borders)

More professional tools will be added shortly, so stay tuned - or even better: subscribe to our Newsletter to be kept up to date automagically with news, tips and advice.