Wood You Like F.A.Q. & News

Solving 3 problems in one go: simple floors

One of the questions that landed in our inbox concerned that "old problem" of trying to find a budget solution where the existing type of underfloor threatened to put the whole project on hold.

Chipboard and short length solid oak flooring - a no no

Budget range (below £35.00 ex VAT) in Solid Oak floorboards 9 times out of 10 comes in a box with random length boards. Random between 300 or 400 - 1200mm long. On its own nothing wrong with this, however most of these budget boxes contain over 50% short - very short - lengths and only one or two long ones (if you're lucky). These types of floors should not be installed floating because you will have too many joints in the whole floor, working like hinges and making your floor unstable, prone to move. Fully bonding with flexible adhesive or secret nailing is the solution.

Only, when you then discover your underfloor is cheap and cheerful chipboard you find yourself between a rock and a hard place. Modern adhesive does not bond with the moist repellent surface layer of the chipboard and nailing into this "wood-pulp" will not give you the strong fixing you need.

Budget alternatives in real wood

The person asking for advice really wants to replace his carpet with an easy to clean and anti-allergic floor covering mainly because to the number of animals they care for. Wooden floors are then indeed the best solutions: easy to clean, anti-allergic and simply beautiful.

When you find yourself between this rock and a hard-place due to the chipboard underfloor, why not opt for simple 2 or 3-strip wood-engineered flooring? All long boards, so can be installed floating without any problem, and most times within the same price range as these "cheap offers" in Solid Oak floorboards. Quality 3-strip floors have a total thickness of 14 - 15mm with a Solid top layer of 3.6 - 4mm

2 or 3 strip flooring is available in many wood-species but like with most other wooden floor types, Oak is still the most popular (and therefore often the lowest in price).

Alternative 2: pre-oiled Wood-veneer

Another budget alternative, especially for areas with low "traffic" such as bedrooms, for you would be the EcoPlank: Oak veneer (1.8mm) on a high quality HDF backing. Total thickness 10mm and available in many modern Oak finishes, from natural to white oiled or smoked for warm dark tones.
Again, long lengths for simple "Floating installation" without problems on chipboard - and of course other types of underfloors.

Basic wooden flooring gives you:

a real wood floor, easy maintenance and within your budget. Simples.

Call us on 01233 - 713725 to discuss your own budget requirements and we'll find the perfect wooden floor for you in our Basic Range.

Brand new range leaflets - filled with images

Happy New Year!

Have you made your new year's resolutions yet? How about adding natural wooden flooring to your home - adding value and other benefits at the same time.

To start this brand new year we are happy to announce 2 brand new range leaflets, filled with even more interior design picture to give you a better indication and view of how any of the quality products in these wooden flooring ranges could look in your home too.

Request your leaflet now:

Basic Range - Oak, Oak and Oak

Duoplank and Solid Range - plenty of choices in Oak and Tropical wood-species.

More leaflets wil follow shortly (Aged flooring and Design Parquet)

Eco Friendly Floor Covering

Eco-friendly
Wood is not only beautiful varied in all kind of products; as trees - forests - wood is a beautiful natural recreation source. Most importantly is the fact that forests act as a giant carbon sink.

CO2 and Climate Change
According to the International Panel on Climate Change, the 20th century was the warmest century since records began, with the '90s the warmest decade and every year we're adding 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
The Government is now urgently looking to reduce CO2 emissions without compromising on economical growth. Right now the wood industry has a unique opportunity to take advantage of this commitment.
The timber industry is able to offer positive contribution to the challenge of sustainable development and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission, and is more and more actively engaged with the building industry in putting new, environmentally friendly solutions into practice.

The best way to grow our forests is to use them!
Trees are nature's way of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing the oxygen we breathe. Planting trees can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and using wood products can help slow the growth of Global Warming.
The more wood we use, the more our forests grow: thanks to sustainable forest management more trees are planted than are harvested - every year European forests grow by an area the size of Cyprus!
The more the forests grow, the more carbon dioxide is sucked out of the atmosphere, the more oxygen is produced and the more wood is available to use; the more wood is used, the more trees are planted, the more the forests grow, the more.........

Using wood in place of less environmentally-friendly materials makes sure the carbon sink effect of the forests is put to good use, rather than being lost through natural death and decay (when forests are left to their own devices this will cause CO2 emission from the stored carbon).
Besides that, have you ever calculated the real environmental costs of producing steel, concrete, aluminium or PVC-U (energy used, CO2 produced, water used and toxins released)?

Forests: a great factory and a free leisure resource
Modern forests, skilfully managed, contain trees of different ages, different species alongside the primary production species. Open spaces in the form of rides, firebreaks and streamside reserves are designed into the forest and, as it is thinned, increasing numbers of under-storey species become established.
While producing timber, these man-made forests also produce picnic spots, lakes and nature trails. Thousands of species of birds, animals and plants call them home. Their air is clean and good to breathe.
The public has free access to 94% of forestland in Europe.

Using tropical wood also helps in the fight against tropical deforestation, as long as the wood comes from well-managed sources. However, if there were no markets for wood, forests would be cleared to grow other cash crops. For these societies, often desperate for income, a forest that pays is a forest that stays.

Wood You Like's tropical Duoplank comes from FSC certified forests.

Every time you use wood you are helping to make sure the forests will keep growing. So your children and your children's children will be able to enjoy visiting forests for years and years to come.
(The market for forest products helps finance sustainable forest management.)

How wooden flooring can add value to your home

Here’s proof - that wooden flooring can add value to your home - with almost immediate effect.  In a recent national survey (carried out by woodfloors.org) 90 % of real estate agents said that houses with wood flooring are more marketable, 58% agreed that homes with wooden floors sell for more money, and 46% agreed that homes with wooden floors  sell more quickly than those without.

Will this help you? Find out now........

Testimonial on Eco-friendliness from a very young nature lover

Earlier this year we gifted, through the post, a little miracle of nature – a beautiful, locally handpicked, acorn to many of our contacts (perhaps even you).

We hope they all have given it a honourable spot in their garden and that they will undoubtedly get many years of pleasure from this most magnificent of trees as it matures over the next 40 years.

Now it’s time to share ‘the story’ behind our unusual gift.

In September last year we received an Oak sapling from one of our clients together with a mind-provoking letter:

The letter goes on to thank us for the installation, but of course we gratefully accepted Tom’s gift (see picture right) and have given it a good home.

All our wooden flooring, from Basic Oak to Bespoke, come from sustainable sources, be it FSC or PEFC certified. Thanks to sustainable forest management more trees are planted than are harvested.  In fact, European re-forestation grows by an area the size of Cyprus every year!

You can, just as our little nature-loving son of our client, rest assured that purchasing your wooden floor from Wood You Like will be an eco-friendly purchase – one with a delivery time of 4 weeks, not 40 years!

Ps: all our clients who buy a natural wooden floor during our 5th Anniversary Celebrating year will receive our very popular ‘Walking with Wood’ comfy clog-style slippers – 1 pair for free for every purchase of 10 sq m or more.

Wood You Like to get The Doors?

When installing a wooden floor in any type of room there will be doors. At least one. Or seven in one hallway.
Doors are not a problem - tick layers of paint on the hinges, now that's a problem. In our (Dutch) eyes the door frames are most times a small problem - no existing high enough wooden thresholds to bud the new floor against (leaving the needed expansion gap of course!) and a whole layer of wooden (or MDF) strips in various designs as architraves.

But nothing proper tools can't handle to cut underneath or cut to the right new height required so the floor or flat beading slides underneath the door posts and a new solid threshold separates the room from others without the door scraping over it - or causing draft.

All part of the daily job of a floor fitter. Well, wooden floor fitter that is.
We stopped counting the times our clients ask us kindly to cut doors in completely different rooms or areas after a carpet fitter or tiler has finished his/her job without 'closing the door'.

Apparently that's only a wooden floor fitter's common courtesy, getting the doors back in and having them work properly without damaging the new thresholds, floor or causing draft.

Personal and dedicated service, the proof is in the pudding

On this blog and on our websites (Supply and Install 'division' - "DIY with a Difference" division) our aim to supply quality products and service is frequently mentioned. And we pride ourselves that our clients frequently acknowledge this fact by sending us testimonials and feedback.

One of the promises "Why You Know Wood You Like Provides the Greatest Value in Wooden Flooring" is:

The personal and dedicated service you receive will continue for as long as you need us. Our growing band of delighted clients, with their glowing testimonials and feed back are your confirmation and assurance of the quality and service you will receive of Wood You Like, THE natural wooden flooring specialists in the UK.

Recently, after we installed a Duoplank Oak Rustic, brushed & oiled natural our client remarked that the doors (trimmed to the new height of the floor and wooden threshold) seem to be scraping over the threshold. Our job is only finished when our client is happy. The following (email) conversation is our 'proof in the pudding' of this week:

Dear Jay

As discussed with you yesterday I mentioned to Ton that the doors in your home touch the thresholds etc. Before he left he checked all of them, but he believes the doors (hardwood) are a bit too heavy for the little screws in the hinges. We have no problem whatsoever to come round again, but removing more material from the bottom of the doors, while the cause is the screws might not be the way forward (the door will 'drop' again and in the end you might end up with a gap between the top of the door and door post.)
Please advice. If needed Ton can come round later tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon.

Kind Regards
Wood You Like Ltd
Karin Hermans

Karin,

I will come back you on this. I may be able to get my father (who hung the doors) to replace the screws with longer ones if this is the case. I have a feeling that one of the doors may still need a trim but we'll try longer screws first - as we don't want them falling off in the long run.

Can I take this opportunity to thank you and Ton for a fantastic job. The floors look superb and Ton has finished the fitting to a very high standard. My Father commented that it was a very tidy job - and as a carpenter he is hard to please!!! We appreciate your patience with our fussiness too - we can be awkward clients I am aware.

Please feel free to use any of these comments on your customer comments section of your website etc if you wish.

Many thanks,

Jay & Lorraine

We are awaiting the news if replacing the short screws with longer ones has resolved the problem. If not, we're on our way - as promised.

Shouldn't cork be boring brown?

Eh, no, definitely not.

WicCork (Wicanders): "The Natural Choice for Environmental Floors" comes in many colours, designs and textures. The pictures above show only a small selection of all the colours nature's own insulator comes in, in total there are over 30 available (even brown).
Go wild and create your own design mixing various colours and textures together; stay cool/calm and create your own 'hide-away' with one soothing colour.

Cork, environmentally and eco-friendly harvested from the Cork Oak tree, absorbs sound and is warm, comfortable and soft under foot.
Ideal hygienic and anti-allergic floorcovering in children's playrooms and bedrooms. Or to liven up your heavy traffic reception area, or waiting room and office.

WicCork comes in floorboards (10.5 x 295 x 900mm) with corkloc T&G or in glue-down tiles (3.2 x 300 x 300mm/600 x 300mm) all with Extreme WRT (Wear-Resistant-Technology) finish and with built-in thermal insulation and built-in acoustic insulation (the natural characteristics of cork).

In our showroom in Charing we have 24 large sample boards to give you the best starting point in visualising what/how cork floorcovering can do/mix with your unique interior design at home or in your office.
Just another example of Wood You Like's specialities

Restoration projects - bespoke blocks

Wood You like has been called upon to source wooden blocks for a restoration project in East Kent. The client needed herringbone blocks in a very specific width and length in order to fill in and extent from an existing herringbone floor, but was unable to find a exact duplicate until, of course, Wood You Like got involved.

Our bespoke Design Parquet Manufacturer (named in the top 3 of "Best Supplier of the Year 2006" The Netherlands) made 'easy' work of the order and also created a perfect (left and right) tongue and groove to the 13.5mm thick solid blocks. Two weeks after the first enquiry from our client the wood blocks were delivered to site.

Just one small sample of Wood You Like's specialities.

Anti Allergic Floor Covering

Anti-Allergic
House dust is the major cause of allergy in people with yearlong 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.

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. We use a soft-broom for day-to-day cleaning of our wooden floor covering, but that's a hard task on carpets we’re afraid.

Carpets - they provide a breeding ground for mites. One square meter of carpet can contain up to 100.000 dust mites.
However, the cheapest alternative smooth floorings are made of PVC, also known as vinyl, which is a major source of toxic and sometimes persistent substances in the environment. Some research also suggest the softeners in PVC itself may contribute to asthma incidence.

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

FAQ Benefits

Not found the tip or advice you were looking for in this category?

Ask us here!

We will answer it to the best of our knowledge and as quick as possible.

If relevant your question will be turned into a new post.

Or check out our Wood Floor Guides:

"Do you know how to immediately increase the value of your house and comfort of your home?"

"7 Easy Steps to Repair/Restore your Parquet Floor"

"3 Easy STeps to Clean and Maintain your Parquet Floor"

Adding value to 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.

When deciding on Natural Wooden Flooring it's best to keep the most popular floor in mind, especially when you want to climb the 'property-ladder'.


The most popular wood-type is still Oak and the grade mostly sold (in the UK) is Rustic.  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.

And an oil/wax finish is slowly gaining in popularity, matte replacing the gloss and shiny look.

But it’s not just a ‘Solid Investment’ for in your own home; if you have a buy-to-let property there are also other advantages when you replace the wall-to-wall carpet with quality Natural Wooden Flooring:

• You can ask for a higher amount in rent because of the practical floor covering installed. Since more and more ‘affluent’ young people have increasing difficulties getting onto the property ladder themselves, but still want to live comfortable; putting a property for rent on the market with Natural Wooden Flooring can give you an edge over all other properties for rent.
• Buy-to-let is all about ROI (Return On Investment): how much do you spend on the property and how much does it bring in? In the first instance cheap carpet doesn’t look as much costs, but having to replace this (stained, smelly, ripped) carpet every year isn’t practical and will cost as much as having had Natural Wooden Flooring installed from the beginning, in the long run this constant replacing of ‘cheap’ carpet could cost even more.
• Tenants aren’t always as careful with your property/belongings as you self would be.  The benefit of easy maintenance (and the ease with which small repairs can be done, especially with oiled finishes) you’ll have with Natural Wooden Flooring gives you more peace of mind in this matter.

Easy maintenance of Natural Wooden Flooring

In fact it’s very simple: dirty is dirty, clean is clean.
Because natural wooden flooring is a hard floor covering, dirt, dust will stay on top of it and will never penetrate the material (as happens with carpets). House mites have nothing to ‘cling’ on to.

All it takes is a soft broom (or cylinder vacuum cleaner, we recommend the brand Miele – N.B upright cleaners with plastic wheels can easily scratch the floor) for the normal day-to-day care.

Plus, taking care of your wooden floor enhances its beauty, durability and value.

In our showroom we stock many maintenance products for any type of finish (waxed, oiled or lacquered) plus floor protection products like castors and self-adhesive felt pads in many shapes and sizes.

We supply every customer with our maintenance leaflet, which contains more practical tips, and we can even carry out the maintenance service for you. You can even opt for our ‘Life-long’ price-guaranteed maintenance service, where we treat your floor minimum twice a year for a fixed price (including the maintenance product used), which will not change so long you live in the property the wooden floor is installed in.

Main benefits and advantages of Natural Wooden Flooring

When choosing for Natural Wooden Flooring you will start to enjoy the many benefits this floor covering gives you from day one on:

1. easy day-to-day care and maintenance with the knowledge that a clean wooden floor is really clean and doesn’t hide house dust mites etc
2. a ‘solid’ investment that keeps its value over years to come and is a quality feature to promote when the time might come you start thinking of selling your home
3. one of the most anti-allergic floor coverings you can have, a real benefit for Asthma, allergy and even eczema sufferers
4. eco-friendly, for every tree used in wooden flooring from sustained forests new trees are planted and trees are nature's way of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing the oxygen we breathe.