Wood You Like F.A.Q. & News

Extra Newsletter January 2012: Stock Clearance

Now 9 out of 10 times oiled floors are preferred over varnished/lacquered floor finishes - and most Saicos EcoLine care products suitable for both oiled and varnished finishes; we're left with a quantity of maintenance products only suitable for varnish/lacquer finishes.

Hence: Stock Clearance - 25% off normal price

That's right, 25% off the normal retail price (ex VAT), limited quantities in stock, so hurry!

Anti-slip Polish 1 ltr

Anti-slip Polish 1 ltr
Was £ 11.90 - NOW £ 8.95 ex VAT

Mat Polish 1 ltr (V6)

Mat Polish 1 ltr (V6)
Was £ 13.97 ex VAT, NOW £ 10.50 ex VAT

Clean for all finishes 1 ltr

Clean for all finishes 1 ltr
Was £ 9.25 ex VAT, NOW £ 7.00 ex VAT

Wax-Remover 1 ltr

Wax-Remover 1 ltr
Was £ 11.90 ex VAT, NOW £ 8.95 ex VAT

Remember: limited stock

and gone is definitely gone!
For all Stock-Clearance products, see the category Special Offers/Gifts in our secure webshop (or follow any of the links above)

Visit or call

Feel free to drop by, phone (01233 713725) or email us for any enquiry any day of the week, see below for our normal opening hours.

We are looking forward to welcome you in our showroom.
Our opening times are:
Monday: afternoon (times may vary)
Tuesday - Saturday: 9.30am - 4pm
Sunday: closed
Open on most Bank Holidays (except on Sundays)
During British Summer Time we'll be open till 5pm again

Please try to avoid the notorious 'School-run' on School Road between 3.10 and 3.30pm

Introducing: Hattan Range - Multi-layer European Oak

manufactured in The Netherlands from European Oak on water-resistant birch plywood, plus 2 American Black Walnut boards
Visual beautiful, always individual (for not two timbers are the same), warm both to the touch and the eye, hard-wearing, long-lasting and easy to clean; wood makes the perfect floor for the way you live, and Hattan load-bearing engineered flooring makes to perfect wooden floor!

Hattan flooring is a 20mm engineered board with a 6mm solid wood wear layer. This is greater than the wear layer of many solid wood floors, enabling it to be sanded down several time, if required, and so extending its lifespan and making it suitable for use in even the most heavily trafficked areas. The exceptional stability provided by the backing layer makes it suitable to use over underfloor heating.

Hattan Construction

A deep (6mm) layer of hardwood bonded to an extremely tough base made from numerous thin strips of birch which are laid in alternating directions and themselves bonded with glue into strong, stable sheets. Hattan boards are so stable that they fit perfectly virtually anywhere.
Just look at the number of layers of water-resistant ply between the hardwood top layer and the superbly routered T&G - increasing the stability of your load-beading floorboards even more.

Specially selected for the beauty of their grain, precision milled and superbly engineered, Hattan boards are also unusually wide (180 to 260mm): a fittingly stunning choice for your home. Stained, smoked, brushed or aged (distressed), the range includes finishes to complement all styles and tastes, from the coolly contemporary to the richly traditional.

It's all in the detail

All Hattan flooring is pre-finished. Your choices of finishes are:

• Oiled: smooth finish with a natural finish which is easy to spot repair
• Matt lacquered: very natural appearance
• Satin lacquered: medium sheen
• Textured and oiled: enhanced grain and oiled for a very unique finish
• Distressed and oiled with hand-cut bevel: bespoke distressing and hand-cut bevels for a totally commissioned look
• Sawn and oiled: saw marks running across the wood grain at 90 degree produce a rustic yet sophisticated finish

Hattan Milton 954/3600

Oak character, oiled natural 20 x 180mm / 20 x 260mm

Hattan Calland 932/3602

Oak character, oiled transparent 20 x 180mm / 20 x 260mm

Hattan Willen 961

Oak Rustic (Mix ABC), oiled white 20 x 180mm

Hattan Caswell 963

Oak Rustic (Mix ABC), oiled black 20 x 180mm

Hattan Rolton 944

Oak character, brushed and limed 20 x 180mm

Hattan Wimble 3606

Oak character, smoked and oiled white 20 x 180mm

Hattan Lindon 3608

Oak character, smoked and oiled black 20 x 180 mm

Hattan Drew 952/3604

Oak character, satin lacquered 20 x 180mm / 20 x 260mm

Hattan Hilsor 1008/1032

Oak character, distressed with hand-cut bevels, smoked and oiled black 20 x 180mm / 20 x 260mm

Hattan Rill 3627

Oak character, sawn effect, smoked and oiled black 20 x 180mm

Hattan Kendro (Walnut) 1012

American Black Walnut Rustic, satin-lacquered 20 x 180mm

Other finishes and species available on request

From the same manufacturer other European Oak finishes (such as burnt, deep brushed and even white or black paint-covered) - example above shows you the Oak character burnt, textured and oiled Old White - and other species (such as Maple, Iroko, Wenge etc) are available on request. Produced to the same high standards as the Hattan range above.

Prices etc

For up to date prices and availability give us a call on 01233 - 713725 now to discuss your requirements and accessories (such as suitable underlayment).

Alternatively: visit our showroom in Charing (Kent) where we can show you large samples of this quality range.

Problems with your floor?

One frequent occurring matter landing in our inbox or phoned about seems to be encountering a quality problem with the wood flooring bought.

Product of nature

Some online retailers pride themselves on sending out free samples of wooden flooring. We on the other hand know a tiny sample can and will never show you the rich natural variety any wooden floor has. The tiny sample sent out to you by others could be pre-selected on appearance - for instance one tiny knot when you select a rustic grade.
Basing your purchase decision on just such a tiny sample is asking for problems. When your rustic grade floor arrives, it contains large knots and colour variations between the boards. Not at all like the tiny sample you received. Some can feel disappointed, but to be honest, you should only rate a tiny sample on the quality of the construction, not on the natural appearance of the wood floor itself. Only high resolution images of interior designs are able to give you at least a better impression of the true natural look your preferred wooden floor eventual has.

Therefore, if you find yourself in the possession of a natural wooden floor that does not resemble the sample your supplier sent out to you, ask yourself the following questions:

• what was the description of the product, did it mention the grade and the characteristics of this grade?
• does your floor at least resemble the image the seller listed with this article?
• the sample sent, did it mention not to take it "at face value"? Most samples will carry a label stating it is indicative only, the natural structures and colours of genuine wood may vary.
• is the quality of the floor, including the T&G or click-system, conform the sample received?
• if your supplier has a showroom, did you see a large sample of the floor - containing at least parts of 2 or 3 different boards - bought there?

If in any doubt, contact your supplier immediately with your complaint - every supplier should inform you how to contact them and what their terms and conditions of trading are. If bought strictly online, based on the little sample received and not seen a larger sample in situ, you might be in for a struggle getting a decent answer quickly (as many disappointed clients of strictly online sellers keep telling us).
After receiving your ordered floor, you have 7 days to log your complaint, based on the standard terms and condition of "distant selling" purchases. So, always check at least a few packs on contents the day your order arrives, to see if the floor received is of the grade and quality you thought you bought.

Prevent problems

At the risk of stating the obvious: the best way to prevent the above problem is to visit an independent specialised retailer in natural wooden flooring. They have large real samples in their showroom, can advice you face to face on all things related to the product of your choice and - if you plan to install the floor yourself - are often more than happy to give you tips on the best installation method and products for your situation.

Does this come at a higher price than wooden floors you can find online? It often appears so.
Does this come with more and better guarantees you definitely will receive the wooden floor you selected? Always.

(logo links to the Independent Retailer Month Facebook page - discover how and why you should support Local independent retailers in the UK)

Introducing: Wood You Like's Unique Gift Vouchers

Running up to Christmas - problem 1

When the Mid Winter Deals were announced last week, a lady ventured into our Charing showroom, eager to take advantage of this deal. The natural wooden floor she had her heart set on - Prime Oak small plait, one of the design parquet patterns we do - would suit her plans for redecorating one of the larger "drawing rooms" in her property.

The problem she encountered was an absent husband, who - as we all can guess - had to give his "approval" on the decision by at least having seen the large sample in our showroom too. His busy diary, specially during this busy "running up to Christmas rather quickly" period, did not seem to give him the opportunity to do so before the New Year, when the Mid Winter Deal would have been expired.

Running up to Christmas - problem 2

We also received a phone call from a excited DIY-er who suddenly realised Christmas is only two weeks away. His problem: having promised "her who must be obeyed" - his expression, not ours - to have the new natural wooden floor sorted before the festivities started. That promise had been made 4 months ago, before he had started his various projects on the house, estimating he got plenty of time to have everything ready for the floor to be bought and installed way before then.

And as we all know, projects do tend to fill up more time than originally estimated, so he is now running out of time and running out of excuses for the "misses".
She'd study our Online Full Colour Natural Wooden Flooring Brochures for months now and knows exactly what wood-species and finish she wants, but her DIY husband still can't tell her which floor type (15 or 20mm) he prefers to have. That depends on some issues with the underfloor he has to sort out before that decision can be made.
Could we help out? To keep in her good books, he has to show he's definitely "on the case" and hasn't forgotten his promise to her.

Problem 3 - what products?

An elderly dad, recently retired, called us also in regards of a problem, this time nothing to do with Christmas.

His son had recently moved into a small council house and after ripping out the old carpets, he - helping his son with some decoration - had discovered an original mosaic floor in rather good nick underneath. Searching the Internet had brought them to our "7 Easy Steps" guide to repair and restore any original parquet floor.

Plans to do so are afoot and dad wants to be involved with the preparations for this, but does not know what products his son needs or wants. Dad is adamant he should at least contribute to the costs, since the move has already cost his son more than originally planned (as they do, Murphy's Law at work).

One simple and stress-free solution: Unique Gift Vouchers

If Mrs C, with her very busy husband, purchases the £250.00 Unique Gift Voucher for him before the end of this month, the Mid Winter Deal will extend till 31.01.2012 for them. That's a whole calender month longer to take advantage of these unique deals.

Mr Z, fearing the wrath of his "Misses" can purchase any of the vouchers, which will be printed on quality paper and show her - leaving the Unique gift Voucher underneath the Christmas tree - he's definitely on the case.
(Royal Mail's "Beat the Christmas Rush" promises to delivery any 1 st class mail UK main land posted on or before Tuesday 20.12.11 on or before Christmas Eve.)

And Mr L's son would be very happy to receive an Unique Gift Voucher of £ 75.00 for the restoration materials of his own choice, which he can use when ordering the quality products in Wood You Like's secure online shop.

The Vouchers come in 3 values: £ 75.00 - £ 125.00 and £ 250.00
Each has an Unique Voucher Reference and an Unique Code. The latter is a one-off discount code to be used in our online showroom. Each voucher keeps its value for 6 months after the date of issue, but is not redeemable against cash. The vouchers can either be printed on high quality paper and posted - mind the Christmas cut-off point of Royal Mail - or emailed as PDF file.

Make someones Christmas even more special, gift them one of Wood You Like's Unique Gift Vouchers! Call 01233 - 713725 today or purchase the voucher(s) of your choice in our secure online shop now.

Hurry, order before 20.12.11 1pm to have your voucher posted first class in time for Christmas!

Mid Winter Deals

We end this year with very special Mid Winter Deals on all the Unique Natural Wooden Flooring types: Design Parquet, Grigio load-bearing aged floorboards, Hattan 20mm European Oak load-bearing range, FSC Tropical Duoplank, FSC Tropical Commercial and Vertical Parquet, and three very special SolidFloor (TM) ranges - Earth & Fire, Black & White, Gold & Silver.

No matter if you choose supply & install or supply only and no matter how many sq meters you need - we have a Unique Mid Winter Deal for you!

The Unique Ranges

Unique, because

• manufacturers only select specialist retailers, assuring you of dedicated professionals who know what product would suit your circumstances and interior design wishes best and why
• products are of the highest quality, with a lifespan of at least 30 - 40 years, assuring you of long lasting value for money
• most, if not all, are produced in Europe and where Oak is the wood-species of your choice, made from European Oak
• from guaranteed FSC or PEFC certified sources, even from one manufacturer's own FSC certified forest and sustainable projects in South America
• with finishes, wood-species or in shapes you will find nowhere else, assuring you an individual natural wooden floor, a true "one of its kind" only
• your selected floor always comes with extra services, from specified order confirmations, delivery dates suited to your schedule, to advice (and 6 monthly reminders) on maintenance and after care

Mid Winter Deals on Supply and Install orders

3 Unique deals for you, depending on the sq meters ordered:

Orders below 25 sq meters:

• Saicos Ecoline Wax-Care Spray (covers 100 sq meters)
• 4-seasons guarantee on labour
• 50% refund Survey fee (*1)
• 2.5% discount on installation costs

Orders below 50 sq meters:

• 1 years worth of maintenance products
• 2 E-fit images for Design Parquet, Grigio and SolidFloor (TM) range for the price of 1 - upload an image of your room and have it E-fitted with the floor of your choice
• 4-seasons guarantee on labour
• 100% refund Survey fee (*1)
• 5% discount on installation costs

Orders over 50 sq meters:

• lifelong supply of maintenance products (*2)
• 2 E-fit images for free
• 4-seasons guarantee on labour
• 100% refund Survey fee (*1)
• 10% discount on installation costs

Mid Winter Deals on Supply Only - anywhere in mainland UK

Again, 3 Unique deals for you, depending on the sq meters ordered:

Orders below 25 sq meters:

• 50% discount on Wooden Floor Installation Manual - 160 page paperback
• Saicos Ecoline Wax-Care Spray (covers 100 sq m)

Orders below 50 sq meters:

• 100% discount on Wooden Floor Installation Manual
• 50% discount on delivery charges
• 1 years worth of maintenance products

Orders over 50 sq meters:

• 100% discount on Wooden Floor Installation Manual
• 100% discount on delivery charges
• lifelong supply of maintenance products (*2)

The Conditions, without any small print

Survey fees apply for addresses 50 miles or more away from Charing, Kent and have a minimum charge of £ 75.00 ex VAT (= *1). We normally restrict our working area to Kent and the borders of the surrounding counties Surrey and Sussex. Do enquire about options further afield.
Lifelong supply applies as long as you own the property the wooden floor is installed in and is based on the normal regime of maintenance you should treat your floor with (= *2)

For all Unique Mid Winter Deals the following applies:

• New orders placed and first payment received on or before 31 December 2011 4pm,
• and delivered (and/or installed by Wood You Like for Supply & Install orders) on or before 31 March 2012
• scheduling of delivery and/or works on your preferred delivery/installation date will be based on first come, first served
• applicable for Design Parquet, Grigio load-bearing wood-engineered floorboards, Hattan (European Oak load-bearing floorboards), FSC Tropical Duoplank floorboards (load-bearing and 15mm), FSC Tropical Commercial and Vertical Parquet, SolidFloor (TM) Earth & Fire, SolidFloor (TM) Black & White and SolidFloor (TM) Gold & Silver range
• In total the "Unique Range" contains over 107 different floors, your unique choice definitely among them

Drop by, view the samples, browse the online brochures

Why not drop by when you are in the neighbourhood of Charing, fresh (Dutch) coffee served if you like. You can discuss your options, your wishes for specific flooring there and then with us and receive an "on-the-spot" best quotation. If you select installation by Wood You Like's professional team we schedule a survey date with you, after which you will receive (by email or post) the specified quotation, detailing all materials and works involved.

Not able to visit? Request access to the Online Wooden Floor Range brochures and browse all available options in the comfort or your own home (or office). Email us your preferred Unique floor, and some details on the rooms (type of underfloor, UFH involved etc) and we will send you our best quotation in the shortest time possible.

PS - Remember: the last day of the year is last day to take advantage of the unique Mid Winter Deals!

call us now on 01233 - 713725, drop by or drop us an email on info@wood-you-like.co.uk

Did you know there are three main types of Design Parquet Patterns?

One of the most valuable and grand natural wooden flooring is still an original Design Parquet floor. Installed block by block or tile by tile in your own home.

If it's good enough for Kings and Queens, is it good enough for you!

Design tiles often consists of 10 up to 23! individual wood pieces, very precisely cut to eliminate gaps between the pieces. Some tiles have their own border, either square or in an angle to add to the look of the pattern. One single individual tile only shows you a first impression of the actual pattern, you'll have to see at least 4 or 8 tiles next to each other to fully appreciate the dynamics.

Dedicated website for all patterns

The title of this article - did you know there are three main types of Design Parquet Pattern - is answered in depth on Wood You Like's dedicated to unique natural wooden flooring website. Answered not just with words, all patterns in all three types are present in large high resolution images.

To give you a "pre-view"

Loose blocks/strip patterns

Vienna Point in 60 degrees (Oak Prime wood used)

Pattern Tiles

Zuilichem #21 - also in Oak Prime

Enclosed Tiles

Kernhem #18 - again in the most popular wood species for Design Parquet: Oak Prime

Browse all patterns on your leisure, then give us a call on 01233 713725 - or shoot us an email using the special email links underneath every pattern - to discuss options, prices and lead times

Did you also know some people are still amazed such a design parquet floor, supplid and installed in an average sized room, can cost less than £ 4,000.00

Winter time: new opening times showroom

During Winter Time (GMT) our showroom will be open during the following days and hours:

Mon: noon to 4 pm
Tue - Sat: 9.30am - 4pm
Sun: closed
Open during most Bank Holidays (except Sundays)

Restore hidden treasures - without sanding

More and more we receive phone calls, emails and visitors in our showroom who recently discovered their new home has a hidden treasure: an original mosaic or parquet floor (herringbone or basket weave) hiding underneath the inherited carpets!

Don't sand if you can avoid it

Since our company is well know for its parquet restoration service, the first thing on everyone's mind is: how much dust and hassle would sanding down our rediscovered parquet floor bring with it?

However, in most cases sanding is not even needed to bring this hidden treasure back to its original lustre! With careful removing of old carpet grippers, thorough cleaning (with special products - now eco-friendly!) to remove old dirt, grime and even old wax layers, most mosaic and parquet floors will sparkle again - and keep their authentic appearance (something to could be lost when sanding equipment is let loose on it).

Giving your parquet floor a treatment as described above will never go amiss, it's well worth the effort (byu yourself or professional parquet restorer if you don't have the time), won't costs the earth and the moon. The result is 9 times out of 10 a sparkling, again valuable beautiful solid wooden floor - adding not just grandeur but value to your home.

If you want to find out if your original parquet floor can be brought back to its grandeur without sanding, request our free guide here

Magic Cleanser - VOC free

One of the eco friendly products to help you with the "restoration" of your mosaic or parquet floor is Magic Cleanser from Saicos. No bleach, no biocides and complying with the latest VOC regulations (and it smells lovely).
Dilute the Cleanser 1 :10 in water, apply it with a damp cloth and let the solution do its work on stains, dirt, grime and old finish layers for about 10 - 30 minutes before you wipe it off twice with clean water (with a damp cloth, no buckets!). Wipe it dry with a new clean cloth and apply a maintenance product (Saicoc EcoLine Wax-Care Spray for instance, also VOC free) once the floor has fully dried.
Really bare floors, from which the original oil, wax or varnish layer has truly been worn off, can be finished with one or two coats of Saicos Premium HardWaxOil after the Magic Cleanser treatment. All of this is explained in our new free guide

You'll be amazed of the result! And you wouldn't be the first one to discover how easy and hassle free it often is to bring back the sparkle in your original parquet floor.

(In the event sanding is needed, don't use a drum sander - as pictured above. These machines, although available from many standard hire-centers, are not up for the task. Too light and the metal rod to hold the coarse sanding paper around the drum more often than not leave shatter marks all over your valuable parquet floor. Hire a professional with professional sanding equipment, such as a heavy belt sander, edge sander and finishing sander.
And no, it is not very dusty or a big hassle when you do have to have your parquet floor sanded.)

Exterior Wood Care

Introducing a new product range - exterior wood care

Wood Care

Wood is a beautiful and versatile product, used in a large variety of products for both in as outside your home. From furniture, natural wooden flooring, internal and external beams and supports to wall/roof cladding and decking.

It breaths, shows its natural character and is one of the rare products that - if treated correctly - becomes even more beautiful with time.

Clear Oil Finish

For all exterior wood you want to show/keep its true natural character, Saicos Clear Oil Finish is The Perfect Option for you.

It is a colourless oil based wood finish for all wood species and many purposes. It's transparent, slightly satin-mat, water and dirt repellent, durable and non-slip (produced in accordance with the latest results of scientific research and based on natural vegetable oils - environmental friendly with no biocides or preservations).

This oil penetrates into the wood, keeping it healthy and elastic, and protects the surface against weather influences and moisture. Swelling and shrinking of the wood is reduced.
It becomes a permanent part of the wood, the finish will not crack, flake, peel or blister. Therefore no sanding or scraping in case of renovation - just apply another coat.

Let nature take its course, naturally

Red Cedar cladding on Scobe Place - 3 years after installation (image courtesy of Vincent Timber)

The Clear Oil Finish, being colourless, does not offer any UV protection. Your exterior wood will, according to its unique nature, darken or bleach normally by the influence of sunlight. It is therefore a perfect product for those wood species where natural "greying" is appreciated, such as Red Cedar which over time develops a special uniform silver-grey surface. This also happens with various European wood species - larch, sweet chestnut etc.

Non-slip

Another big advantage of the Clear Oil Finish, especially for outdoor floors, wooden decks etc: it is absolutely non-slip!

Fields of application:

1. A clear (colourless) finish for all wood you like to keep as natural as possible: for instance undersides of roofs, wooden decking, grills (1 - 2 coats)
2. A clear finish on all outdoor wood where natural greying is part of the appeal (2 coats)
3. A top-coat and additional protection against weathering over microporous, oil-based finishes on for instance wooden deckings, garden furniture, shutters, doors etc (1 coat)
4. A priming coat on soft woods to prepare it for a coloured finish (1 coat)
5. An well proven product for boat equipment such as wooden planks, sun-decks and railings - instead of varnished (1 - 2 coats)

Coverage per liter:

• approx 13 sq m 2 for 2 coats on smooth wood
• approx 17 sq m for 1 coat on smooth wood
• approx 9 sq m for 2 coats on stratiated wood
• approx 12 sq m for 1 coat on stratiated wood
• (all depending on wood species and surface structure)

Available in 0.75 ltr tins (approx 10 sq m for 2 coats on smooth wood) and 2.5 ltr tins (approx 32 sq m for 2 coats on smooth wood).

Delivery times might apply.

More exteriors wood care products will follow in the very near future, so stay tuned!

Felt Pads

The most simple way to protect your wooden floor from scratches when moving furniture around is to stick Felt Pads underneath the legs.

Using self-adhesive pre-cut rounds couldn't be easier: bursh any dirt or dust from the leg, peel of a suitable sized round from the sheet and press on. Job done.
It is not needed to cover the whole botom of large or shunky legs - think tables, bookcases etc. Two or three (medium or large) rounds will do the job to protect your floor from scratches when moving furniture around.

Normally you only need Felt Pads underneath furniture pieces which are moved frequently - think dining chairs - but these pads also come in handy for heavy pieces you only occasionally move from their spot. With Felt Pads attached, it will take the brunt out of this job.

In our secure webshop you will find 4 sizes:

1. 19mm (pack contains 32 rounds)
2. 26mm (pack contains 16 rounds)
3. 38mm (apcks contains 8 rounds)
4. 90 x 164mm (pack contains one sheet)

Purchase now:

Care/Repair kits - everything you need in one box

When you are (re)searching products to care or repair your wooden floor, you could be forgiven for becoming overwhelmed by all the products available. Which one, or combination of products, would do everything you want it to do, AND is suitable for it?

Do I need an oil when my floor has been oiled before to bring back its lustre, do I need a cleaning product first and what wax or polish can I apply and how often?
What products do I need when I only have to add a few blocks to our existing parquet floor, and want to sand and re-finish the whole area of flooring?

The list of questions can go on and on.

Restoration packs

Since long, Wood You Like's secure webshop has presented you with 3 different Restoration Packs when you're in the process of restoring your original parquet floor:

• Oak pack - with HardWaxOil, among other products
• Tropical - with the Tropical Combo as finish
• Pine - with a thin colour oil to prevent the pine turning ugly orange

All three packs also contain parquet adhesive, notched trowel and trowel knife, wood-filler, oil/polish applicator and the "7 easy steps" guide.
For some "restoration" jobs the above packs contain more products than needed. For instance, when you don't have any missing or loose blocks the adhesive is not needed.
And sometimes there is even no need to sand your floor, making the wood-filler superfluous too.

New: Care/Repair Kits

If that's the case we have make life easier for you by creating 2 brands new Care/Repair Kits - more Kits might follow in the near future, see below.

We had a close look at our sales statistics to see which products were frequently combined in orders through our secure webshop, and simply put them in one box - to make it easier for you if you are planning a sort like DIY-Repair project.

The Care/Repair Kit contains a small tin of Premium HardWaxOil (if you only need to re-finish the tiniest of areas), handy small application brush and all the required cleaning and maintenance products to treat the rest of the your wooden floor and bring back its lustre.

The Intensive Cleaning/Repair Kit are ideal for those floors which have been covered with carpets for a long time. The Magic Cleanser - dilute with water - will remove all the dirt, grime and even old wax/oil layers. Once this application has dried - do read and follow the instructions of use - it is simply a matter of applying Premium HardWaxOil on your floor. No need for sanding at all!

In the Care/Repair Kits category you will also find the Floor Care Set: 1 ltr Wax-Care and 1 ltr Wash-care for regular maintenance for your wooden floor to keep it healthy, durable and beautiful.

More Kits? Tell us!

The above Kits came to be after researching our own data, but of course it is possible we are overlooking something you are in need of.

That's why we said: more Kits might follow.
If you think there is a specific combination of products to care/repair/restore your wooden floor which is now missing in our secure webshop - simply tell us now!

For this purpose we've created a short survey, and everyone who takes the time to tell us what in their opinion is missing (and fills in their name and email address) will be placed in a Thank You Draw. In two weeks time we will close the survey, draw one name out of the "hat" (or box more likely) and reward this person with a unique, one-off coupon-code with the value of £ 15.00 to be used in our secure webshop.

The ease of applying Saicos Premium HardWaxOil

Now more and more original floors are being rediscovered and restored, the question of what should be applied as new finish to really bring out the authentic character of the floor is popping up (in?) regularly in our inbox.

Natural oil for natural look

Since long we are "oil" people, the natural finish which brings out the true character of your wooden floor., is easy to maintain and if needed easily repaired locally without having to resand your whole floor all over again.

Plus, as the short video below will show you, is very easy to apply:

(In between sanding only needed if too long a time had been left between the two coats, oil can also be applied with polish applicator instead of roller)

You can find all 4 sheens of Saicos HardWaxOil here (plus other floor oils by Saicos, such as the Tropical Combo for - as you would expect - tropical floors)

Duo/Venture Plank unfinished Oak Prime and Rustic

By some called the "Rolls Royce" among the multi-layered wood-engineered floors. Duoplank, produced in Europe from European Oak, 6mm top layer on 14mm water-resistant-plywood (birch) and one of the few, if not the only one, tested by TNO on UFH (on shrinkage and delaminating). Came through the tests with flying colours and therefore guaranteed on UFH - as long, of course, you treat your UFH system according to the instructions.

In the UK also know as Venture Plank, therefore on our webpages you will frequently find the name Duo/Venture Plank mentioned.

Select/apply your own finish

For those who cannot find their preferred finish in the load-bearing 20/6 range from SolidFloor (TM), the unfinished Duo/Venture Plank in Oak Prime or Oak Rustic/Character could well be the best solutions.

Select your own finish, be it oiled or varnished/lacquered, install your robust load-bearing Duo/Venture Plank and apply the finish. One excellent way to establish your floor is truly unique.

Prime

This grade of quality Oak does not contain knots (or only tiny specks) and can have boards full of medullary rays (mirrors). Available in 3 widths: 100mm, 180mm and 220mm

Rustic/Character

For that Country feel: knots, colour variations for a "natural" wooden floor. Available in 3 widths too: 180mm, 220mm and 260mm
The 180mm has also the option of square edges, meaning no bevels.

Due to the precise routering of the T&G construction you can easily combine 2 or even 3 widths in the same floor for even more authenticity.

As for finishes to select, we are oil people ourselves and can highly recommend the oil products from Saicos (HardWaxOil natural in 4 sheens, Colour Wax Classic in 19 different colours - which needs one coat of HardWaxOil as wear and tear layer) or Blanchon HardWaxOil in 12 colours (all Satin Mat)

The Duo/Venture Plank Oak Prime and Rustic/Character are ready to order in our secure webshop now!

Installation Manual as training manual

Receiving feedback on our Wooden Floor Installation Manual always gives us a buzz, the feedback we received this week from a professional colleague certainly did:

From Ron Bacon / RC Bacon Ltd

I am a flooring contractor with over 40 years experience in all types of carpet and flooring.

I have an improver (Steve Glen) who is excellent at laying certain types of wood floors, but who lacks confidence.

So I decided to increase his knowledge to handle this, on the premise that knowledge (when gained) = willingness to be cause, thus responsibility which brings about increased ability to control. Then I noticed your book and decided to get it for him to save time in providing him with data for his training. It didn’t matter that the data was not necessarily relevant to his current work for it was helping to clear up misunderstoods and false data he had accumulated from verbal technology given to him by others, who also had obviously suffered from dissemination of false data by others in the past.

Recently he completed a splendid herringbone parquet installation with a tramline inset border, of which he is rightly very proud and so am I. Pictures attached.

So thank you for providing the data in your book, it is of tremendous value.

Kind regards

Ron Bacon

RC Bacon Ltd
T/as RC Bacon Carpets & Flooring

This result definitively deserves its rightful place in our "Hall of Fame"!

 

 
All images provided by RC Bacon Ltd

Solidfloor (TM) - now available online

The complete Solidfloor (TM) wood-engineered floor range (over 77 different floor-types) are now added to Wood You Like's secure webshop.

Forever yours

A floor for every style and situation, from 10mm to load-bearing 20mm thick T&G boards. All pre-oiled and of the highest quality, lasting you years and years to come: Solidfloor ... forever yours

The categories - as displayed in the online shop:
10/3 Basic (covering Warrant and LifeStyle ranges)
15/4 Basic (covering Warrant and LifeStyle ranges)
20/6 Multi-layer (covering Warrant and LifeStyle ranges)
10/3 Aged (Vintage range)
15/4 Aged (Vintage range)
20/6 Aged (Vintage range)
15/4 Unique floors (covering New Classics, Black & White, Earth & Fire and Silver & Gold ranges)

All prices are ex VAT per pack - packs range from 1.3834 sq m to 2.28 sq m. And every order will receive a Free Saicos Floor Care Set.
Delivery charges: only £30.00 ex VAT - no minimum order.

Examples:

15/4 New Classic - Basket Weave Notre Dame - distressed, smoked,brushed and oiled natural

20/6 Multi-layer - Oak Nature white-washed and oiled natural - Nile

15/4 Aged - Vintage Oak Rustic FSC, hand-scraped, smoked and oiled white - Alaska

10/3 Basic - Walnut Nature, oiled natural - Cleveland

15/4 Basic - Oak Rustic, brushed and oiled natural - Seattle

Solidfloor (TM) has definitely a floor for every taste, style and circumstances.

New "Ask Us" system

Introducing Wood You Like's brand new Support Service:

How Can We Help?

Pop your question in the new form, we will search our database of Recently Asked Questions first:

before presenting you with a new - larger - form to write your specific question in - just get in touch.

After we receive your question, by email, we will answer it as soon as we can during normal working hours.

The advantages of our new Support System are:

• you can keep track of the status of your question online.
• if needed, you can upload images or other files to give us more details of your question
• you can reply either online or through email - no matter which option you use, your reply will land in our inbox almost immediately.
• some of the questions we encounter will be added to our new Recently Asked Questions, a growing Knowledge Base on all matters relating to natural wooden flooring for you and others.

Wood You Like, at your service!

Saicos Colour Wax Classic - Essential for wood in living areas

Natural finish, based on vegatable oils and waxes, for all interior wood:

• coloured ground coat for wooden and cork floors - to be finished with SAICOS HARDWAX-OIL
• wall and ceiling panelling
• doors
• mouldings
• furniture (excellent for furniture restoration)

SAICOS COLOUR WAX CLASSIC is available colourless as well as in the natural shades of the most frequently used wood species - plus some differing colour shades which - with also one coat only - will make the treated wood look like “naturally grown coloured“. This offers a great variety of designs, not only for furniture and panellings, but also for wooden floors.
The colourshade White is available “transparent“ and “opaque“.

Drying approx. 8 hrs (depending on temperature and air humidity).
Dust-dry after approx. 4 hrs.

After treatment on wooden floors, apply one coat of the quick drying Saicos HardWaxOil (available in 4 sheens)

For furniture, especially hard used work and table tops, a second coat is also recommended
For all hard and precious woods COLOUR WAX EXTRA THIN is recommended for easier penetration.

For panellings on walls and ceilings one coat will normally be sufficient (except opaque white = 2 coats).
The satin mat surface can be polished for a more satin sheen after drying.
If for coloured treatments a deeper (semi opaque) colour shade is desired, apply a second coat after drying.

Transparent colours will be particularly even and beautful if applied over a ground coat of COLOUR WAX CLEAR EXTRA THIN.

Tin sizes and coverage:
0.75 ltr = 16 sqm 1 coat (10 sq m 2 coats)
2.5 ltr = 53 sq m 1 coat (33 sq m 2 coats)

Saicos Colour Wax is produced in accordance with the latest scientific researches regarding the best treatment of wood.
It is a professional and easy-care natural wax finish for all interior wood, environmentally friendly and complying with the natural demands of wood. It is based on natural raw materials, is moisture regulating and allows the wood to breathe (like the human skin). The wood retains its natural beauty.

Environmentally friendly - no biocides - no preservatives - safe for children's toys

Latest trend in Summer activities: Eco-cation

Home improvements of the green variety are set to be the big thing this summer, according to Homebuilding & Renovating.

Green is this Summer's colour

With the (still) long evenings, an Eco-cation appears to be an increasing Summer activity in the whole of the UK. And with no sign of an tropical heat-wave around the corner, spending your holiday days improving your home (and the climate) can be a pleasurable and rewarding pastime. (Plus it beats hours long queuing for a flight time after time.)

Besides insulating your home, installing energy efficient appliances and lightning fixtures, have you though about adding green credentials to your floor covering?

Restore instead of renew

Many homes already have wooden flooring as floor covering, be is pine floorboards, original parquet or even "new" wood-engineered boards. Don't forget that adding wood flooring is no longer a new trend, since the beginning of this century it's right up there among the main choices and increasingly the first option people consider when moving or improving.

What has been renewed however, are the finishing materials. Stricter VOC regulations has seen an increase of eco-friendly - and durable - products you can safely use to repair/restore your existing wooden floor.

From parquet adhesive to glue back loose blocks (or individual fingers of a mosaic floor), to easy to apply and quick drying floor oils. Most after care products are 100% VOC free and will keep your repaired/restored floor in healthy shape for a very long time. Then of course, there is our famous eco-friendly cast-iron buffing block to assist you both with the application of the new finish as well as with the half-yearly maintenance.

(If you are otherwise engaged during the long Summer, Wood You Like's professional team is at hand to repair/restore or maintain your wooden floor.)

Opt for FSC/PEFC when replacing/renewing

FSC and PEFC certified products come from sustainable sources, where not just trees are planted back but whole local communities receive assistance and support to build a sustainable and long lasting income from the forests (as in: a forest that pays, stays). These small, medium and large projects are increasingly found/started all over the world, not just in tropical areas.

If your heart is set on installing a new wooden floor to replace carpet - or the old floor is beyond restoration - you have an increasing choice in FSC and PEFC certified wooden flooring products.

Keeping in style with the character (time-period) of your home: FSC Vintage wood-engineered boards (SolidFloor - TM)

Hand-scraped or distressed Oak Rustic in natural colours. The floor in this image (Alaska: hand-scraped, smoked & oiled white) complements the original style of the home in such a way it looks as if the floor has been there since the house was built.

(You can find all FSC Vintage products here)

The advantage of installing new FSC wood-engineered floorboards over existing drafty floorboards: it will stop the draft (without blocking the needed ventilation underneath) and reduce your heating bills.

(If you are otherwise engaged during the long Summer, Wood You Like's professional team is at hand to install your new wooden floor.)

Mosaic - definitely back in fashion

Since the introduction of the small packs of 5-finger mosaic we have been inundated with small (and large) orders for this Solid Wood product.

There's nothing more exciting it seems than to rip out old inherited carpets in the home you just bought and discover you are the proud owner of a real wooden floor.

And then the search is on when parts are missing, due to whatever building works done previously (central heating installed, or fireplaces changed). Hallway cupboards are know to have mosaic floors too and there often the missing original blocks of fingers can be "reclaimed" from.

If you are out of luck there, measure one block of 5-fingers to get the size you're after to make your search and enquiries easier. The size of most readily available 5-finger mosaic species in our secure webshop is: 12cm by 12cm, 7.5mm thick.

Teak

In bungalows built (or renovated) in the 1950's upto the 80's tropical species such as Mahogany, Teak and Merbau were most common, preferred - then - even over Oak.

The mosaic comes on mesh-backing (tiles), simple to install tile after tile with parquet adhesive (F.Ball B91 for instance) on dry and level concrete or onto level plywood. Finishing the floor - after a light sanding - with a natural oil will bring out the species character best in our opinion. For tropical species we recommend the "tropical combo": one coat of extra thin oil, followed by one coat of HardWaxOil (in the sheen of your liking). Oak should be treated with two coats of HardWaxOil to give the best result.

New sample boards

Here's Ton, in his workshop at home, applying Saicos Wood Wax Clear extra thin to the brand new 5-finger Mosaic sample boards. In front you can see the Mahogany and the Teak board is just receiving the first coat.
If you look closely you can see two other boards hiding underneath: Merbau and Oak - which will be treated to their own finish once the top boards have received the final coat and are dry enough to be turned round. All 4 (2 double-sided) boards will be on grand display in our showroom soon.

Ton and Barry - our professional installation and restoration team - have the world of experience installing all types of parquet floors, from mosaic to design patterns. If you live in Kent, give us a call on 01233 713725 to discuss the option of supply and install in one complete package.

Diagonal (Oak)

And who said you have to install straight? Add some spectacular (but simple to achieve) difference to your room by going diagonal.

Normally this would create much more saw-waste, but because the mosaic consists of a whole load of little fingers which can be individually used, this is not the case here.

In a way, going diagonal could be your solution when you have extended a room which has an original mosaic in an old size. Make the mosaic floor in the new extension a feature by installing it diagonal, it will look the same "pattern" even though the blocks of fingers have a different - modern - size. And none would be the wiser, the human eye is not really equipped to detect small size differences when it has to compare different "shapes".

Diagonal (Merbau)

(Unfortunately we couldn't find representative images of 5-finger mosaic floors, therefore - if you'd noticed - we used images from our Design Parquet manufacturer's 7-finger mosaic examples. 16cm by 16cm, 8mm thick if you are interested, packed per 4.1 sq m and in many wood-species available.)

Different sizes

Not all old (or new) mosaic floors have to contain 5 or 7 very small fingers. Another rather common size and pattern is the 3 fatter finger mosaic: 46 x 138mm per block (and 3 times 46 makes 138, a square of three fingers). Not a standard size, but with help from our Design Parquet Manufacturer we have already been able to supply new blocks of this specific size in Iroko and Oak Prime.

So if you discover an odd size fat finger mosaic floor, don't despair, just give us a call on 01233 713725 (maximum thickness of these blocks is 10mm though).

Creative

And who's to stop you from using regular size blocks to form a large mosaic pattern? If you look at the size of one individual block you can determine how many fingers will make a square - in most cases that is.
Many of the standard size of the so-called herringbone blocks are based on this: 10 x 71 x 284mm (4 x 71) or 10 x 70 x 280mm (4 x 70), 10 x 60 x 300mm (5 x 60) 10 x 71 x 355mm (5 x 71) or 10 x 70 x 350mm (5 x 70) - depending on the manufacturer's specifications of the blocks.

On their side

Vertical mosaic - also known as hogh-kant mosaic - is a different method of putting the fingers on the mesh backing: on their side. You have plenty of FSC certified wood-species to choose from in this very hardwearing and filled with colours product.
Vertical Mosaic (22 x 8mm) or Commercial Parquet (14 x 22mm)

Mini herringbone

Another way to group little mosaic fingers is in a mini-herringbone pattern. This product comes in single, double and even triple pattern. Again, on mesh backing for simple installation on a dry, level concrete floor (or plywood subfloor). Call us for up to date prices and lead-times.

Plenty of choices in the Retro Mosaic Wooden World!

15/4 Oak Nature - special offer

Special (one-off) offer on the minimalistic Oak Nature, oiled natural 15/4 Wood-Engineered floorboards.

Toronto

Suits any interior with soft tones and elegance. The quality floor has hardly any knots, comes with T&G and is pre-finished with natural oil to bring out the Oak's character as honest as possible.

28 packs a 2.075 sq m (58.10 sq m) available for the special price of £ 43.35 ex VAT = 10% discount on normal price of £ 48.13 ex VAT.
(minimum order = 4 packs, or the whole lot for £ 3,000.00 including VAT, excluding possible delivery charges - Kent is FREE delivery).
(Updated 17.05.11)

Main reason for this very special and one-off offer: large order canceled at last moment, we need the space it is taking up now in our storage facility for other orders coming in asap.

Call 01233 - 713725 now to place your order and arrange delivery (or collection).

Landlord? Your next tenant is looking for extras

The letting market is getting stronger month by month. More and more "first-time" buyers are failing to get on the first rang of the property ladder - for various reasons (bank squeezes on mortgages, decline in new builds etc).

This however does not mean "reluctant" tenants will accept any type of rental home, so landlords should be aware of the new trend: tenants demanding extras and "snapping-up" rental homes which offer just that.

Fussy tenants

People entering into the rental market are looking for specific details in the properties they choose to live in.

James Davis, chief executive of Upad.co.uk, explained the letting agent has seen a large rise in the number of people seeking to rent, with almost twice the number recorded during March as in the previous month.

"Tenants are being more fussy and particular about where they want to live; they [may] want a property which has Wi-Fi or a garden or off-street parking," Mr Davis explained.

He added that landlords need to respond to these demands in order to attract people to rent their properties.

Can't go wrong with wooden flooring

One item that always has a high appeal is wooden floor covering, not just because it is long lasting (meaning a proper ROI for you as landlord) and easy to maintain. Natural wooden flooring is one of the most anti-allergic floor coverings you can add to your property. Since more and more people are aware of this health benefit wooden flooring gives them, a property that has wooden flooring in most rooms (including bedrooms) attracts a higher rent.

As landlord you have to way up to the costs against the long term benefits. Quality wooden flooring seems more expensive than wall-to-wall carpet, but especially areas where there is less traffic (bedrooms) you can use thinner wood-engineered boards and still give your fussy tenant the covering he/she appreciates and will take better care off:

Some tenants are just not careful enough with property belonging to someone else - a known fact. Another known fact is that dirty surfaces attract more dirt, or in other words: once a carpet looks worn, slightly damaged and dirty nobody is really going to care if it gets even dirtier or more damaged.

However, a floor covering that always looks clean and from which spillages are easily removed tend to bring out the feeling of "ownership". Your tenants will take better care of "their" lovely wooden floor than they will with a carpet. So no more need to replace the carpets every year, saving you a rather lot of money, grievance and aggravation in one simple go.

(from 57 Reasons Why Natural Wooden Flooring Outperforms, Outlasts, and Always Looks Better, than Any Other Floor Covering Available - a publication by Wood You Like Ltd)

10/3 High quality engineered wood

Simple, elegant and long-lasting for an economical price - AND has a 3mm Solid top layer. Prices start at £ 29.36 ex VAT per sq m and the choices are plentiful:
from Oak Rustic and Nature to American Oak in various colours to Walnut Prime and Rustic.

Read here if and why your property can profit from the 10/3 range of wood-engineered pre-oiled floorboards.

Your neighbouring landlord could already have installed quality wooden floors and find tenants willing to pay for the pleasure of having a beautiful floor covering in "their home" quicker.

5-finger mosaic small packs

Frequently used in bungalows - and of course other types of homes - during the 50's upto the early 90's, the 5-finger solid wood mosaic floors are a common sight.

And nowadays very often a common and pleasant discovery by the new owners of the house when ripping out the wall-to-wall carpet or vinyl that had been installed over it - perhaps even many years ago.

Restoring or adding mosaic floors

A design parquet floor, and a mosaic floor is definitely a design parquet floor, is a valuable floor covering to have/to discover you have. Sturdy, beautiful and most often than not, adding value to your home. Plus of course, very easy to keep clean.

Not all rediscovered mosaic floors have withstand various prior renovation projects, central heating might be installed - where plumbers simply ripped out areas of mosaic to lay the water pipes in the concrete - or original fireplaces removed. Leaving you with missing areas of wood.

If this is not the case, lucky you, and your charmed by the look of the wood floor, you could consider installing mosaic floors in other rooms too,. to complete the picture. For instance when you (or the previous owners) knock down a wall and only one part of the new larger room has a mosaic floor.

 
Wood You Like is happy to announce the 5-finger mosaic in the most used wood-species is now available in small quantities, catering both for small restoration projects and large additional rooms/areas.

Only 0.691 sq m per pack

From top to bottom:

• Solid Oak Nature grade
• Mahogany
• Merbau
• Genuine Teak

All packed very economically: 0.691 sq m per pack.
All unfinished, so you can decide your own finish (thinking of oil to bring out its character best? Look at our Tropical-Combo products)
All measuring (4 blocks by 4 blocks of 5-fingers): 7.5 x 480 x 480mm and all available from our secure webshop.

When you browse in the secure webshop, be sure to visit the "restoration packs" category, all materials needed for either Oak or Tropical species floor restoration (adhesive, oils etc)

Or just give us a call on 01233 - 713725 to discuss in person what materials and wood-species best to use.

Note: bitumen alert!

Take care when you discover your original mosaic floor had been installed with the old-fasion and no longer allowed to be used inside homes, bitumen/black tar. None of the modern adhesive will bond with this.
Don't simply use a latex screed over it - more often than not this will not properly bond with the bitumen. If you can't remove the bitumen from the underfloor, either install plywood over it or use acrylic screed (both a bit more expansive, but giving you a much better and long lasting end result than any latex screed ever can accomplish).

And, relax - (your home interior plans)

Homeowners are frequently becoming more relaxed about the styles of furniture and accessories they have in their homes, according to one designer.

There is a growing trend for householders to take a mix and match approach to how they decorate their property, Adrienne Chinn has explained.

Ms Chinn, who owns her own interior design company, has stated that things like mismatched crockery are becoming trendy as people search for shabby-chic designs, with retro furniture also becoming more popular.

"The benefit of living in this century is that we can cherry pick from previous centuries and previous times," she said.

A recent report from Debenhams stated that British consumers are increasingly looking for quirky items to decorate their homes, as the department store noted people are buying plates that do not co-ordinate in shape or colour.

Bring it all together

Relaxed home interior does need an uncomplicated "foundation". One of the reasons the 15/4 Wood-Engineered Oak Rustic brushed & oiled natural floor (Seattle) has become the most popular choice for home owners.

With it's 4mm Solid Oak toplayer and quality T&G construction it is both practical, easy to maintain - pre-oiled, and even suitable on UnderFloor Heating systems. The long planks (1.83 meter) guarantees a relaxed feeling, while the simple natural finish blends in with any fixtures and furnishings you have gathered together.

Call us now on 01233 - 713725 to discuss the sq meters you need to complete your relaxed home interior with high quality, long lasting and durable Seattle.

Keeping costs down

Home is where the heart is and protecting it and our families are most peoples’ top priorities, but seeing as few of us have hundreds of thousands of Pounds sitting in the bank ready to be utilised if something happens to a home and its treasured possessions, we need a little help. For most people, this comes in the form of home insurance

In this article we will show you how you can easily keep the costs of your home insurance to a minimum but if you need further advice or are looking for a quote on renewing your home insurance visit Legal & General. It is the country’s best provider of mortgage-related insurance.

Protect Yourself

Insurers base insurance premiums on risk. The greater risk your home poses to them, i.e. the greater the possibility they will need to pay out on a claim, the higher your insurance premium. Therefore it pays to reduce your risk as much as possible. One way of doing this is to install a burglar alarm. Not only will you deter burglars but you can also slice a good percentage of your home insurance premium.

Joining your local neighbourhood watch is another quick fire way to lower you insurance costs. Dead locks, double glazier and security lights also can shave a few Pounds off your premium.

Share the risk

The excess is the amount you pay towards a claim. Your contribution can be relatively small, or you can voluntarily choose to increase the excess. Why would you do this? By sharing the risk with your insurer, you will be rewarded with a lower premium. If you rarely claim and when you do it’s only for high-ticket value items, this is one of the best ways to greatly lower your annual insurance costs. However, you should only do this if you really can afford to do so and if you don’t claim often.

No claims benefit

Along the same vein, choose an insurer that offers a great no-claims discount that increases over time. As the name suggests, if you don’t claim you get a benefit and this benefit comes in the form of a discount. After several years of claim-free living you can get up to 70% off your insurance premium. However, like the previous point, this only works if you don’t claim very often. You should only make claims for expensive items or repair jobs.

Pay annually

Finally, the easiest way to chop 4-10% off your premium is to pay on an annual basis, rather than via a monthly direct debit or bill. Insurers factor in some interest into monthly payments as they are more convenient to customers but less convenient to insurers. So avoid this by paying up-front annually
----------------------------------------

Water damage?

In the event your wooden floor is affected by a water leak, read our "Wood and Water" case-study and discover how insurers regard your efforts to limit the damage.

Add green (FSC) credentials to your unique flooring project

Combining uniqueness in wooden flooring with being green is now only one simple phone call away.

Unique wooden floors

Are you looking for a truly unique floor, one in its kind? Have you trawled the Internet for ages and still not found that one floor you are looking for?

Look no further: Wood You Like’s Chaco Wood Commercial Parquet and Vertical Mosaic has it all: highest quality, hardwearing and produced from even in their Dutch manufacturer’s own FSC certified forest in Bolivia.

Commercial Parquet/Vertical Mosaic (also known as Hoch-kant parket) resemble mosaic flooring, but with quite a difference. The surface is in fact the tough side of a wood strip, giving every floor also a multi-coloured unique appearance.

And that's not all. These unique floors are one of the most stable, hardwearing, rather simple to install and very, very beautiful floor covering you have ever encountered. Each strip has its own true natural character, grouped together to show each species full colour spectrum and even quirkiness. A floor like this is never boring.

Tropical FSC Commercial 14mm parquet

Commercial Parquet is made from, carefully selected on highest quality, 22m boards. These boards are cut in 14mm wide strips and then turned on their sides, creating a mat (tile) of 15 strips 14mm thick, 22mm wide and 250mm long in the most spectacular colouring you’ve ever seen.

Ideal hardwearing floor solution for shops, offices, fitness centres, dance and school halls to name but a few, and of course for that very special domestic project you have in mind.

FSC species:

• Ajunao
• Curupau
• Jatoba/Paquio
• Tajibo
• Momoqui
• Morado
• Sirari
• Tarara Amarilla

Since more and more green projects involve Underfloor Heating systems, we can reassure you the FSC tropical Commercial parquet is the right choice here too, the small solid strips makes it one of the very few Solid wood floors suitable for UFH.

FSC Tropical Vertical 22mm Mosaic

Another choice resembles old fashion mosaic even more, where 8mm strips 22mm wide, 160mm long, are turned on their side to create the thickest and most hardwearing spectacular wooden floor covering ever (effectively 22mm thick, 8mm wide strips in easy to install tiles = Vertical Mosaic) Due to its thickness not as suitable for UFH than the Commercial 14mm Parquet.

Available in the same wood-species as the Commercial Parquet, 40 strips per tile.

Both tile types, hold together with strong mesh backing, can be installed straight onto level concrete or plywood floors. A quick light sanding prepares the floor for the finish of your choice. (We can highly recommend Saicos Colour Wax Clear Extra thin, followed by one coat of Saicos Premium HardWaxOil - 4 sheens available - the so-called "Tropical Combo" for this.)

The right choice for any project that needs a hardwearing, eco-friendly trendy floor covering which can be installed and finished quicker than most other floor types.

Give yourself extra piece of mind when it comes to special floor coverings: combine our quality and unique FSC floor products with our professional installation service, parquet flooring always has been and shall be our speciality. We will give you an all-in-one project price, so no surprises afterwards.

Call us now on 01233 - 713725 to discuss lead times and prices (which will surprise you, "Going Green" does not have to be expensive, see for yourself in our secure webshop)

Kitchens becoming The Place to socialise

People planning on renovating their kitchens in the coming months could decide to make the space more than just functional.

Anita Kaushal, an author and interior designer, has explained how the this room is becoming increasingly a function for different purposes in years to come.

She explained that many are seeing the space available to them also in the bathroom and putting up book shelves or adding decorations that would not traditionally belong in the room, like a chandelier.

Kitchens are also seeing a makeover, as they are being utilised as a place where people can socialise.

"It used to be the living room, but [now that's moved to] the kitchen island. You can buy these diddy little sofas to put in kitchens now that just say 'you're welcome'," Ms Kaushal added.

Wood-engineered floors are very suitable in kitchens, if you're thinking of revamping the existing floor covering there. Oiled Oak in many widths and colours, starting from 10mm thick boards who still have a 3mm Solid top layer, making this extremely good value for money. The image in this post shows the 10/3 American Oak, Brushed & White-washed & Oiled natural (Buffalo).

During this month, Wood You Like is offering a Spring Offer on 115 Wood-Engineered floors, all 10/3 floors among them.

Special Spring Offer on 115 different wood-engineered floors

115 different wood-engineered floors now with 4% discount

It's the month of Spring, and to celebrate the warmer and lighter days to come Wood You Like has reduced 110 different wooden floors, in 7 different style ranges, from popular to unique finishes. All those 110, plus the 5 Grigio authentic Italian oil pigments load-bearing aged floors, this month - and this month only! - yours with 4% discount on the normal price.

All 115 floors have their specific characteristics, giving you the widest possible options in high quality Oak wood-engineered pre-oiled floors ever available. (We sneaked in a few American Oak, Walnut, Ash, Maple and Larch too). No matter if you are looking for the most straight forward Oak Rustic natural oiled or the most luxurious finishes like Dazzling Gold or Smashing Silver, we can guarantee you will find your floor amongst the 115 this month. See below how we can be so sure.

Always wanted a New Classic Basketweave, or Hand-scraped smoked and white oiled floor? Now is the time to call us on 01233 713725 and purchase it for the discounted price. We'll discuss the most suitable underlayment and accessories with you there and then too.

A few examples (and the most popular choices so far)
10/3 Quebec - Oak Rustic, oiled natural from £ 29.36 now for £ 28.18 ex VAT per sq m
15/4 Seattle - Oak Rustic, brushed & oiled natural from £ 43.80 now for £ 42.04 ex VAT per sq m
15/4 Baltimore - Oak Rustic, smoked & oiled natural from £ 45.24 now for £ 43.43 ex VAT per sq m
15/4 Nevada - FSC Oak Rustic, hand-scraped & smoked & oiled natural from £ 59.68 now for £ 57.29 ex VAT per sq m
20/6 Rhine - Oak Nature, oiled natural from £ 61.57 now for £59.10 ex VAT per sq m
18/6 Grigio Oak Rustic Old Brown 180mm from £ 96.97 now for £ 93.09 ex VAT per sq m

Delivery in Kent is free (Kent/Sussex and Kent/Surrey borders too) and if you use your debit card or BAC's transfer you will receive a further discount of 2.5% on the amount payable.

Can't see the trees for the woods? Wouldn't know where to start browsing the 115 floors to find The Floor for you? Follow the easy steps in our unique Select Your Floor tour, guaranteed to find the most adorable one for you.

Select Your Floor - unique guide

Selecting a wooden floor for your home, with its specific character and your own specific interior design wishes, can be a daunting task. Specially now there are so many different wooden floor types, wood-species and finishes around.

So, if you "can't see the trees for the wood", Wood You Like's "Select Your Floor" guide will give you a helping - guiding - hand.

How to use this guide

The guide starts with a few simple multiple choice questions where each answer you select brings you "deeper" into guide - helping you to fine-tune your choices.
Simply select the answer you think most suits your wishes and/or circumstances and we'll bring you to the next "level" of options, again with a next multiple choice question drilling further down on your personal preferences until you've found the most perfect floor type and finish for your home - solely based on your own answers.

And when in doubt, you can always go back to the last question you answered and "try another route". You're definitely in the lead here, we're just helping you to navigate towards your goal.

So, put your most comfortable "walking shoes" on - slippers will do, fill your thermos flask with your favourite beverage and "off we go".
Click here to start the voyage into the wonderful world of natural wooden flooring. Let's find your (proverbial) tree in the woods!

Conservatories can provide extra space

Homeowners who are looking for extra space in their properties could consider constructing a conservatory.

Andrew Leech, spokesman for the National Home Improvement Council, explained that the organisation feels many people are looking to make more space at home in the most economical way possible due to the current financial climate.

As a result of this, he said that the possibility of have a conservatory built on to their house is appealing to many residents.

"They can provide an extra 'room' at a relatively cheaper price, but should not be compared with benefits to be gained from a more substantial and well-insulated extension," Mr Leech stated.

People considering larger projects were recently advised by Jaclyn Thorburn, spokeswoman for BuildStore, that building a property could be the easiest way to get the house of their dreams.

Best floorcovering in conservatories: wood-engineered

Conservatories have their own climate, sometimes with rapid changing temperatures. A Solid wooden floor would be reacting constantly to these changes and therefore gives a too high risk of cupping, expanding and causing all sorts of problems.

Installing a wood-engineered floor has many more advantages - for one it is way more stable than any solid floorboard, due to the construction of the cross-layered backing. Once installed, the floor will look absolutely no different than a solid board.

If the underfloor is even (do remember that a new concrete floor takes 30 days per inch to dry sufficiently for any floorcovering to be installed safely) you can install a 10mm wood-engineered Oak board, which has a 3mm Solid top layer. Very economical real wood product giving you both the practicality of a stable floor as well as a luxurious floor covering (easy to maintain and no worries about cupping).

Plenty of finishes and wood-species to choose from: Oak, American Oak, Walnut and even Aged (distressed and hand-scraped options)

Hardwood flooring 'popular for interiors'

The use of hardwood flooring is set to be a big trend in interior design during 2011, according to one expert.

Stefan Zachary, founder of Buckinghamshire-based Zachary Design, explained that one of the biggest trends for homes this year is going to be the use of wooden floors.

He stated that because of this, carpet is going to be at a minimum due to the increased demand for high-quality wooden finishes.

In general, he said homeowners are now looking for a good standard of products to use in their properties.

"With the quality of fittings in the house in kitchens and bathrooms, people's aspirations for those parts of the building are now much higher. That extends into bedrooms," Mr Zachary added.

Using a rich palette of colours in the home was recently advised by designer Hannah Barnes, who said copper shades work well with deep blues.

Combine flooring with copper shades: Silver & Gold Range

Inspired by precious metals, the Silver & Gold wood-engineered range contains 3 Silver, 3 Brass/Copper and 2 Gold oiled finished Oak boards.
The picture shows the "Antique Bronze" finish on the 15/4 (15 mm total thickness with a 4mm Solid Oak top layer) x 189 x 1830mm boards.

You can find more details and images of the other "precious metal" finished floors here - and more.

How's that for luxurious hardwood flooring?

Home refurbishments stand out with rich colour palettes

Rich colour palettes have been recommended to people looking to carry out big home refurbishments.

According to Hannah Barnes of Hannah Barnes Designs, hues such as teal and aubergine are set to be a popular trend for the coming months, so homeowners may be tempted to use them on the walls.

"Copper shades will help to change it up in cushions, accessories and lighting, contrasting with the deep hues of purples and blues," she said.

The interior design expert added that metallic accessories are also set to be used a lot to break up blocks of colour in a home this year.

Ms Barnes explained that "rich walnuts" and "rustic textures" are also likely to be utilised by people wishing to have a stylish property in 2011.

Unique floors with rich colour palettes

From Silver and Gold, Black and White to Earth and Fire, unique wood-engineered floor ranges - now available right here.

15/4 T&G boards (15mm with a 4mm Solid top layer) of high quality, examples can be seen here (where you can also request the complete Full Colour Online Wooden Floor Range Brochures and browse all unique floor at your leisure at home).

Add rich and bold colours to your home in a simple way, the real wooden floor will last a life-time. Call us now on 01233 - 713725 to discuss lead times and prices.

VOC Free Wax Care EcoLine Spray

The latest innovation by Saicos Coating Systems

1 ltr Spray

Saicos Wax Care EcoLine (VOC free) is now available in the most easy to use container: 1 ltr spray.

The minute we received this new product I've used it on our own showroom and really, the easy care of wooden flooring has just become even easier. The nozzle sprays a thin "rain" of maintenance product on the floor, spreads out wide enough to be very economical in use and produces a thin layer which is gently rubbed in with a polish applicator.

AND..... it is suitable for both oiled and lacquered/varnished floors, just like the Saicos Wash-Care is.

Finally a product range where two maintenance care products can be used on any wooden floor.

Order it now in our secure webshop £ 16.04 ex VAT, delivery charges may apply.

Striking gold!

No, you didn't win the lottery (or have you?) and neither have we discovered a hidden and long forgotten mine with a large deposit of precious metal.

Silver & Gold Unique Range, inspired by the splendour of precious metals.

Silver & Gold is an exclusive collection of wooden floors with a dazzling finish, inspired by the splendour of precious metals.

It is a collection with a certain elegance, a real glamour trend. Unique in image and exclusive in design, a Silver & Gold floor will give your interior a sense of affluence and a great deal of character.

Choosing from the Silver & Gold collection means bringing an exclusive jewel into your home. 

  

How about Luxury Bronze in your dining room? Or Smashing Silver?

Names to sparkle:

• Oxi Silver
• Gracious Silver
• Smashing Silver
• Luxury Bronze
• Antique Bronze
• Rough copper
• Dazzling Gold
• Groovy Gold

All are 15/4 Wood-engineered high quality boards (15mm total thickness with a 4mm Solid Oak or Ash or Larch top layer, standard T&G, bevelled)
Sizes: 15 x 189 x 1830mm / 2.075 sq m per pack

Pre-oiled - after installation apply one coat of Saicos Wax-care natural.

Can be installed floating, on self-adhesive underlayment, glued down with flexible adhesive.
Suitable for installation over UFH systems (check with your UFH system supplier for advice).

Need to know more, want to see all the precious metals how they can look in your home too?
Request our "Full Colour Online Wooden Floor Range Brochures" - filled with technical details, high resolution images of interior designs and much more.
Select the Unique Range in the form below, pop in your name and email address and an email with access details to the brochures will whiz its way to your inbox instantly.

(If you don't receive this email within 10 - 15 minutes, do check your spam/junk box to see if it has landed in there by accident.)

First Name*

 Last Name*

 Email Address*

 Location
[Please Select]Ashford BoroughKentSussexSurreySouth-East EnglandLondonEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUKOther

 Range leaflet*
[Please Select]Basic RangeMulti-layer - Solid RangeAged RangeDesign Parquet RangeUnique Floor Range

 
  

Your details will never be shared with others, we hate spam as much as you do!

Bring dazzle and luxury to your home

Groovy Gold, adding dazzle and luxury to your home (in any area) in the most simple way.

Request the brochure, or give us a call now on 01233 - 713725 to discuss you options, lead times and prices.

Not moving? Think renovating!

The current lull in the property market makes it the ideal time to consider carrying out home renovations, according to one expert.

Joe McLoughlin, director of OurProperty.co.uk, explained that as banks are still reluctant to hand out big mortgage loans, some people may find it preferable to work on their current properties instead.

He stated that this could actually be beneficial to their properties in the long term, as some refurbishment jobs are likely to boost the value of the building.

It’s not the large projects like extensions or expensive kitchens that add the most value – in fact, estate agents in a recent survey said, often these tend to lose money - as much as 50% on their cost!

No, what does increases value has more to do with adding ‘lifestyle’ features that provide the greatest return when it comes to valuing a house.

They say that “for every £1,000 spent on ‘lifestyle’ features you can reckon on adding more than £3,500 to the value of your home”

Why? Because most people envy, and like to buy into, those signals of ‘success’ so effortlessly portrayed by lifestyle ‘visuals’.

Features, such as wooden flooring - which is light and hygienic, provides a sense of space and elegance, wonderfully easy to keep clean and dust free, and exceptionally robust and long lasting – can make a huge difference to the value of your home.

A new wood floor is proven to add more value to your home than any other flooring option, including tile or wall-to-wall carpeting. And unlike other options, wooden floors not only maintain their value over the years, but effectively retain and improve their elegance and their beauty. And even in those rare cases they do begin to show any wear, they don't need to be replaced - wood flooring can be repaired without losing its value, or elegance, for a fraction of the cost of replacing other types of flooring.

It's no wonder therefore that 'natural wooden flooring’ appears so often in the advertisements of property developers, furniture retailers, and your estate agent – they are simply magnificent, and enhance any room, whatever the furnishing, and whether it’s a simple home or your beloved ‘palace’.

Call us on 01233 - 713725 now to discuss your options in adding simply lifestyle features to your home with one of our natural wooden floor types. Or drop by in our Charing (Kent) showroom where you can discuss all matters face to face with the professionals.

Wood - so natural

High End Properties in Demand

The sale of high-end properties continues to be strong, especially around the London area, according to one expert.

Nick Pejacsevich, assistant manager at independent estate agent Douglas & Gordon, explained that the company is continuing to register a large number of people who are looking to purchase a property.

He said that many of these people are very specific about the homes they want to buy, which is beginning to create a two-tier market.

"If there is a property that ticks all the boxes and comes on the market, then it will sell very quickly for good money, but other properties that may have some issues are struggling," Mr Pejacsevich added.

A recent study from Investec found that on average it takes between one and two months to sell a home worth £1 million or more.

Homeowners who are considering selling their property could try adding quality wooden flooring (specially design parquet) to the most important rooms - which has proven to increase the chance their home will sell quicker and for more.
If your property already has an original wooden floor - hidden underneath carpets - it's always worth calling in the professionals to have it restored to its former glory!

10/3 Wood-Engineered = now available online

There's wood-engineered and there is wood-engineered. Thick load-bearing wood-engineered (20/6), the most common wood-engineered (15/4) and our 10/3 wood-engineered boards which are becoming very popular very quickly.

Stable

(10/3 Oak Rustic, oiled natural - Quebec)

Although 10mm thick in total, with its 3mm! Solid top layer it is definitely a wood-engineered board and definitely not a wood-veneer. If (ever) needed the 10/3 can be safely resanded - which you shouldn't do with a standard veneer board with its common 0.6mm veneer layer.

Variety

10/3 Walnut Nature, oiled natural (Cleveland)

This also makes the 10/3 floor suitable to be installed in more areas than you would install a veneer board. With its 7mm plywood backing and precise engineered T&G construction the installation (floating with PVAC wood-glue) is simple and quick.

The 10/3 is available in Oak, American Oak, Walnut and Maple, in natural finishes, white-washed, smoked and then some, plus even in the Vintage range aged and hand-scraped.

Pure nature

10/3 Oak Rustic Distressed, Smoked & Oiled Natural (Los Angeles)

You can now purchase the 10/3 quality wood-engineered boards online in our secure webshop:
Basic 10/3 (all varieties) - from £ 29.36 ex VAT per sq m
Aged 10/3 (Oak) - from £ 35.72 ex VAT per sq m

Delivery in Kent = FREE, and with every order we will add one Saicos Floor Care Set (value of £ 25.00 ex VAT).

10/3 Wood-engineered, absolute value for money!

Extra: Tropical Summer Fest!

The world is a funny place! Every evening we hear the weatherman/woman warning about a touch of frost on the ground and a possible new cold snap. And in the Southern Hemisphere people are returning from their Summer breaks!

Last Monday (17.01.11) workers returned from their well-earned summer break to our manufacturer's own FSC forest and saw-mill in Bolivia and their production unit in Paraguay. Which means that in a few weeks time many new pallets with quality wooden flooring (Chaco Wood) will cross the Atlantic Ocean and fill the Dutch warehouse.
In order to make sufficient space for the new arrivals all remaining part pallets (small batches, larger batches and for some products just a few boxes) have to be cleared out.

Which means: a Tropical Summer Fest for you!

Up to 22% discount!

Tropical solid and wood-engineered floors hefty reduced in price (but: gone is gone!). From 20mm original Duoplank Chaco Wood to 6mm "tapis" (thin wood blocks/strips used for parquet floors) and everything in between, now with upto 22% discount!

Species available range from Tarara Colorada (see image) to the popular Lapacho/Tajibo. It would go too far to list all products in the Tropical Summer Fest promotion here, so we've created a downloadable PDF for you which includes all the details: species, floor-type, finish, measurements and of course the reduced price. Every single item will show if there is "very limited stock" (less than 30 sq m), "limited stock" (less than 60 sq m) or not.

Our manufacturer is very clear in this: the spectacular promotion is only valid until the existing stock is gone, so you'll have put your skates on (excuse the Winter pun) if you want to benefit from the Tropical Summer Fest. Gone is absolutely gone!

Follow this link to view all the details of this (one-off) Tropical Summer Fest now. Select the floor you like most, give us a call on 01233 - 713725 immediately and we will contact our manufacturer to check the stock situation the very minute!

From FSC forest to FSC floor

PS - among the pallets that need clearing from the warehouse some other (none tropical or none FSC) species were found and are now also on offer. You'll find them at the end of the Tropical Summer Fest detail list.

Kind Regards

Wood You Like Ltd
01233 - 713725
Karin Hermans / Ton Slooven / Barry Bayat
Brenchley Mews, School Road
Charing - Kent TN27 0JW
Wood - what's not to like!

Say No to Bob the Builders

From an independent inspector of failed floor installations we received the following "rant":

"As independent inspector of failed wooden floors, I receive a variety of complaints, mostly about installer error; only occasionally there is a product issue. I am undertaking a survey to get more exact percentages of individual complaints and, specifically, who installed the "problem" flooring.

The results, although not totally surprising, are very worrying for the wood industry: installation was way ahead at number 1 for types of complaints received - 94%. Consumer causes (6%) were at number 2 on issues not related to installation.

The installation of these "problem" floors were carried out by:

• Builders - 51%
• Carpenters/joiners - 35%
• Carpet retailers - 7%
• Specialist wood flooring shops - 7%

These results are taken from cases I have handled over the last 10 months, but I bet other consultants/inspectors have a similar experience. I'm continuing to update the results.

What does this tell us? Simple, it shows why specialist wood contractors/installers are struggling to get the work they ought to have. There are many reasons for this, but it is mainly down to price.

"Bob promises he will do it better and cheaper".

And when the floor fails, Bob blames the product.
I can tell you for a fact that most manufacturers, distributors and retailers (and I know a few, having done training for them) agree that wood flooring becomes a nightmare if it is installed by Bob the Builder type outfits. As sure as edges is edges, Bob comes back the following week telling them that their product is faulty!!

This is typical of what I come across far too often."

Through Wood You Like's Trade Program - launched end of last year - you will have access to more and more professional fitters/restorers whose application for the program has been approved by us (and only those wooden flooring businesses with the highest standards will see their application approved, that's our promise to you - no Bob the Builders).

At the moment the following areas are covered:

• Kent & Kent/Sussex/Surrey border
• Stockport/Manchester
• Blackpool/Lancashire
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Stroud/Glouchester
• added end of Jan 2011:
• South East Wales
• Bangor - Northern Ireland
• Hampshire

If you are looking for a trusted fitter/restorer in/near these areas, just let us know and - depending on your needs - we will bring you in contact with each other so you are ensured of quality materials supplied by us and quality installation/restoration by our trusted fellow professionals.

We're also happy to inform you "e francis architects" have joint our trade program and we know more architects, interior designers, project developers will follow in their footsteps to benefit from our program (which of course gives them and their clients access to our growing "team" of professional installers/restorers all over the UK). All the benefits of joining our Trade Program for this group of businesses are spelt out here

Trade Program News will be a regular feature in our newsletter. Not only can you read about new areas covered but also about joined projects successfully executed, plus actions undertaken to stop the "Bob the Builder" outfits ruining your floor (and the wooden flooring trade).
So, stay tuned - or if you are in the trade yourself: join now!

Is your home improvement adding money?

Eighty per cent of UK residents think that renovating or improving a home is better than selling in the current environment - according to a survey by the storage company Safestore.

Reasons

• New families may want to create extra space it they cannot afford to move to a bigger property
• Others may simply want to make the best of their home while they are unable to move up the ladder
• Some homeowners may be planning to boost their property's value before an eventual sale

Be careful with the last reason

Trying to add value with a renovation project needs careful consideration as it is easy to spend more on renovations than any gain in house price you may make.

Before increasing your borrowing to fund renovation plans you should decide whether your main aim is to add value to the property that you hope one day to recoup, or whether you simply want to improve your living space.
If your aim to make a profit over time, you need to do your research on the types of renovations that add the most value for the least outlay.

• Loft conversions and extensions can add up to 20 per cent in value. However, they can cost anything from £ 13,000 to £ 37,000, which means you might not make a profit when you sell.
• A new kitchen will typically cost about £ 20,000 but the value that it is likely to add varies between 5 and 20 percent.

(source Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Building Cost Information Service - BCIS / estate agent Savills)

Do not expect to get your money back immediately, as much will depend on wider house price trends. If you are looking on renovations as an investment, aim for a quality finish, but do not get carried away or you will wipe out any potential return:

If you have a really dowdy kitchen, replacing it can make a big difference, but upgrading your kitchen when it is already good-quality is unlikely to make much of a difference to the property's value.

Simple changes, biggest impact - but...

Cheap cosmetic changes, such as redecorating, often give the biggest value boost relative to expense, typical costing about £ 1,500 but with the potential to increase a property's value by up to 12% (see also Abbey National's - nowadays Santander - survey results).

DIY-renovations may seem to make money-saving sense, but if the finish is not up to scratch, you can damage your property's appeal.

A recent survey of estate agents by the insurer LV= found that poorly executed DIY could lower a property's value by up to 5% and invalidate home insurance.

Use the professionals when in doubt

Using professionals as part of a home improvement project may well be a good idea, the findings of a new study suggest.

Santander Insurance found that, with families looking for ways to cut costs in the current economic climate, 72 per cent of people planning to undertake home improvement work intend to do it themselves. It quizzed respondents about their capabilities and 37 per cent said they were confident they could fit floor tiles, while 13 per cent even said they were happy to tackle bricklaying or concreting.

However, the insurer estimated that DIY mishaps cause more than £330 million worth of damage a year in the UK.

Santander Insurance UK's chief executive Miguel Sard said he understood why homeowners wanted to save money, but urged them to consider their limitations before embarking on any renovation work.

"When it comes to the electrics of the house or major construction work, it is just not worth taking the risks. Get it done professionally," he added.

Homeowners looking to install new floors may find that a flooring contractor is the best option for them. As well as fitting the new flooring, a good contractor will also provide advice on the best surfaces for the space.

Changing trends?

Various interior designers predict a change in trends, not as in look and colour, but in reasons for renovating/redecorating:
Renovate properties 'to express your taste'

Giving a home a new look should be about expressing yourself and showing off your taste, according to one expert.

Writing for Mercury News, interiors author Marni Jameson explained that while in the past people have decorated their homes in a bid to attract potential buyers, now the time has come for homeowners to indulge themselves.
She explained that since many homeowners do not have a choice at present about whether or not they will move house, Ms Jameson said that they may as well make their home improvements for themselves alone.

Recently, Anna-Marie DeSouza, editor at Build It, suggested that many homeowners will be buying big items in the coming days to beat the tax increase on January 4th 2011.

And Phil Spencer (Location, Location, Location) advises homeowners to consider fitting wood floors.
According to the television program host, installing wood floors can be a good way to make a home more attractive to property buyers. Wood floors are a particularly good choice for families, as they are easier to clean than other flooring materials.

However, the property expert advised homeowners to carry out work now rather than waiting until just before they are ready to sell up and move on.

"There is no point improving your home just before you sell. You might as well do the work straightaway if you can and get the benefit out of it yourself."

Wood floors can be a popular choice for homeowners looking to add a defining feature to a room, as they are capable of adding character and warmth to any space.

Herringbone patterns are set to become the next big thing in wooden flooring fashions.

According to the designer Wendy Cole, wood floors are set to remain one of the most popular options for people redesigning their homes.

However, the huge choice of products and finishes now available means that wood flooring trends are bound to change from time to time. Ms Cole said new fashions are already developing and explained:

"From a design standpoint, large herringbone patterns are replacing boards."
However, anyone who does not like the herringbone look need not worry about getting left behind, as some styles of wood floors are timeless.
"Linear strip wood remains a stalwart, as it gives the illusion of a larger, more open space," Ms Cole added.

DIY expert Bridget Bodoano recently told the Guardian there are several affordable engineered wood flooring products available which could be suitable for people who want to install a herringbone-patterned floor in their home.

Wood - what's not to like?

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

• 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
• 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
• one of the most anti-allergic floor coverings you can have, a real benefit for Asthma, allergy and even eczema sufferers
• 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.

Having natural wooden flooring installed creates not only beauty, durability and an upgrade in the value of your property; it is also means you have a floor covering that is hygienic, anti-allergic and only needs the minimum of easy maintenance.

Selecting the perfect natural wooden floor for your own home from all the different floor-types, wood-species and finishes available can be a daunting task. Some suppliers are more than willing to send you small samples, but these will never be able to show the full and varied character natural wooden flooring has.

You could of course traverse to a selection of retailers to see what's on "show" in their showroom and try to remember which floor from which store you and/or your partner liked best.

But there is another, easier way!............................. "Sample" in the comfort of your own home

Two most popular Basic floors reduced in price!

The Wood-Engineered Oak boards in our Basic range have always been very popular. Basically they suit almost every design style, almost every underfloor and definitely every budget.

Oiled Natural and Brushed & Oiled Natural reduced in price

The two most popular finishes in this range, which is 15mm thick and has a 4mm Solid Oak Rustic top layer, are now - at least for the rest of this year - drastically reduced in price

Oiled Natural

A smooth finish for the 15 x 189 x 1830mm board (2.075 sq m per pack)
Used to be £ 45.20 ex VAT: NOW ONLY £ 41.23 ex VAT per sq m = 8.78% discount
And we'll add a Saicos Floor Care Set with your order for free!

Brushed & Oiled Natural

Lightly brushed surface, excellent floor covering when you have pets = better grip.
15 x 189 x 1830mm (2.075 sq m per pack)
Used to be £ 45.20 ex VAT: NOW ONLY £ 42.87 ex VAT per sq m = 5.15% discount
And here too, we will add a Saicos Floor Care Set to your order for free!

Both floors are suitable to be installed on Underfloor Heating Systems (water and electric)

Give us a call now on 01233 - 713725 to discuss your requirements.

(Orders above £ 1,500.00 ex VAT free delivered anywhere in the South East of England - conditions apply)

New: Wood You Like's Trade Program

The wooden flooring trade is constantly changing, from products to new installation methods and equipment. Clients are increasingly asking for more, quicker and better products/services.

Where would you go, as sole-trader, two/three-men band or retailer, to confer with fellow traders? Where can you share experiences, discuss new methods and new products (all manufacturers promise their products to do what it "says on the tin", but do they really when you're "on the floor"?) and even find out how to implement new regulations, VAT changes and marketing tips?
Where can the faithful behind the scene person, doing the admin etc while you are working on the floor, share her/his worries, discuss costs and logistics ?

Wood You Like's Trade Program covers all

Our aim with Wood You Like's Trade Program is to establish a dedicated forum - only accessible for "members" - to bring traders in the wooden flooring business together to share experiences, advice each other (on installation methods, new products, and even marketing, bookkeeping etc), ask questions and perhaps even "share" jobs.

Read on for more information and how to join (Trade only)

(Architects, Interior Designers, Developers are welcome to join the Trade Program too, conditions apply, see here for more details)

Architect, Interior Designer or Developer in need of wooden flooring?

As the acknowledged authority on wooden flooring, many architects, interior designers and property developers, nationally and locally, frequently call 'Wood You Like' for advice on choice and suitability of different wooden flooring and advice on the fitting and maintenance (they see us as The National Helpline for wooden flooring) - and that expertise and professionalism is also always available to you too.

Quality products and quality people

As architect, interior designer or project developer you want to deal with those in the trade who know their business/trade, who have years of experience with all matters wooden flooring. You and we know of too many horror stories when projects go horribly wrong by so-called experts not taking the correct precautions or using unsuitable products, equipment.

Join Wood You Like's Trade Program and have special, unique, access to ... read more

Flat beading, a neat finish

Frequently we're been asked: I can't/don't want to remove my skirtingboards and I don't like the look of scotias or quadrants. What can I use to cover the needed expansion gap around the floor that does look good?

Our answer is quite simple: Solid Oak flat beading. A simple strip - 6mm thick, 25mm wide, with a rounded edge on the front and tapered edge on the back - that's pinned down on your wood floor to give you a very neat finish. A very unobtrusive finish, like a "picture frame", covering the expansion gap.

Blends in

As you can see, or rather not see, the flat beading is often hardly visible.

Does the job, neatly

Here's another example - also note how the door post is undercut to allow expansion of the floor there too.

Around fireplaces

It also works very well around a fire place - if the tiles etc are higher than the floor. Remember, a wooden floor has to have expansion gaps all around its perimeter, so also in front and beside a fire place.

Angles

Because the beading is not very wide or thick, it can be cut (sawn) in the angle you need to fit it neatly whatever the shape of the wall "forces" you to have.

The little details

Picture above shows a build-in cupboard where a little piece of beading right in the corner takes care of those little finishing details.

Also note the Solid Oak radiator pipe cover, it does not just sit on the beading. No, the beading is cut round to allow the round shape of the cover to fit neatly around the pipe.

It's those little details that make your floor look professionally finished.

The beading comes unfinished, so you can stain, varnish, oil it with the same colour/product as you floor (or if needed, colour match it with a tropical wood-species by using an appropriate stain).

Vintage range, reduced in price!

The Vintage Range: hand aged and hand scraped 15/4 wood-engineered authentic Oak floor, is absolutely and truly hefty reduced in price.

From £ 74.47 to £ 58.07 per sq m ex VAT (accurate on 27.10.10)

Once again, simply a matter of dismissing the middle man. We are truly happy to inform you we can now supply you these authentic boards straight from the source in The Netherlands.

Transform your home with authentic aged/scraped boards in no time at all. Order in time for Christmas, and orders over £1,500.00 ex VAT will be delivered for free in the whole of the South-East!

The Vintage 15/4 range comes (both the hand-aged as the hand-scraped) in various finishes:

* Oiled natural
* Oiled white
* Smoked & oiled natural
* Smoked & oiled white
* Deep brushed in various finishes

Also available in load-bearing 20/6 floor in two grades: Rustic and Mill Run.
Mill Run is pure nature: every boards of the tree is used, giving you a truly natural floor containing all grades in one go, from Prime to Extra Rustic. And of course, also reduced in price: 180mm wide from £ 93.97 to £ 73.17 ex VAT per sq m (again a hefty drop in price!) (accurate on 27.10.10)

Image above: Vintage 20/6, hand scraped, Oak Mill Run finished as follows: Brushed, Smoked, Black-washed and natural oiled.

View all the available products in the authentic range at your leisure at home, simply request our Full Colour Online Wooden Floor Range Brochure, a new email with further details will whizz its way to your inbox within 5 - 10 minutes.

Or give us a call on 01233 - 713725 now to discuss your requirements.

Who else wants to change to colour of their floor - without sanding?

Although nature is a wonderful being, versatile in many aspects, sometimes you just want to chance things a little bit with hardly any effort. The Oak floor you once selected has now matured from its paler beginning to the characteristic honey colour; the pre-finished white-oil Oak boards are beginnings to "grey" or the stain applied to have it look more like a "tropical" wooden floor is fading.

Normally you could only change the colour of your wooden floor by sanding off the existing oil finish and to apply the colour of your new preference.

Not any longer with Saicos Coloured Wax Care!

The Wax Care is indeed a maintenance product, applied once every 4 - 5 months to keep your floor healthy and better protected against dirt and drips, but the three colour versions will add colour to your wear and tear layer.

You can choose white, brown and ebony. Simply spread the liquid wax over your floor, rub it in gently without any effort and see the appearance change within minutes!

We do recommend you try it out first in a non-obtrusive area to make sure you like the new colour before you treat your whole floor with it. And of course, you will have to apply the colour wax as maintenance product as long as you want to keep this colour on your floor (but only once every 4 - 5 months as you would normally do with the natural wax-polish/care).

If your floor is finished with a varnish/lacquer then we're afraid you're out of luck and still have to sand off this finish before you can apply a new colour (coloured HardWaxOil for instance).

Changing the colour of your oiled wooden floor has never been so easy. Saicos coloured Wax-Care takes care of this.

Applying the Timeless Appeal of Wood

Guest Post

Applying the Timeless Appeal of Wood to Your Windows

Wood is a beautiful material to have within the home and people have been using it to create furniture or fittings for hundreds of years. There are so many varieties of wood to choose from and each one has its very own personal grain and colour. From the pale amber hues of beech or pine, through to far darker timbers such as oak or mahogany; there is a type of wood to blend in with any style of home. And it will even help to increase the value of your property.

Now that we have so much technology around us, you may expect wooden furniture or fittings to be in far less demand than they once were. Surely modern homeowners are more inclined to fill their living spaces with chrome, acrylic or other contemporary materials? Well, this is not the case at all! It may be the twenty-first century, but many of us still choose to have wooden items in our homes; even wooden window fittings are a really popular choice.

There are a number of very good reasons why wood and Wooden Venetian Blinds in particular, are such a common feature in so many modern properties. Here are a few of the main ones

• Appeal
  A lot of us may surround ourselves with cutting edge technology, but this has not made natural materials any less appealing to us; and you certainly cannot find a much more natural material than wood! By fitting wooden blinds at our windows, wooden floors or wooden fittings, we can have a nice modern living space that still retains a strong element of nature.


• Durability
  We all know how long wood will last when it has been treated correctly and all wooden Venetian blinds have a special protective coating. This means that our window fittings will go on looking just great for many years to come!


• Versatility
  Because wood comes in so many different shades and patterns, it is suitable for any room in the home. This makes wooden blinds and wooden flooring extremely versatile, and allows them to blend in wonderfully with any of our other wooden fittings or furniture.


• Practicality
  Wooden Venetian blinds and wooden flooring are so much easier to clean than their fabric and carpet counterparts and, as a consequence, they will harbour far less dirt or bacteria. We are now even more aware of how important it is to keep our homes clean and wood provides us with a practical and attractive solution to this!

Remember, according to WoodCare adding wooden features to your home will increase its value between 5 to 15%.
From stripping down wooden banisters and exposing their natural character, adding wooden venetian blinds, re-instating real wood doors and installing real wooden floors in the main areas - it will all have an instant positive effect.

New this month: webshop, coupon-code and online brochure update

The wonderful world of natural wooden flooring in constantly moving in more and better directions. And Wood You Like moves with it.

Brand new - even more user friendly - webshop

In the brand new webshop (or here in our main website) - secure as always - you can drag and drop your needed/required product straight into the shopping bag, easily combine products and select the colour or size option immediately:

Plus you can create your own account (in two simple steps) and only have to fill in your address details once.

Another advantage of this brand new webshop: you stay in familiar surroundings. If you visit our main website the webshop looks and feels like the main site, when you are visiting our blog, the webshop looks and feels more like the blog

Newsletter Readers Only Offer

The new webshop also makes validating your Newsletter Readers Only Ongoing Offer easier:

Just submit the coupon-code you received when you subscribe to our monthly email newsletter in the open shopping bag - and remember: it's an ongoing offer, so use it every time you place an order.

Full Colour Online Wooden Floor Range Brochures updated

Even more interior design images are added to all the range brochures, showing you even better how the floor of your choice can/will look in your own home, with your own interior design style.

Requesting access to the brochures is simple: select any of the preferred ranges below, click submit and an email with the access details to the brochures will whiz its way to your inbox almost immediately! Not sure which Range to select? See here for a quick overview.

First Name


Last Name*


Range leaflet*
[Please Select]Basic RangeMulti-layer - Solid RangeAged RangeDesign Parquet Range

Email Address*


Location
[Please Select]Ashford BoroughKentSussexSurreySouth-East EnglandLondonEnglandWalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUKOther

Rest assured, your details will never be passed on to others, we hate spam as much as you do.

2010 Awards, in good company

Last month Wood You Like received the 2010 Award "Best Flooring Retailers (1 - 2 shops)"

In good company

In this month's issue, Interiors Monthly lists all the 2010 Award winners and we're in good company:
From John Lewis At Home to Domotex

Our congratulations to all the other winners. You can read how and why the above companies were nominated and winners in the August issue of Interiors Monthly.

Wood You Like, Best Flooring Retailer 2010

The readers of the magazine Interiors Monthly have voted for the 2010 Best Awards:

Best Flooring Retailer ( 1 - 2 stores)

Just returned from our short break we received a very nice surprise in the mail: the above framed certificate of the readers choice in the category Best Flooring Retailer ( 1 - 2 stores).

All winners in all categories will be announced in next month's issue of Interiors Monthly.

Introducing Wood You Like's Floor Restore Service

Besides supplying and installing new wooden floors, with design parquet as a specialty, we can also offer you a professional design parquet floor restore service - in the Kent area (crossing the border to East Sussex and Surrey will always be considered).

Barry, our Head Floor Restore Service, will bring back your original parquet floor to its authentic lustre and grandeur. Herringbone, mosaic, basket-weave or any other pattern can be revived to sparkle again. With the professional heavy sanding equipment we use the old finish layer, most of the dents and scratches will be removed to lay bare the original wood, while keeping its authenticity as original floor.

Together with you Barry will discuss the best new finish layer to apply, tropical wood-species need a different product than original Oak floors, for the best result.

Determining what wood-species your original floor has can be difficult - depending on how many different types of finishes and even various stains your floor has had over the times - but Teak, Rhodesian Teak, Merbau and Oak were mostly used for herringbone, basket weave and mosaic floors in the 50's to 80's.
Through our contacts with the Dutch bespoke parquet manufacturer we can often supply you with missing "blocks" in the original wood-species.

Call us on 01233 - 713725 now to discuss your requirements and options.

And if you are considering to add the same pattern of your original and rediscovered parquet floor in other rooms where better to go than to Wood You Like, where both the restoring of the original and installing of the new parquet floor are the specialty of the house. Often both types of jobs can be done in one go, saving you time, hassle and costs.

Visit our showroom to discuss your plans and projects and we will be able to give you an indication of total costs straight away, where after you can decide to have a site survey done (Kent area only, sorry)