Websites 'revamped' and Wood You Like The Bookshop?

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

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

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

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

Kiss Business 1 E-book, Kiss 2 blog

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

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

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

Solid Strip Flooring

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

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

More......

Solid (composed) Bamboo added to range

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

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

Indoor Thermometer and Hygrometer

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


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

Basic and Standard Range: changes and updates

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

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

Launch of Wood You Like FAQ Blog

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

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

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

Padouk wood and bespoke parquet flooring

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

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

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

Another range added to our collection: Quality Cork Flooring

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

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

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

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

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

Wood You Like Real Wood

Wood You Like supports the European Real Wood promotion campaign:

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

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

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

The Kiss Business released

Now available in our showroom:

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

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

Adding value to your home with:

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

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

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

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

2) New builds

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

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

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

3) Creating your dream home

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

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

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


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

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

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

Healthy Homes

1) Healthy Homes and Allergies

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

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

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

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

2) Healthy Homes and Eczema

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4) Simple tips for Healthy Homes

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

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

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

How to beat your Kid's Asthma

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

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

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

Our ranges in Natural Wooden Flooring (simplicity rules)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3) Our Duoplank and Solid range

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wood You Like Original Chapel Parket?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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