Chevron pattern wood flooring is flooring that is laid in to create a “V” form and can be installed either parallel to the wall or diagonally in a room.  Either way, this style of flooring is commonly found in the grand buildings and chateaux throughout Europe, but enjoys particular dominance in France.  Chevron flooring can be used to cleverly make a room look overall bigger than it is, or to create an optical illusion of width or length.   It is for this reason that chevron flooring today is really popular in smaller homes, or in rooms where there is a desire to give the impression of greater proportion or create balance.

When it comes to chevron flooring, there are essentially two options.  One is to install solid wood flooring in a chevron pattern and the other is to avail of a chevron, engineered wood flooring solution.  Engineered wood flooring, as any regular reader of this blog will know is a highly versatile wood flooring solution.  Suited to every room in the home, engineered wood flooring looks just like solid wood but is made up of layers of plywood, topped off with a solid wood lamella or top layer.   Chevron engineered wood flooring, as the name suggests is cleverly constructed to look like the chevron flooring found in many of the European, and particularly French chateaux and stately homes we’ve mentioned.

Chevron engineered flooring truly is inspirational and gives you the opportunity to create a chevron floor in a fraction of the time it would take to create the same effect with solid wood.  Ideal as a way of creating an open and airy look in a smallish room, this flooring is also suited to bigger spaces.  This new and innovative way of flooring is perfect for anyone seeking something a bit different.  Why not consider using it either for an entire room or as a way of creating a feature within a room?  You could, for example, place a chevron engineered flooring border around your room and then insert some standard flooring in the centre of the room to create a stunning visual effect.  Either way, this new flooring option is well worthy of consideration if you’re planning to relook any room in your home.

1. It looks great. There’s no getting away from the fact that a wooden floor looks great.  Currently one of the most sought after flooring options, it’s no surprise that the rich and famous have used this material to floor their castles and stately homes for centuries.
2. There’s an option to suit every budget. While certain species of wood can be expensive, there’s no getting away from the fact that the huge competition in the wood floor industry has driven the price of this solution right down.  Today you can get a great quality wood floor option to suit pretty much every budget.
3. It lasts a lifetime. If you’ve ever visited a castle or a stately home, you won’t need convincing that a good quality wooden floor will last a lifetime and maybe even a whole lot more.  There are wooden floors that have been well looked after, that are centuries old and will last for centuries to come.  The nature of wooden flooring means that it can be re-sanded and refinished a number of times during it’s lifetime which means that you can achieve a new looking floor several times over, at only minimal cost.
4. It’s easy to maintain. When you choose wooden flooring, all you need to do is a regular vacuum and a light mopping with a damp mop.  In most cases, unless there is severe staining on your floor, you shouldn’t even need to use a detergent.
5. It’s good for your health. It’s a well-known fact that wood flooring is one of the preferred solutions for anyone who suffers from allergies or asthma.
6. There’s a colour to suit every interior. With natural wood flooring options now ranging from almost white to almost black, no matter what sort of look you’re hoping to achieve you’ll be able to find a floor to match and enhance your planned interior.
7. It can be used in every room in the house. Thanks to the development of engineered wood flooring, this flooring option can be used in every room in the house.  From bathrooms to kitchens, through to basements and attics, there truly is a wood flooring option for every room.
8. It adds value to your home. There have been various statistics reported, particularly during the recession, to suggest that wood flooring helps houses sell quicker and for a better price.  While this  alone isn’t a good reason to install wood flooring, it’s comforting to know that the investment you’re making now has a good chance of paying off the day you come to sell.
9. It can be changed as your tastes change. Wood flooring is one of the few flooring options that can be changed as your tastes change and develop.  With options to distress, paint or stain your floor, you can drastically change the look for only a very small investment.
10. It’s environmentally friendly. Generally speaking, wood flooring is an environmentally friendly option.  What you need to make sure of here is that you choose a flooring supplier who buys from responsibly managed forests.

At Wood and Beyond, we have engineered wood flooring that ranges in width from 110mm to 240mm.  This may seem like a huge range when it comes to choice, but it means that you will always be able to find a width that suits pretty much every project without too much difficulty.

Generally speaking people assume that the smaller the room, the narrower the board you need.  This is not necessarily the case.  If you have a small room and you want to make it look bigger you can often achieve this by choosing a narrower board, that’s for sure, but there’s no getting away from the fact that a broad board can look really stylish, even in a small room.  Choosing a wide board to fit in a small room can create a stunning visual effect and in some instances, depending on the dimensions of the room can make a long, narrow room look wider or a wide room look narrower depending on the orientation you choose for the boards.  So, if you are re-looking a small room, don’t feel forced just to plump for the narrowest board, give some consideration to a really wide board if you fancy creating a seriously big impact.

The same is true for big rooms.  Many people think a big room must have wide boards, but of course this needn’t be the case.  If you think of many castles and stately homes, they have big, almost cavernous rooms that are very often fitted with narrow wooden floorboards and the effect is stunning.  Granted, some of the very old buildings have broad boards, but a whole host of big rooms are floored with narrow boards.

When it comes to formality, there’s no getting away from the fact that a narrow board creates a more formal look in your room.  So, if your room is populated with highly polished antiques and you’re seeking to stick with a formal theme, then a narrow board is probably the answer.  On the other hand, if you are seeking to create an informal, relaxed and modern look, a wide board will set your room off to a tee.

And of course there’s always the compromise.  If you can’t decide between broad and narrow, why not opt for a board of 150 or 180mm, so you’re neither plumping for too wide or too narrow.  Choosing this option means that you can’t go wrong.  That said, there’s no getting away from the fact that the really narrow and really wide boards are worthy of your attention if you’re looking to make a statement.

The way this type of wood flooring is made is really interesting and involves the bonding of layers of ply together, either in a horizontal fashion or on a cross-layered basis.  Typically, machined wood flooring will be made up of a sandwich of either 3 layers of ply or multiple layers that are glued and pressed together to form a really strong base or core for the final plank.  In most cases, the tongue and groove part of the board is made of either a soft or a hard plywood to enable the machining of the tongue or the groove.

Once the core board has been made, the lamella or top layer is fixed to the board.  There’s pretty much no limit to the range of species of wood that can be used for this layer, and again, this makes machined wood flooring highly versatile.  There are three principle methods of cutting the lamella from the solid wood.  These are: sliced cut or peel; rotary cut or peel and dry, solid sawn.  Although the methods are fairly similar, there’s no getting away from the fact that the end result of each method differs quite significantly.

Sliced cut or peel is the process whereby the log is boiled prior to cutting the top layer from its end.  This way of working means that a disc shaped lamella is created, which is then pressed flat prior to being fixed to the core board.  This method of recovering the lamella creates a nice, natural looking finish and is reasonably hard wearing.  Lamella that is recovered using the rotary cut or peel method on the other hand has a tendency to have problems with cupping or curling.  The way this system works is by effectively ‘shaving’ the layers of the log from the outside to the inside and then pressing them flat.  Finally, dry, solid-sawn lamella is, without a doubt the best way of producing a great end result.  This system involves the drying of the wood, rather than the soaking of it prior to cutting, which means that the final product is more stable.

The way of manufacturing machined wood floor lends itself to enabling this product to be economical as well as high quality.  That said, when you’re looking around for engineered wood flooring you may want to know which method has been used to recover the lamella and your supplier should be able to tell you this.  Thereafter, it’s simply a case of choosing the species, the finish and the board size prior to starting your project.

At Wood and Beyond, we have a broad range of oak, iroko, walnut, bamboo and zebrano worktops to choose from.  In order to give you an idea of the options available, we’ll look at each wood species in turn.

Oak worktops

At the time of writing, we have 16 different oak worktop options available on our website for immediate delivery.  The prices range from £86.45 for a 2m premium oak worktop to £218.50 for a 3m full stave premium oak worktop.  We have also put together what we’ve called a Premium Oak Worktop ‘Bundle’, which gives you a 3m worktop plus a 4m worktop and even includes the upstands.  This bundle is offered at the amazing price of £310.65.  In our selection we have premium, natural and rustic oak as well as a full stave option, which means there is something for every budget.  The thicknesses range from the standard 38mm to 40mm.  The widths on offer span from the standard 620mm to an extra wide 950mm; giving you all the flexibility you’re likely to need to complete your project.

Iroko worktops

At the moment on our website we have 5 iroko worktops on offer, which once again are ready for immediate delivery.  The selection ranges from a rustic iroko 2m length, by 62cm width and 38mm thickness, at £80.85 to an enormous 3m x 95cm x 38mm premium iroko worktop at £227.05.  In between there is a standard width, premium iroko worktop, a rustic iroko worktop and a full staves iroko worktop on offer.  If you’re looking for a particularly long run of worktop at a great price, then our rustic iroko 4m x 62cm x 38mm at £160.55 is particularly hard to beat.

Walnut worktops

Currently a highly popular worktop option, we hold a selection of 17 walnut worktops in stock, ready for dispatch.  The walnuts we have chosen for this collection hail from Africa, America and Europe and range from mid brown tones to black.   With more and more people seeking a walnut worktop, we truly believe that our range, which starts at £124.40 and goes up to £302.10 provides something for everyone.

Bamboo worktops

We currently have three bamboo worktops on offer, two horizontal options and one vertical option.  Bamboo is a great alternative to the traditional woods delivering similar qualities to the hardwoods, but at low cost from both a financial and environmental viewpoint.

At Wood and Beyond we also have a Zebrano worktop, which, as the name suggests, features dark stripes on a light background.  Bearing a strong resemblance to a Zebra, this worktop’s heavy and strong properties together with its rich colour make it extremely popular, although it has to be said it is at the top end of our price range.

NB.  All prices mentioned in this article are excluding VAT

Here’s an overview of each of the species we offer:

Cumaru: We have two cumaru options in stock right now.  One is standard cumaru and the other is a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accredited option.  With any FSC accredited wood product, you can shop in the confidence that your wood has come from well-managed and responsible forests.  The two cumaru decking boards that we currently have on offer are quite different.  The standard board is a rich, mid to dark brown, with a nice visible grain and the FSC option is a much lighter, smoother looking board.  The prices at the time of writing are £37 and £61.66 per square metre respectively, so these options are truly accessible no matter the size of your budget.

Iroko: We currently have one iroko decking board option that is intended for hidden fixing.  It’s a lovely honey colour and sports a regular grain.  At just over £45 per square meter, this board is perfect for anyone seeking a light, warm looking deck at a great, mid-range price.

Ipe: At Wood and Beyond, we’re big fans of ipe decking and as a result currently have three different options on our site, one of which is a complete decking kit.  The decking kit contains everything you’ll need to get your deck project completed, from start to finish, even featuring a pot of deck oil to make sure your deck is protected.  The two other ipe options we have are offered either to be fitted with or without hidden fixing.  The boards offered without hidden fixing is priced at a really competitive £49.78 per square meter and if you want hidden fixings, the price goes up only slightly to £56 per square meter.  Either way, you’ll get a rich coloured, teak-looking wood for a great price.

Teak: Teak is often hailed as the king of decking.  At Wood and Beyond we have two teak decking options; with and without hidden fixing.  There’s no getting away from the fact that many people think if they’re having decking, it simply has to be teak.  For this reason, we’ve scoured the globe to track down the very best quality teak at the very best price.

Other options: There are a huge number of timber decking board options available on the market and which you choose will depend to a large extent on your budget and the look you’re hoping to achieve.  The best idea when making your selection is to decide which wood species takes your fancy and then shop around to make a short-list of suppliers who offer what seems to be good prices.  Once you have those prices, it’s well worth doing your due diligence on the suppliers and then asking for samples.  Even if you have to pay a small deposit for samples, or contribute towards the cost of delivery, it’s well worth investing a little upfront than investing a lot and regretting it.

The four grades of wood are Prime, Select, Natural and Rustic.  Although rustic is at the bottom of the list, this does not mean in any way that it is inferior to the others, it simply means it looks different and contains more sap.  Rustic grade oak will typically show significant variation in colour, will contain a fair amount of sap and will have visible knots of up to 3.5cm in size.  Often in rustic grade oak there are naturally occurring holes that some manufacturers choose to fill.  This means that the finish will be reasonably smooth, but any hole filling is likely to be visible.  It is this contrast and interest in rustic oak that makes it so charming.  Add to this charm, it’s affordability and you begin to see why more and more people are considering this rustic oak option for their projects.

No matter which room in the home you’re looking to re-floor, rustic grade oak flooring will provide not only a practical and easy to maintain solution, but it is also an option that won’t break the bank.  If you have decided that rustic oak flooring is right for you, whether you plump for solid oak or engineered oak, will depend to a large extent on which room in the house you’re re-doing.  In bathrooms and kitchens, as well as in rooms where there is under floor heating, there’s no getting away from the fact that engineered rustic oak flooring is the very best solution.

Rustic solid oak flooring on the other hand is the perfect solution in any room of the home where there isn’t under floor heating or where you don’t anticipate significant fluctuations in temperature or moisture.  When it comes to finish, you’ll find that rustic oak offers as many options as any other species or grade of wood, with hardwearing lacquered finishes at one end of the spectrum and natural, brushed and oiled at the other.

No matter whether you plump for solid or engineered oak, you’ll be able to achieve the look you’re seeking for your room at a price that’ll have you smiling all the way.  At Wood and Beyond we have a great selection of solid and engineered rustic oak flooring with a whole range of finishes, at a broad range of prices.  We make a point of keeping a good stock of rustic oak flooring at all times because we know it’s a flooring option which is always in demand.

If you have already started shopping around for wood flooring for your project, you’ll have noticed that the difference in prices between suppliers is enormous, so how on earth do you make sure you get the best quality you can for your investment?

The first thing you should decide is whether you want to shop online or off.  Many people are wary of buying the likes of a wooden floor online, but if your supplier meets the right requirements, it can be a great way of saving money.  Online suppliers don’t need to fund a High Street presence, so have the ability to offer keener prices because they have lower overheads.  That said, don’t always assume that this is the case and make sure you do a good amount of shopping around to make sure the quality, price relationship you’ve identified truly is the best available.

If you do decide that an online wood floor supplier will work for you, how do you determine the quality of their products?  The first thing you should do is look for a guarantee or warranty.  Any supplier who offers a meaningful guarantee or warranty is generally confident of the quality of the flooring they supply, which enables you to shop with confidence.   Thereafter, when it comes to shopping online for wood flooring, it’s a good idea to ask for samples of your preferred flooring before placing your order.  Some suppliers will ask for either a deposit or payment towards delivery costs to send samples, but don’t allow this to put you off, because you’re better to spend a little up front and be disappointed by the quality than spend a lot and be disappointed with the end result.

Another thing to be wary of is an online supplier who doesn’t have a good team who are prepared to guide and advise you.  Because your wood flooring is an investment, you need to be able to ask all the questions you need to before making your decision.  There’s no reason why you can’t do this effectively online with the right supplier.

If you decide that shopping on the High Street is the best option for you, then you’ll be able to see, touch and feel what you’re buying as well as speaking face to face with the supplier or their staff.  Some people find this approach more reassuring than buying online and are prepared to pay slightly more for this personal approach.

Like most things in life, good wood flooring suppliers will seek out quality and will be passionate about what they do.  You’ll be able to judge this passion for yourself by speaking to your supplier, by asking questions and if needs be, speaking to some of their other customers.  Because you don’t want your selection to take over your life, it’s a good idea to quickly establish a shortlist of potential suppliers and then take time to investigate their offering thoroughly.  By doing this you’ll know that you’re getting a quality product.

A great way to extend your living space and make the very best use of your garden, decking is an outdoor design option which is being embraced by more and more people. Out of many people’s reach budget-wise for a long time, the great news is that decking is becoming more and more affordable, across the board.

The traditional decking options are cedar, teak and mahogany, but more and more you’ll start to see ipe, cumaru and iroko on offer.  So how will you choose?  Teak decking, as the name suggests is made from teak, that is an extremely stable wood which has an exceptional resistance to moisture, which is why it is so popular.  Recognised as one of the main woods used in ship decking, teak is highly workable with a rich, yellow-brown colour and a distinctive grain pattern.  All of that said, you’ll find that teak decking is typically more expensive than the woods that have more recently come on to the market.

Cumaru, for example is a hardwood that is often called Brazilian teak and is hailed as one of the hardest woods on the planet, which means that it is perfect when used as decking. Typically cumaru ranges in colour from a rich, reddish brown to a tawny brown colour and is known to darken over time when it is exposed to sunlight, which makes it an option that develops and matures beautifully.  Highly resistant to rot, insect infestation and algae, it’s easy to see why more and more people are choosing this decking option, particularly when you add into the equation that it is significantly cheaper than teak.

Ipe decking is another option that is appearing with regularity on the decking range of solutions.  Ipe comes typically from countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru is a really rich olive colour, with a range from yellow to dark tones that again darken over time.  Once more, this is a wood that’s particularly resistant to insect infestation and is naturally fire resistant.  In fact this wood is often called ‘ironwood’ because it is so tough.  Add to these strengths, the fact that ipe is a really affordable decking option and you begin to realise that it definitely deserves a place on your decking shortlist.

Finally, iroko is a decking option that is truly within pretty much everyone’s budget, but doesn’t require any compromise on quality.  Again a truly durable hardwood, this wood hails from Africa and sports a nice irregular grain and a slightly course texture.  Don’t let this put you off though, because if you’re looking for a highly affordable decking option that’ll stand the test of time, Iroko is well worthy of consideration.

So, is teak decking the best? While many purists, may argue that if you’re installing decking, it simply must be teak, there is no doubt that today there are a whole host of viable, affordable and attractive alternatives.

Hidden fixings for decking are a neat way to enable your deck boards to be perfectly spaced, secure and free of screw or nail holes.  Once in place, hidden fixings are pretty much invisible and give a really neat finish to your decking project.  There are different types of hidden fixings, some of which are screwed directly to the joist and others that are screwed at a 45-degree angle through the tongue of the decking board.  Both options are effective, quick and easy to install.  At Wood and Beyond we offer two different types of hidden deck fixings which will enable you to fit your deck without having to drill holes into your decking boards.  Which you choose will depend on the decking option you select and your budget.

The main advantage of hidden fixings for decking is definitely the end look.  There’s no getting away from the fact that a deck without nail or screw holes is very easy on the eye.  That said, anyone with small children or babies will also appreciate the fact that hidden fixings mean that there’s no risk of either protruding nails or screws, or sunken nail or screw holes in which little fingers might get trapped.  Add to this, the fact that when the time comes to re-sand and re-treat your deck, you won’t need to worry about countersinking any protruding nails or screws and you start to see why so many people are now choosing to fit their deck with hidden fixings.

Screw fixing for decking is the original and traditional way of fitting a deck.  When using a screw fixing method, it’s important to fix your decking board to every joist and you need to take care not to screw your board too close to the edges.  The general consensus is that you should leave at least a 25mm space between the screw and either the edge or the end of your board.  You should also make sure that your screws are countersunk into the surface of the deck to avoid the risk of injuring bare feet.

When it comes to spacing your decking boards using the screw method of fixing, you’ll need to measure and maintain the gaps either by using a spacing tool or working by eye.  Ideally you should leave a gap of anywhere between 6 and 9 mm between each board.  Once you’ve fixed your deck using the screw method, it’s well worth checking each season that your screws remain tight.