We are pleased to announce we have now received chain of custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) part of our on going determination to preserve the longevity of the world's forests for future generations.

Proprietor Andrew Banks, with over 30 years experience dealing with timber, is passionate about the environmental benefits of timber over other constructional materials and particularly over other floor coverings. "Natural wood floors can be renovated and restored, resulting in a cost effective and environmentally sound purchase". "As the first piece of furniture for any room, wood flooring is an investment purchase to enhance your environment for generations," Andrew explains. "In comparison, on average the UK consumer replaces carpet or laminate every 6 years - 95 per cent of which is dumped in landfill."

"We source our timber only from suppliers who work within legal forestry guidelines and where possible under the auspices of the Forestry Stewardship Council, which certifies wood products to indicate that the timber has been produced from well managed forests."

The Wood Gallery is committed to sourcing all sawn timber and manufactured products from companies who have obtained their raw material from legal sources. We are confident that all our suppliers get their logs from companies operating within the strict laws and forest management practices laid down by the country of origin.

We can offer many of our products with the FSC logo indicating that the source has been independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as coming from an area of forest managed in a manner sympathetic to the environment and ensuring the perpetuation of the resource by responsible management.

CITIES

We will not source any timber species which are prohibited under Appendix I of Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Supply areas

We obtain the vast majority of our products from temperate hardwood supply regions and only purchase tropical hardwoods to a very limited extent. We deal principally with North America and Europe (including homegrown hardwoods) and to a lesser extent Africa, Brazil, Malaysia and China.

Suppliers

We seek to develop long term relationships with our suppliers built on trust, integrity and efficient administration. These companies are asked to supply us with evidence to their continuous improvement of their environmental performance and evidence of the source of their raw material where possible.
Suppliers may not be independently certified but this does not necessarily mean they do not carry out good practice.

Timber certification

In many countries timber certification is difficult to implement whether the forests are owned privately or by the State and it is an enormous task. However, we do seek to obtain timber from a certificated source when possible and are currently able to offer European timber and flooring, Brazilian decking, and timber mouldings, from Forest Stewardship Certificate (FSC) accredited sources or other internationally recognised certification bodies and continue to extend our list of suppliers with these, or similar, credentials.

We currently source FSC material from the following countries;
Canada, Malaysia, Brazil, Holland, France, Italy, China, Latvia, Poland and Britain.

Unlike carpet, wood floors are hygienic and dust free, a feature of particular benefit to allergy sufferers. The adhesives and sealants used in the installation of carpets create a cocktail of contaminants in the fibres and trap dust mites, mould and animal dander.

We suggest the main living, sleeping and children's play areas in your home be converted to wood as a priority, particularly if any family member suffers from asthma, as one square metre of carpet can contain up to 100,000 dust mites. We are happy to offer advice to any one considering wood flooring as a healthy alternative to carpet.