Putting a new kitchen in, don't like granite. Really like the look of wood, Like the fact that is from a renewable source but I am concerned about how difficult they are to care for. The sink area is my main area of concern. Don't mind the regular oiling and understand that their is a lot of upkeep for the first couple of months. What I really want to know is if it is well kept will it last or no matter what you do will you always get marks around the sink.

We are looking at a hard wood, something like European Oak etc.

Anybodies experience would be greatly appreciated

I wouldn't do Oak – too open grain AND if you put anything Iron on it when wet you will get a nasty black stain from the tanin in the timber! Same goes for mahogany type timbers.
If you must go timber I recon Maple or Beech are probably your best choice.
BEWARE – they are fairly high maintainance – they will need to be re-oiled & will mark & scratch. The plus is that re-finishing isn't too difficult.
If you're after a more rustic look they're fine.

According to the people I asked about them, they are a real ball-ache, becuase you have to oil them frequently and they get cut/chipped easily. No-one I spoke to thought they were a good idea after buying them.

There are apparently other alternatives besides granite and wood – different types of stone etc.

we had similar concerns but took the risk. Good quality Oak and it's fine. Just needs a rub down and oil every 6 mnths or so. About 1/2 a day to a day's DIY.

I would recommend getting a sink with an integral drainer – nothing undermounted or anything like that. Our friends had an undermounted sink on beech and it was a right mouldy mess fairly quickly.

I have walnut tops and can confirm the black mark issue, though if you look at it more of a feature then it is not so bad. However, a quick sand down and all good as new.

As they age the colours change, which is very nice.
I have had mine for three years now and no issues with warping not even under the dishwasher.

You will need to rewax the top every 6mths or so depending on wear as the wax will wear off.

Top Tip number one – DO NOT PLACE cold cans of carling on the work top and let the condensation run down the can on to the top – you end up with pretty rings! A quick sand and re-wax and it was gone though so no biggy.

I have them and I like them – but ten years on they are marked around the sink – mainly from wet mild steel being left on them. A little bit of water damage.

I've got wood (fnar etc). Beech I believe.

Really not nearly as much hassle as folk say. Get hold of some TopOil:

http://www.ieko.co.uk/pictures/product/top-oil/8/large_osmo-top-oil-CB.gif%5B/Img%5D
http://www.ieko.co.uk/product/top-oil

Think we've oiled them three times in over a year. Easy job, doesn't take long. Yeah laminate is probably easier but it looks gash compared to real wood.

Black marks can be bleeched with oxalic acid solution BUT I think it's harmfull so not good for worktops. Lemon juice will remove black tanin stain from fingers after scraping / sanding tanic timbers but not sure it works on wood!!

GERMS!!! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU'LL ALL DIE!!!!!

I quite like the idea of being able to chop directly onto the worktop (Jamie Oliver style). Some of our wooden chopping boards are getting on for 25 years old, all cracked and gunged up, but we still believe in their natural healing properties.

Did I mention it took me about 10 weeks to get over that flu?

ditto the sink comment above. also cutting draining grooves in the top will go very manky

we did our kitchen last year and went for european oak. we got ours from a local supplier rather than ikea which didn't look as good quality. it has picked up a few marks but it's dead easy to just give it a quick sand and apply some more oil

however i do get a bit paranoid about puddles and mug rings so i am constantly wiping up. consequently the kitchen stays pretty clean! i can't comment on the cast iron problem as ours are copper

We had one with a built-in wooden drainer, however, the wood making up the drainer split after a short time. Replaced the drainer by a ceramic one and kept oiling the wooden parts, and it was fine ever since.

MrsGrahamS informs me we've had our kitchen for over two years, our worktops are oak, have been oiled three times (no sanding) and don't have any marks despite us being pretty messy, not cleaning up spills and leaving pots etc on them.

(our sink is a big white ceramic thing with a drainer though, so no drainer issues)

I'm a kitchen fitter by trade and had the choice of pretty much anything I wanted, I've got Prime oak with an undermounted sink. been fitted coming on 2 years and never re-treated or sanded, could do with a quick buff and re oil now but happy with that. I'd recommend.

I installed oak just before Christmas, and have done the oil thing once. I think the work top looks spectacular, and haven't noticed any problems to date. It may be early, mind, but I am very pleased indeed.

We were deliberately going for the rustic look, and marched the work top with a slate floor… a real Welsh country kitchen.

Ok thanks for the advice, I am convinced that wood is not all bad and am prepared to give it a go.

It needs to look modern so can't go down the belfast sink look. It will be a sink with an integrated drainer should I go for above or below mounted. As I see it over mounted keeps the end grain nicely protected but leaves the rim a perfect place for water to collect. As apposed to the undermounted option nice and easy to wipe down and keep clean but the end grain is exposed to alot more water.

We had a carpenter build build us a bespoke kitchen in our last house, including a wood worktop (hard wood but don't recall which wood). Yes it took some looking after but any scratches I sanded out and re-oiled. You do need to be careful around the sink area, as has been said.

I wouuldn't hesitate to go for a wood worktop again if I was having a new kitchen built.

we had beech in the old house..one bit ended up like a ramp at the skate park where the kettle sat… considering it was so thick it warped quite impressively 😀

Got wood here!

Managed to get solid elm and its beautiful. Felled as part of the dutch elm control and it has superb markings in the grain. Solid one piece worktop 3.5 m long and an island 2.5m x 1.2 m. Bought surface mount Franke sink/drainer and a matching butler sink. Soaked it all with olive oil and it needs an occasional re oil, thats all.

Danny Frost is the woodmeister, did the worktops as well as a solid Elm table. Top bloke.

Oil Me Up Big Boy..

Wood tastic

Believe it or not we've got bambo, it is absolute quality and has a lovely end grain pattern where the layers are overlaid at 90 degree angles. When fitting the sink make sure any cut edges are sealed and plenty of clear silicone applied before the sink is placed! Oh and the osmo oil is quality.

I installed Beach worktops 8 years ago and they have needed zero maintenance – the oil finish is still as good as the day it went on. I used Junkers Rustic Oil and put 3 thick coats on.

That is some sexy wood you got there rickmeister 😀

Surfer,

Yes the undermount sink has exposed end grain so tends to need a bit more oil here but it's far from a problem and it looks really good. biggest issue is cutting a nice hole for it in the 1st place, It took me several hours to make a jig to route round for mine as it's not a straight forward job, took a lot of thinking about but got a really nice finish in the end.

Last self righteous happy with wood post.

Kitchen install

Happy days.

Have 16 yr old Beech worktops in our former place (now tenanted). There is a little bit of swelling round the sink and kettle areas but nothing major. Light sand and oil every couple of years is all it's had. With kids around now, I went for bog standard laminate last time around, but would go with wood again.

So wood worktops are the kitchen equivilent of Fox forks and FSR bearings as far as maintenance is concerned.

We had beech and it was a right pain in the arse. Looked great when first put in, but hated it very quickly. Stained easily, warped and went black around the sink – plus you can't make pastry on it 😉

@ squin
jus rol ( with it) 🙂

Stained easily

What are you doing to it? I've spilt curry on ours and there isn't a mark on it.

rickmeister – nice kitch!

Thanks!…

This was just after the kitchen fit out, its moved on from here.

The pics are of the feminine end of the kitchen, behind the photographer at the masculine end, is the 60' Plasma…….

*takes partners hand off my face*

One thing to bear in mind is that they reall aren't suitable for certain types of cooking, we've just discovered. Mrs PP makes wedding cakes and the like, and you can't roll icing out on them because it leaves a texture in it from the wood grain. Also a 'cold' feeling worktop is better for pastry too, it doesn't dry out as fast.

Just something to be aware of. 🙂

We've still got Formica worktops from 1968 and they really are indestructible. Made of compressed paper and you can put a pan straight from the hob onto it with no problems and nothing stains it. Apparently it's being made again so go retro.

I like the way that people say 'oh it's no bother at all, you just have to do this and that, and this can happen or that'

I have to oil my granite no times a year, it takes no hours, and it still looks as good as new! 🙂

Wouldn't have wood.

My sister's got wooden worktops in here kitchen.
Don't know what wood, whether it came from Ikea, a forest deep in the Norweigan countryside or the Amazonian rainforest, but it's gone quite black and manky around the sink – I think it's splitting too. And they are quite careful about keeping the area clean & dry.

Apart from that area, it's all good but it would put me off having the same. I know I wouldn't have the required maintenance will power to keep it in good nick.

I have to oil my granite no times a year, it takes no hours, and it still looks as good as new!

+1, seems like kitchens are actually fairly harsh places. Granite here for the last 7 years and it still looks like new.

But if you don't like granite/others and don't mind the extra work then go for it.

Another formica fan here, loads of designs available.

Corian – you can do all sorts of interesting stuff shape wise with it, and get that hospital / hotel* look. (*delete depending on your preference)

Wood is a maintenance nightmare…and who wants to spend time oiling a worktop?

get that hospital / hotel* look. (*delete depending on your preference)

Done.

Wood is a maintenance nightmare…and who wants to spend time oiling a worktop?

I really don't begrudge spending an hour a year to keep it looking nice.