Kitchen work surfaces

OK

Thinging about Wood (sort of blocks) and stone… any advice?

Wood needs caring for and stone doesn’t.

If you’ve ever left a bottle of red wine on a worktop then wood may not be the best choice unless you like sanding.

We’ve got a white granite/resin top that looks nice but is a bugger to keep clean.

Take a look at Bamboo, cheaper than wood but just as hardy and with a brill edge look.

Got kids? Forget the wood. Ours went along with a large kitchen knife chopping at the edge 😥

It’s more effort than it’s worth anyway, I’d go with a dirty-looking granite if it was my choice.

Wood is great. We got the oak worktops from Ikea – about 8 years ago. Very little care needed once in. I reckon mine get oiled once a year (if they’re lucky). You do have to avoid putting anything too hot on them – so some sort of coaster under any hot pots is essential. Mind you, some of the alternatives are no better. Any marks you find unacceptable can be sanded out, but I like the fact that there’s a certain “patina” about them.

Check out Worktop Expess[/url] – they have a fair few surfaces, do all the cutting/edging etc and could save you a lot of money,

Cheap laminate and spend your money on something important like bikes

Almost all of the above is utter bollocks.

Wood isn’t more expensive than bamboo.

Wood isn’t too hard to take care of.

Stone (granite) DOES need treating once a year.

We took the view that we’d just get what we wanted, instead of being swayed by horror stories (from people who couldn’t/didn’t know how to look after work surfaces). So went with solid oak despite having a little un who likes to ‘help’ when cooking and so far, so good. Wipe up spills etc and don’t leave stuff to soak in and its spot on.

Whatever you do though, don’t buy solid worktops from the likes of B&Q etc. They were charging £500 for 3m of 620mm x 40mm oak. We got all ours (8m I think) for £400 from Worktop Express online incl delivery.

Corian…seamless joints and a 10 year warranty from Du Pont.

Mine is a white speckled colour and if I leave a takeaway curry container on it that horrible yellow stain just wipes off.

You also have the benefit of being able to have the undermounted and drainage grooves routered into the top.

I also had a 10mm upstanding at the rear which means the tiles or whatever splash back you use sits on top and the silicone never comes into contact with any water making it last longer.

Not cheap,but available In over 50 colours.

If you’ve ever left a bottle of red wine on a worktop then wood may not be the best choice unless you like sanding.

Bollocks. Just oil it properly. Osmo Top Oil is the stuff.

Curry, red wine, sauce just wipe clean off even if you’re a slob like me and have left them to dry.

All very helpfull folks.. thanks.

Any thoughts on the carcases?

HPP[/url] are very good for doors and carcasses. Used by a lot of trade fitters. It isn’t clear on the website but they will make anything to your precise measurements at no extra cost.

I shouldn’t say, but it’s quite easy to get a trade account with them, which brings discounts.

Where are you based? I’m in Stafford and fit these.

What is your budget and where are you based?

I make bespoke hand made kitchens for less than you may think!

wood, be prepaired to maintain it regularly, stone go for the man made (corian speedstone or similar) as the natural is pourus which can 1. hold bacteria,2 can stain from red wine etc.

Not complete bollocks Graham S; oiled ours every few months and it still picked up stains that needed working on.

There are easier surfaces to have in a kitchen.

Not complete bollocks Graham S; oiled ours every few months and it still picked up stains that needed working on.

Crap oil then. 😀

Get Osmo Top Oil. Nice non-toxic waxy oil.

http://www.osmouk.com/previewpage.cfm?bookid=book001&chapter=57&page=124

A few coats of that then a quick top up whenever it starts to get thin (roughly every 12 months IME).

Water just beads on it. So far it has been completely impervious to all the red wine and cooking spills, including curry and sauces left overnight. Excellent stuff.

I had wood. But life is short – So I won’t have it again (read that how you will!)…

Oak/Iroko etc. can look great and the hardwaxes are reasonably durable.

But retreating once every 6 or 12 months was ultimately bonkers. Fine for the modern hipster/couple living in a showroom with time to lavish on worksurfaces perhaps.

Corian/granite/stone for the win imho.

Never retreated Granite in 5 yrs still looks new.

But retreating once every 6 or 12 months was ultimately bonkers.

Takes me about half an hour to do. Every 12 months. Not exactly a major drain on my life 😀

Wood, would take me an afternoon. During which time family had to be banned from kitchen – all items removed from worksurfaces, tops prepped/rubbed/cleaned whatever.

What a waste or precious time. They quickly went from ‘patina’ to unpleasantly soiled and needing renovation – if you missed any cleaning or mntnce.

Glad others had better experience. This was mine and seems common.

I would have liked Corian when we did our kitchen, but it would have nearly doubled the price. 😯

Corian – well worth the extra money.

oxforddan, we’re just by Wallingford. Could you please drop me a line, email in profile. Thanks.

And yeah, Corian FTW!

We’ve got wood. We make them work hard and they get scratched and marked, but life’s too short to have a pristine kitchen.

Wear, scratches and marks are patina. Patina is good.

Stone (granite) DOES need treating once a year.

Ours is 11 years old, never been treated and looks the same as it did the day it was installed [by a friends company].
It’s heavily used and we have 3 girls under the age of 12 who like to ‘bake’.
We’ve never been advised to treat it and I have no intention to ever do so.

I have prime oak, oiled it well with good oil when installed 5 years ago, never treated it or sanded it since. could probably do with a rub down and retreat now but not life or death situation. it’s used and abused daily.

We’re moving into our new place in Oxford a week on Friday, which needs pretty extensive refurbishment including a new kitchen. How do I contact you Dan?

Always said I’d never have granite, but after giving in to Mrs. Busydog, I find I really like it and so easy to care for. Forgiving if you set a hot pan on it, etc. We got a permanent sealer put on it, so don’t have that to deal with.
The one we have is a very multi-colored stone, so doesn’t show every little drop that is spilled on it like a solid-colored surface would.
I have a friend who got stainless steel kitchen tops and regrets the decision. It looked really great until scratches started showing up on it.

Corian

hello grey , allenskitchens@hotmaildot.codotuk . Thanks

We got some quartz stuff. White and clean.

Seems to resist everything but if you drop any crockery on it the crockery ALWAYS loses. It was pricey mind and i wasn’t keen on spending that kind of money but it wasn’t mine to spend. She won 🙂

Wood for me.

Wear, scratches and marks are patina. Patina is good.

This. We re-oil ours once a year – just leave it overnight and it’s dry in time for breakfast. No biggy. One word of warning – sugar soap will stain it if you forget to mop it up.

Black Granite here; really happy with it. I have no idea whether its true, but my fitter said that the darker the stone the more dense therefor less porous it is and stronger, too. Like I said, I have no idea if accurate, but seems reasonable and is borne out by my limited experience so far…
Oh, and I found the fitter on eBay, one man band type of bloke, really impressed by his work. hand cut curves that match the profile exactly are very nice indeed.

One word of warning – sugar soap

….

what about concrete?
http://www.pauldaviesdesign.co.uk/polished-concrete-worktops.php

I have a friend who got stainless steel kitchen tops and regrets the decision. It looked really great until scratches started showing up on it.

Tell him to rub it down with baby oil. Seriously.
Will look ten times better, hides scratches and will be easier to clean. We always keep a bottle under the sink for doing our hob and cooker hood.

IME (I’m a joiner)the main problem with wood tops is the piece of wood behind the sink; it seems to depend on the sink/tap combo as to whether water splashes onto this bit of the top when you use the tap and whether you mop up everytime you use the sink. Osmo finish is the business though; I’ve used it on stuff I’ve made for the bathroom and it works very well.
All the stone/acrylic tops (corian, quartz etc) work well but are a total bast**d to machine, trashing powertools (except Festool ones) and leaving you stinking of the cyanide that is used in their manufacturing!

Tell him to rub it down with baby oil. Seriously.
Will look ten times better, hides scratches and will be easier to clean. We always keep a bottle under the sink for doing our hob and cooker hood.

Thanks for the tip–I emailed him to give it a try and I will also try it on our stainless steel sinks.

After getting a book from the states about casting concrete work tops for a project at work I’ve been looking quizically at the kitchen at home and wondering how much the other half would kill my if I had an experiment whilst she is out one day this summer…