Oak worktop and water damage help reqd

Utility room, oak worktop to wrap round the Belfast sink. Installed by the builders and protected using the Howdens wax protector stuff. Only it doesn’t seem to work / last very well.

The area in question gets a lot of “water” based usage, from washing the dog in the sink, watering plants, hand washing clothes, water seems to go everywhere. It doesn’t soak into the worktop, just sits on the top, but somehow the wax protector doesn’t now look the best and to be fair didn’t look that good just a few short months after the worktop was installed. Unsurprisingly round the tap it looks a lot worse ! No surprise there and I’ve checked the tap it’s not leaking.

First question, what can I use to protect the worktop so it can last a fairly long time and still look good, with it being a utility area ? Happy to sand it back, prep and do some work to get it looking good. Before i tile the wall round the utility room.

Second question a small crack appeared in the worktop by the edge of the sink, doesn’t seem to have increased, but can it be repaired? So further damage is lot done here? Hopefully you can see this from the picture.

Ideally I want to get a fair few more years out of the worktop, as it would be a pain to remove the tap and cut a new worktop, never mind the expense – which I’d really like to avoid.

My brother used a product called Fiddes hard wax oil that has worked quite well. He couldn’t get on with Osmo so not sure if it’s a different product. It’s left a smooth impervious coating on which the water just beads up. I think he needed to apply three coats though.

@creakingdoor thanks, I’ll happily apply 6 coats if it works !

I see 3 choices:

1 – live with it
2 – sand then paint/seal it with something that will ‘reject’ water
3 – get a material better suited (and the tap will be an easy refit (for someone who knows what they’re doing 🙂 )

I’d go with 2 for now, and then move to 3.

I am not so sure you’ll recover that fully – the moisture gets right into the grain and I am not convinced that even thorough sanding will get it back to looking anything like new (IIRC European oak blackens quite readily whereas uk oak is more resilient – at least that is what I have been told in the past).

For a relatively cheap fix you could get some nice decorative mosaic tiles to fit around the tap area at the back.

^^^intheborders has it correct for me….we had in a previous property and it was very hard to stop the wood from getting wet and the situation worsening.

Oxalic acid seemed to be the general solution for improving the appearance but thankfully we left

Watching with interest. Whoever came up with the idea of oak/wooden worktops goes on The List as far as I’m concerned…

Osmo has been good on ours, so far (3 years).

Whoever came up with the idea of oak/wooden worktops goes on The List as far as I’m concerned…

…. A “designer” (with no thought towards actually whether it’s a good idea – which it isn’t).

Any waxoil on wood needs topping up. Youll need to take tha back a bit and reapply 3 coats of whatever you decide on then very light sand with 240 grit and a couple of fresh cots ever 3 months or so. Which reminds me, I’m about six months late doing ours 😂

I used some sort of epoxy resin coating on our cheap Ikea worktop which worked well for quite a while, but still wore off eventually.

Cracking is to be expected with the would being moist then drying etc. Sand it back best you can then put as many coats of osmo oil as you can manage. Allowing each coat the correct time needed.

Whoever came up with the idea of oak/wooden worktops goes on The List as far as I’m concerned…

Any customer who has it installed…

Seconded for Osmo. We had similar issues with black rings, water damage etc at even the slightest touch (or so it seemed).

Osmo sorted it – completely sealed the work surfaces (water beads on the surface now) and I only do a light sand and re-coat once a year. I am, however, pretty particular about the Oak worktops so try to keep them as dry and clean as possible.

note if you are doing applying Osmo on existing, Non-Osmo’d worktops it does not mix with well with other waxes / oils. You’ll need to do a pretty harsh sanding job in order to start from scratch.

I am not convinced that even thorough sanding will get it back to looking anything like new

oxalic acid will have that staining right out.

ITs not so much the worktop material its the insistance to put silly not proper sinks in that also contain the tao fittings within the foot print.

See also bathroom with bowl basins

Whoever came up with the idea of oak/wooden worktops…

It puzzles me. I see lots of people with expensive oak, slate, granite, etc, worktops that are stained or damaged. We have a 30 year old laminate worktop, practically unmarked. Have we just been lucky or are these other materials just well marketed?

I use Osmo and it’s been ok.

Diligence with wiping up spills is key – finish washing up – wipe the area with a tea towel etc, it’s got to be something you just ‘do’ (granted no one else in my household did this)

The chap that fitted my worktops said he wouldn’t fit solid wood for use with a Belfast or under mount sink – just too prone to water ingress / damage

I love the look of oak surfaces but not sure I could have one again. At no point did the kitchen designers warn us that having an integrated sink (like that belfast) with a routed in draining area was a terrible idea…

That said we’ve got Osmo on our dining table after the original oil was leaving marks on any sheets of paper and it’s like magic, so maybe a decent coat of osmo that is topped up annually is sufficient.

We used osmo from day one.

More expensive than the nonsense that the vendor gives you which looks good initially but doesn’t last.

Mines was oiled 6 times before fitting and gets done once a year

Only black marks on the worktop are the area where the Mrs dropped a lit candle on…..

We have same set up round the kitchen and utility room sinks.

I do have an oak drying board by the sink( avoiding the afore mentioned routed in drainer)that’s been coated in something other than osmo and it’s grim looking. On my list to take it and give it a deep sand / acid and osmo it up if it survives.

Will say we do keep a cloth by the sink to dry up excess moisture in the area.

We have a 30 year old laminate worktop, practically unmarked. Have we just been lucky or are these other materials just well marketed?

The latter.

Wooden worktops do look good, when they look good, but need care in use and ongoing maintenance. Laminate can look just as good (as in our old kitchen) and just, well, works.

Granite’s pretty good, TBF, it’s just pricey. Slate is another one for The List

I like the look of damaged oak, kind of characterful.

The olde style kitchen tables of yesteryear look better for those knocks, bashes and ingrained stains.

And as said, its likely you wont be able to sand the top to get those out. Even removing the taps and taking the belt sander or an aggressive grit to it its just going to remove too much to get down to clean timber you’ll be left with an uneven surface unless to heavily sand the entire surface.

I did an coffee table for my nephews for their cellar ‘gang hut’ where they smoke and drink beer, round(about 2′ diameter 2″ thick and on the instruction they allow it to get burns, stains, put their boots up on it and generally use it for its intended purpose. And after a couple of years it has that lived in look and i would say far better than treating it with kid gloves.and being all nice and finished and shiny.

OK, maybe not the look for a kitchen work surface given the nice Belfast sink, but in truth i dont think you’re ever going to be able to seal the surface completely without those stains being made. Epoxy isnt going to move seasonally, so will crack, Varnish might work better, but will need redoing at least once a year, and oil, even new kid on the block osmo isn’t the be all end all and stains will still appear.

So its either allow it to become characterful, or varnish it. Oil might work, but you’ll need lots of coats, the initial couple thinned well down, and maybe redone every 4 or 5 months.

I think you’ll be able to sand that out, but you just need to add a decent oil, and keep on adding for the first couple years. I wouldn’t vanish it myself.

Laminate stains, and shows it

I was away with work when the carpenter fitted the utility room worktop and my request to use osmo oil was “forgotten”, so 2 coats of the useless Howdens worktop oil were applied. By the time I’d remembered, prompted by my finally noticing that the worktop looked battered already and saying to my wife that osmo oil isn’t as good as it was in our previous house, as the worktop looks like it’s had 20 years of abuse already.

I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to sand most of it (if not all) out. Anything left I’ll label as “character, patina etc”. If it’s not working well, I’ll use Oxalic.

I also love oak worktops and am relatively happy to go on the list, done well they look really good IMVHO and I’m happy to do the annual maintenance to keep them looking good.

I’m also fairly sure it’s not advisable, or you shouldn’t use a laminate worktop round a Belfast sink ? I asked at the time, as I was trying to keep costs down.

And biting at option 3, what material is more suitable ?
Granite isn’t a look we were after – which is why it wasn’t used, as the oak worktop was also used to go vertically to the left of the sink and between the w/m and the infill panel to the wall, laminate see above, Corian, quartz (again not an option, as there is acres of it in the kitchen no I wanted a contrasting worktop here), something else ?

Will take a look at osmo oil, it’s been a while since I bought any – this the one ?
Osmo oil

I’d be very wary of sanding, you could easily end up wuth another set of problems. Oxalic and then several coats of oil (not varnish).

Thanks @BillMC

I’d be very wary of sanding, you could easily end up wuth another set of problems. Oxalic and then several coats of oil (not varnish).

Why not varnish?

I’ll give sanding a try, though I’ll check if the Oxalic is still an option if I’ve sanded the hell out of the worktop already.

In my experience varnish plasticizes and cracks up and you have to then sand it and make the surface uneven before re-treating it. Oxalic is dirt cheap and is a constituent component of lots of more expensive products and works quickly. Loads on YT about using it.
Incidentally I’ve a similar issue with an oak worktop.

We had trouble with the oak island and dining table that I made. Red wine and curry stains went through the Osmo. I sanded it all off, attacked the stains with oxalyc acid (Barkeeper’s Friend from B&Q) then varnished with Blackfriar matt varnish from Dulux Decorator Centre. It’s been fine since.

We used to have it, but IME it needs way more than annual maintenance to keep looking good. A material surrounding a sink which is damaged by water doesn’t seem like the ideal choice… we have quartz now.

Mind you, it made a great desk for my home office.

I can’t see drainage grooves; a sink like this will help to protect the end grain.
Unfortunately it’s dependent on the front overhang and you’ll probably need to fill the gap between door and sink with a false drawer front

that sink would be perfect if it went all the way back and had a draining board

Best thing I did for our oak worktop was cut in to 6″ squares and feed into the wood burner. Put a smile on my face with every chunk gone.
Stayed at little holiday cottage recently, my heart sank when, in the tiny kitchen, saw the oak worktop, inset ceramic sink, no draining area. Otherwise a very nice Howdens kitchen. Then I switched on what I thought was an induction hob, only to have it glow red at me. Another disappointment!

You need to use a cabinet scraper on that, not sand it. then oil it …
Once every hour for a day,
once every day for a week,
once every week for a month,
and once a month for a year…

And it will still look shit if you get soap on it, or don’t wipe up after you!

An oak worktop in a utility room… Why?

Another osmo convert here. Very impressed, no watermarks since I did mine 6 months back.

Yacht varnish

Screwfix review: ” We used this on our kitchen countertops 6 months ago as we wanted something robust with everyday use which wouldn’t rot over time.
It’s brilliant stuff, you can spray cleaning products on it and wipe away, even red wine and turmeric don’t stain. Best option for hardwearing fully waterproof wood in my opinion. It starts off very shiny but then settles over time.

several coats of oil (not varnish).

One really must disagree with your view of Varnish. Apart from use on yachts for the past few hundred years, it is the traditional finish for windows and doors and is still the go to for many joinery companies.

Now there is varnish and there is varnish, and the stuff you get from B&Q is not the stuff shipbuilders use, and just the fact most shipbuilders swear by the stuff and use nothing else, should be testimony to its hardwearing properties.

Spar marine varnish is what you want. No other product available protects against water to the same degree.

And I would think a yacht is subject to far more extremes than washing the occasional dog.

Not a helpful answer at all but this is why you never ever use wooden worktops in a kitchen…. Unless the kitchen is just a ‘show’ kitchen and never used

Diamond hard floor varnish. But you’ll ideally want to take it out to sand it properly and apply under where it meets the sink. At which point you have a perfect template to take to a stone worktop place….

My wooden worktops are still fine, 15 years on. Starting to show a bit of wear round the edges/corners though.

Got a decent sink though, goes all the way to the back of the unit and covers the endgrain thoroughly (had about 6 coats of sealant on it before the sink went in).

The rest of the kitchen is pretty much destroyed though, 15 years of very hard use (and a couple of kids) from pretty much the cheapest kit that IKEA could provide…

‘Varnish – though a good choice in some situations – is generally not advised for use in a kitchen. Timber varnishes dry to a relatively brittle, plasticky finish, which can be scratched easily by kitchen knives or cracked by heavy items; the finish is also not very resistant to heat damage.’
From ‘worktop express’

Yep, I used yacht varnish on oak washing line props and it worked brilliantly and was resilient but not convinced for a worktop. Nothing’s going to last forever, OP could try them all in serial order.

Not a helpful answer at all but this is why you never ever use wooden worktops in a kitchen…
Unless the kitchen is just a ‘show’ kitchen and never used

Tbh I look at people who put carpets on the floor in a house in a similar way.