What do you think of wood vs laminate worktops?

[Purpletortoise]

Wood obviously looks nicer, but does it stain?

I have a wood-effect laminate worktop which is unstainable (unless you put a very hot pan on it, which someone has done!). Wondering whether to stick with laminate for the replacement, as it’s so practical, or go for wood.

Wood=pain in the arse. It’s not so much the staining but when it gets damp and starts to absorb water. Had wood worktops twice now and that was enough.

I’m sure someone might come along and say they’re fine, just got to look after them etc. but I’m not keen.

Modern laminate looks very good and is cheap and durable.

We had wood and it warped from water. We had laminate and it bubbled up and the edges look cheap.i would choose granite or marble.

All well and good suggesting stone worktops but they are going to be around 10-20 times the price.

Dm just got a quote for granite in a normal size kitchen. Was 6.5k.

I have a wooden worktop where my hob is and breakfast stools (island) and granite by the sink and chopping area. I don't have any issues with my wooden worktop, but maybe that's because it's not around the sink area or particularly well used area?

@Lonelycrab OMG!

We have wood, but do look after them and I really like them.

I’ve had wood. It looked BEAUTIFUL but was an absolute nightmare. I was constantly paranoid it was going to get water marks (which it did when certain people did the washing up) and to be honest the oiling of it was an absolute pain

For ease I think laminate is better but visually you just can’t beat wood

If I can afford it next time I want some sort of stone worktop as while I don’t like them as much as wood, they are more hardy

I have a wood worktop and I prefer it to laminate just because you can get rid of stains fairly easily. I think it helps a lot if you have an electric sander though as it makes the whole process so much quicker.

We weren’t exactly on top of maintenance for a while (5 years+ of mild neglect 🙈), so we had quite a few big dark stains on ours that looked like they were fairly deep. Including burn marks and water marks around the sink. But it only took a bit of sanding to get rid of those. After adding a couple of layers of oil, the whole thing looked brand new again.

We’re doing a bit better on the maintenance now (oil once every 3 months) and a year later it still looks great.

We have wood in our kitchen and it's been since 2011 and it still looks brand new.

But my husband sands it down and varnish's it every year or so

Also we look after it, use chopping boards. Dry round sinks etc

It's fine if you are someone who looks after stuff.

Had walnut in my old house. It was beautiful, for about a year, then we got bored of it and realised it was a huge mistake.

We have wood everywhere except around the sink, which is entirely stainless steel.

I love the wood. I don't oil it, I clean it with whatever spray comes to hand and don't panic about stains. The stains wear off over a few days/cleans (or weeks in the case of the cherry putting session!), and I know if they didn't then we could sand it.

Ours is the freestanding wooden/white laminate doors kitchen from IKEA. Th. say to oil it, but I don't like the colour or feel of the wood after we oiled it so I vigorously cleaned it for weeks allowed it to wear off and didn't re-oil.

@HappyAsASandboy Do you find the wood gets damp and warps at all, as a couple of PPs did?

Eugh I have wood in my kitchen and never again. It needs constant waxing but then after a while there's too much wax on so you have to then sand it all back, white spirit it snd start again. If you don't wax it it gets water makes, it stains and in my opinion never looks as clean as other types of work top as real wood never has that clean shine if you get me. Looks lovely but just not practical in my opinion xx

Thank you for the replies - very helpful.

I wonder whether covering a wooden worktop with matt polyvine varnish would be an effective way to protect it from damp and stains, without affecting the appearance? Has anyone tried this?

I'm perfectly happy with my light oak effect laminate. Couldn't be doing with the upkeep and maintenance of real wood so it would look dreadful in no time in my heavily used kitchen

We have wood and were quite nervous about the upkeep but rehyve been fine considering we're not the most careful of people. No warning at all, no mould around the sink. Oil them once a year and clean up spills as soon as we see them.

We inherited wood worktops from a previous owner who unfortunately didn't look after them and they look awful. They have gone manky around the sink and the main worktop area is very damaged from lots of use. The 2 area round the corners that are used much less look great though! We want to try to sand and stain them but I'm worried it will look even worse!

@Wingingitsince2018 mine were damaged, you'd be surprised how many stains sanding does remove and then a cost of oil, danish oil is the best as it soaks into the wood, I'd say give it a go xx

The trouble with laminate is if it scratches, and I don't like stone (even if I could afford it). I"m thinking of bamboo, partly for environmental reasons
www.worktop-express.co.uk/wood_worktops/bamboo_worktops.html
They're supposed to be "hardwearing and naturally watertight" (say the people trying to sell them). Can anyone recommend or warn against?

I think wood would be a bit of a pita! Too much maintenance for my liking. Laminate is cheap, durable and washable. So laminate wins over wood. Granite and other types of stone and composites are usually eye wateringly expensive. If money is no object, they're great.

Incidentally, has anyonee tried using a table top as worktop? I'm thinking of doing the kitchen piecemeal and buying a bamboo table top from Ikea eg
www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/oevraryd-table-top-bamboo-90305723/
ÖVRARYDTable top, bamboo150x78x1.8 cm £85
to save money on a piece over two cabinets. (Obvs, there may be colour matching issues, but I'd still like to know if it's technically achivevable). Thanks in advance for any comments.