Are wooden kitchen worktops really a high maintenance choice for kitchens?

[reastie]

Would appreciate any input from anyone who has wooden work surfaces or has experience of them. They look so lovely, but we're put off by the potential staining/looking mucky after a few years. Any advice to keep it in good condition or whether to steer clear entirely?

We have them in our house and honestly.. would never even consider a house with them again! The upkeep is ridiculous and never feel like I can get them completely clean and sanitised for fear of destroying the finish. Doesn't help that we are renting though..

We had teak work surfaces which were about 40 years old in a rented house, and they were pretty much bomb proof (we, or more accurately our friends, tested them pretty hard - the wok straight off the heat didn't leave a mark).

We were given oil to put on them every few months, but I don't know what it was. The surfaces were very dark though, so may have been treated with something more than oil?

They weren't sanded in the 5 years DH was there, and still looked really good. However they were ever so slightly sticky, and used to strip the print off plastic bags! The stickiness could have been due to a very well used kitchen with no extractor - we've no similar problems in our current house, but have melamine surfaces and an extractor, so hard to know.

The kitchen with teak work surfaces had a double drainer sink, which was stand alone (cupboards underneath, but not contiguous with any other work surface). We weren't particularly careful with spills, but having the sink separated meant there wasn't much liquid standing around on the work surfaces.

"We went to Howdens and they have a new worksurface material"

I think you mean compacted laminate. About 12.5mm thick, solid core and completely waterproof.

We've had ours for 4 weeks and it is absolutely dreadful stuff. For a start silicone tends to come unstuck from it and as you cannot screw into the material you rely on silicone to glue it down. It is also not good at spanning any gaps so must go onto solid topped cabinets. Any lengths wider than 500mm needs strong support – the front of your hob or dishwasher for example.

Our worktops came from Magnet who are going to supply completely new material for us, in our reasonably hard-working kitchen. I'm here today looking at thoughts on wood worktops, something I don't know if I want the hassles that accompany them.