Anyone got a solid wood worktop in their kitchen?

[skewputt]

Is it difficult to look after? Thinking about putting one in but I'm worried that it won't withstand the normal wear and tear and might stain. Do you need to oil it very often? Any hints and tips appreciated!

we've had ours for 6 years. never oiled it so it doesn't look like it did when installed but we bleach it to buggery and it still looks good!

We had ours put in a year ago and it looks as new so far. We've oied it maybe three times (it's easy - just clear the stuff away and rub in the oil - in our case from ikea - with a bit of kitchen roll). We're also careful not to leave water standing on it, eg around the sink. Apart from that it's no hassle and I love it. Top tip - I keep a big breadboard next to the cooker to put hot pans down on.

Our was put in by the previous owners, and I have to say I find it a nightmare. Granted, we've been here 4 years, & have only re-oiled in once, but it stains really easily, is starting to look tatty (even though I now always clean it with wood cleaner)I personally wouln't have on again.

We have a solid oak butchers block. You are supposed to sand it down and oil it every 6mths to stop it drying out.....in reality we do it every 9mths or so but it's like a new worktop each time we do and every stain/ scratch etc comes out with the sanding.

I do love it though!

Oh, yes and no water standing on it is a good tip - we had a leak from the kitchen tap when we were on holiday - not good ...

I was thinking of getting one myself, but friends have said not to bother. I used to have a wooden surface on a kitchen island which was lovely but not as easy to care for as it might have been. My father had a kitchen fitted recently and the designer said not to get a solid wood surface especially near the sink, though it may have been that he thought my dad wasn't the sort to mop up water from the sink all the time.

Still, they look lovely though. And granite is a pain to deal with and I don't like laminate tops much.

I wouldn't put one in again but did in my previous house/ Lovely but v impractical unless you want to do proper maintenance every 6 months.

Can recommend a lovely smelling wood cleaner oil spray - can't remember what it's called but most supermarkets sell it... Will go and look.

Granite is much easier ime than wood.At least with granite you can scrub the limescale stains away and it's like new.Once a wooden worktop is stained there's nothing you can do.
Ultimately laminate is the easiest ,but not as nice imo.

What sort of wood are you talking Skew?
We've got solid iroko which are gorgeous. I haven't oiled them in a while and they look great apart from the draining bit which has a few water marks I need to sort out. Mines a really old knackered house though so I can get away with it.
(by the way, I know it's not sustainable but I didn't put them in!)

Iroko or oak depending on the cost.
Non-sustainable point noted

Having said all that I do know what I'm having next time
Glass - yum

I've got a bit of wood wortkop in my kitchen and I would never EVER have it again, I hate it. We had to have either wood or solid surface by the sink, as it's a butler sink (can't have laminate with those) and we couldn't afford granite. ANyway, the wood is a blinkin' nightmare. The tiniest drop of water from the tap leaves a ring, if you put a tin on it it leaves a black mark which has to be sanded out, you can't leave washing up to drain on it 'cos it gets marked - it is seriously AWFUL and I really, really regret it. I'm wondering if we've been oiling it wrongly as I haven't known anybody else to have this much trouble. I think it also depends on the type of wood you have - a friend of mine has a different wood and she only oiled it once in the first year she had it and it looks as good as new. We've oiled ours once a month and it looks hideous The rest of the kitchen has good-quality laminate (Duropal) and you can do anything to it and it looks fantastic. Unless you have a butler sink I would really not recommend it at all.

Btw, what I woudl've had if it were money-no-object is quartz. It looks the same as granite (but is much dearer) but is practically maintenance-free. It doesn't stain like granite and doesn't have to be re-sealed every few years like granite.

We've got woden worktops in this house & they are nowhere near as easy to look after as the fake granite we had in the last house. If someone cuts bread on it you're stuck with cut marks. A partly-soggy lettuce got left on it & the green stain is still there. I do oil it now & then but in parts, after three years, it looks tatty. I would choose wood elsewhere in the kitchen but something else for the surfaces.

we have oak worktops in a dark-ish stain. The previous owner put the kitchen in (at great expense) and the worktops probably looked fabulous for about 5 minues. Previous owner was an incredibly houseproud gay DJ and the flat was immaculate when we bought it, but highly impractical. Needless to say the decor has gone down hill since

I def wouldn't choose wooden work surfaces like mine (that scrubbed pine look might be ok?). Any water spilled and not wiped up within a couple of minues marks and if you drop a knife or something it scratches, plus it has faded near the windows due to sunlight.

We have builders starting in our house on Tuesday and have been looking at kitchens. I really thought I wanted a real wood worktop as they look great in the showrooms, but maybe not. Granite was my 2nd choice but I didn't realise it was so fragile. The guy in one showroom showed us a "fake" granite worktop which looked lovely, it was crushed granite with a special glue, he said that was more practical, but almost as expensive as the real thing, anyone had any experience of it? I don't want to spend loads on a lovely kitchen and then have it look like the one I have now in a couple of months IYSWIM. Your experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Much prefer a wooden worktop. used to have an Ikea one which, so long as you were sensible, was fab. ie, use a breadboard, don't put hot pans directly on it, don't let water stand too long on it.

I've now got a black granite looky liky thing. Shows every single crumb and never looks clean. Wood is much more forgiving.

Mumof - ours was fake granite but you'd never have known. We lived there for 10 years & it still looked good. So, would recommend.

We have an Ikea one, and really love it. We oiled it well first time, and have re-oiled it about 1x/year. Only bad bit is that it surrounds our sink, and water has got in around the seal of the sink, leaving it black-ish. Next time I would def. have it, but combine it with something more practical around the sink.
We also have used a left over chunk as a cutting board, and that has worked really well.

Thanks -will take this all on board, tricky isn't it. It's just it's a lot of money and I can't really afford to get it wrong? BTW, how exciting is my life sitting discussing worktops on a bloody Saturday night, do you remember when .......