Wooden worktops in Kitchen - good or bad?

[zozzle]

Am currently choosing a new kitchen and I love the look of dark wood esp. Iroko but am worried about the maintenance. What's your experience?

Wood is dead easy to maintain and virtually indestructible. I can't speak for something exotic like Iroko however - we have oak and it's brilliant.

Thanks a few friends have put me off wooden worktops by saying they need a lot of oiling - how often do you oil yours?

opposite experience to gaelic - picked up marks and waterstains (maybe she just keeps a pristine kitchen ) - wouldn't do it again. Now have stainless steel - heat resistant, indestructible, looks nice, easy to clean.

mine is about ten years old (was here when we moved in) - dreadfully stained, watermarked, with black stuff around the taps which we presume is mould - won't come off with anything. I wouldn't have it again.

Bad. only worth it if you are a careful type, or you're happy to weather it down for a 'lived in' look.

I love my granite worktops.

But all those marks and waterstains can be sanded off so easily! We sand and oil ours every few months. If you want something completely maintenance free best go for a nice laminate I reckon.

Same as Iloveasylumseekers, think ours is cheap beech, 10 years old, put in by previous owners, all black round the sink. Really scuffed looking in the most heavily used bits.

They must have been pretty lazy types. How long does it take to wipe around the sink after washing up?

Bad idea. We had wooden worktops and will never have them again.

I was very careful about wiping around the sink but they still went horribly black and even sanding them didn't fully remove the marks.

Were they well oiled LubyLoo? If oiled properly a simple wipe should be more than enough to prevent marks.

General comment, not aimed at Lubyloo - There's always a huge divide on these threads between people who care about something they've spent money on, and are prepared to spend a couple of hours a year maintaining it, and people who just want something maintenance free. A bit like the choice between wooden windows and uPVC (you can guess what we have!)

Is it a huge divide? We have wooden sash windows but I still wouldn't have wooden worktops again, as for me the balance of cost vs maintenance doesn't work out. Even though I agree they look lovely when new.

Well, it was possibly a slight overstatement... Still no one can convince me that wood isn't the best option. We've had some dreadful marks on ours since getting them a couple of years ago, but without exception a little sanding has removed them and they're good as new. I can't think of another material that's so forgiving.

gaelic - stainless steel! doesn't stain, never marks. I was assiduous with the wooden worktops, sanding, oiled them every 6 weeks or so, but a black stain would appear if you put a tin can on the work-surface, and I really struggled to maintain them looking good. And I did try! Wood is beautiful and I now have wood almost everywhere else in the kitchen, just not on the worktops. There's a reason why professional kitchens use stainless steel - wood just didn't work for someone who cooks a lot and consequently makes a lot of mess

Awful. Don't do it.

We live in a rented apartment, we have light (beech?) worktops. I'm sure they cost a fortune to put in but the stain and mark so easily.

I'd never put them in any kitchen of my own.

We have iroko, had it installed last June. Put about 5 coats on it and haven't done anything with it since. Maintenance is not my strong point. Not noticed any stains or marks.

We put oak worktops in our kitchen about 5 years ago and they still look fab. I'm no domestic goddess and we oil them with Danish Oil about once a year but they've shrugged off everything we've thrown at them.

I'd definitely have them again

I think an awful lot depends on the quality. I have seen beautiful ones in other people houses, which were obviously a lot more expensive. Our still look lovely in places like under the microwave, which never get touched much. Whoever said about tins leaving black marks, I agree, left the wok sitting by the sink for a few hours once and it left a permanent black ring.

I like the lived in look so am very fond of mine. Have only oiled them once and it shows but, as I say, I quite like it. Plus I know that a bit of a sand and an oil would put them right. If you like smart and pristine but not housework you'll probably have to go for something ugly like laminate, sadly.

We've had terrible black marks left from tin cans - why does that happen I wonder - but without exception they have sanded away. You have to sand the whole worktop lightly and re-oil or of course the sanded area will look different from the rest of it.

I do loads and loads of cooking and baking btw. I've always found wood a really practical option as well as looking lovely.

I have a bespoke walnut stripes worktop that looks fab. I had it made by a local timber workshop and fitted by a chippy. It was raw when we had it and then | constantly covered it with oil.

I agree that it depends of where you get it from. You cant compare something that has been made in mass and sold cheap as brilliant. And sometimes if you go to a good timber yard you get a better deal and more feedback.

Check on the origin of the wood too.

Ours looked fab to begin with, but after 5 years it looks old and dirty. I wouldn't have it again, esp near the sink.

i love ours but our sink is completely separate from the work top. water and wood do not mix. if you are having a sink sunk in the work top don't even consider wood.

I love my Blue Pearl granite worktops. Had them a year and they look fabulous. No marks show whatsoever and they look very glam. I've wanted granite for many years and said that if I didn't get it in my lifetime I wanted it as a tombstone.