Granite or Wood worktops

[VeryHungryKatypillar]

We are finally getting a new kitchen! Hurrah! We were sold on the idea of black granite worktops (cream kitchen) until we saw the price... solid wood is half the price at least.

WWYD?

I have both six years on the granite work tops still look brand new when polished. However, the really expensive supposedly sealed wooden work top is a disaster it is stained, the wood is patchy in colour.

wood is a bit of nightmare to look after. granite nice but remember that black is the most expensive type so perhaps look at he different types. also if you are in hard water area black is a bit of a nightmare in imho. you get ring marks etc from water. have you looked at the composite stuff

Thanks both, really helpful. I am a bit of a lazy moo, so wooden work top needing to be looked after does not fill me with joy... The composites don't have the same look to me, quartz not bad but not saving much cashola with them...

We have wood. Disagree that it's a nightmare - it's still looking good.
Whereas my brother's shiny black granite needs no end of polishing.

Katisha - what do you need to do maintenance wise with the wood? The Wickes brochure we has mentions 'regular maintenance'?

Lizcat - where where your wood worktops from?

i don't like granite. i have wood and have had no problems.

i love slate though, if i was doing it again i would have slate - only because i would like a change, not because of any problems with wood.

Argh! where were your wood work tops from?

Well we've had it for about 18 months now and have re-oiled it ....um....er...not at all...

I do try to wipe up water spills though. But actually there are no water stains despite being a lot less quick to do this than I was at first.

I have had wood a few times and with a quick dry and regular oiling they look great.I am about to fit them again in my new house and am not worried at all.My mum and sister have granite but they are both fairly new so not sure about maintenance.I just prefer wood or have you looked at other composites?

All very useful, thanks vm, balance swinging back in favour of wood...

We have looked at other composites, but I only like the granite or quartz ones, the other composites seemed to lack a bit of impact...

having said that, it is very difficult to tell from a little block of it in the shop..

Wood looks so lovely I never get bored with it.

I don't like granite - I think it looks a bit footballers wives.

Wood needs waxing every 6 months to a year - so it does need a little care but not much different to a comprehensive wipe down.

The only problems I've had with our wood work tops are behind the taps where they have lost the sealant. I should be waxing more there, and have been lazy. However we had the same problem with the previous laminate worktops, I think the wet bits just do get a little scungy.

I think next house I'm going to get a full surround sink and try to avoid the issue!

We have both.

Solid oak work tops and a honed granite drainer. (The honed granite is far less footballers-wifey than normal granite tyv! )

It's a great combination as I didn't want wood around the sink (we have a butler-style one) yet felt granite would be too heavy in our kitchen (not to mention expensive!)

I don't think we've oiled our worktops since having them fitted four years ago. We used Danish oil on them. They could prob do with another treatment now but I do look after them by removing water spills quickly.

Our oak worktops came from IKEA, they were such a bargain. However their sizing doesn't usually match most conventional kitchens. Our kitchen was handmade so the fitter made it to size up with the worktops!

lol sorry I didn't mean to insult all granite-ites! It's just my personal weirdness.

I didn't know that about the sizing - we put Ikea worktops on a B&Q kitchen and it seemed to match up ok...? Maybe we were just lucky!

I've got a grey quartzy compositey thing - doesn't show the water marks, very very hard wearing and significantly cheaper than granite.

I have had wood in several previous houses and found that it didn't wear well.

We have granite now, which is easier but isn't as maintenance free as artificial surfaces.

My tip in buying granite though is to shop around on the Internet. We bought White gloss units from Ikea and got an independent carpenter to fit them. We then got a company who drove down from Wakefield I think to supply the granite (we are in Surrey so a long way). They took the template and cut the granite on site. It saved £££ on buying everything from one kitchen company.

I think I need to spend a bit more time looking at the compositey thingies (is that a technical term DilysP?) but am now not so concerned about wood. And as we are quite keen on a warm, earthy colour on the walls (is orange too scary?) I think the wood worktops will work better than black granite which could look a little cold (and therefore footballers wives-ey... I think I know what you mean TYV... am sure that it depends on how the rest of the kitchen looks?).

footballers wives couldn't agree more esp with a big pull out tap

lol yes noddy. The only thing more bling is a pull down integrated kitchen telly. [boak]

[crosses fingers no-one on this thread has one!]

Pull down integrated telly....Now there's an idea....

tyv, my parents have a pull down integrated TV . I really don't know what they were thinking, mum would have looked down her nose at such an idea once. It's as if they have nothing to prove any more!

At previous house we had a nice subtle granite with + Ikea kitchen and it looked really good. Cost a bomb but the rest of the kitchen was very reasonably priced.

I have a granite worktop but unfortunately for me am not married to a gorgeous footballer.
I've had it almost five years and it still looks lovely. The thing I like about it is that it is a natural material and has real life in it. My one has quite big cristals that look like they are suspended in it and are different every way you look at it. Obviously solid wood is also a beautiful natural product but I like the fact I don't have to worry what I put on the granite - burning hot pans, stains, spills, wet stuff is all fine.