Wooden worktops and best kitchen sink?

[Pannacotta]

We'd like to have wooden worktops in our new kitchen, partly as they are much less ££ than granite or quartz but also that they look warmer and more in keeping with the planned kitchen style (ie quite classic).
I'm happy to look after them but hate the black mouldy mess you get behind an inset sink.

What sink would be best to combine with solid wood? We are keen cooks and often have lots of washing up, even with a dishwasher (global knives and non stick pans etc).

I like the sit on sinks like this
www.simplykitchensinks.co.uk/index.asp?SKSID=840&ItemID=2472
but can only find this range in a max 1.5 bowl.

I also like this
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/S59897218/ but we'll need some kind of drainer I think.

Any ideas?
TIA

it needs a 1000mm sink base in the middle and space to take 600 either side
so 2200mm in legth got the measurements wrong.
I use to sell these when i worked for rip off Moben
but stainless will scratch .

The oak stained up great. Have done a couple of coats of danish oil was advised to redo every 3 months for the first year. So will try to get onto this weekend.

Pannacotta, I bought my worktops from an ebay seller, after speaking to him on the phone, they are near St Albans. I made DH pick them up when he was going to London for a work visit. They had limited long or wide pieces but with our corners etc we have made it work. If you PM me I can give you chapter and verse I have bored this forum enough with my views on wood finishing .

I really wouldn't recommend oak with families unless you are obsessive.We have it in the utility and it has marked and stained in a year.Iroko in the kitchen however has worn really well[use Liberon worktop treatment which wears better than danish oil].I purchased my worktop from Worktop Express and i am really happy with the quality with a double ceramic Domsjo sink without a drainer- but some drainers fit in the sink.Alternatively you can purchase drainers with a tray underneath.Our joiner made a ridged piece of Iroko that fits over the worktop and drains into the sink-Like you i always have masses of washing-up.Iroko is really water-resistant and naturally oily and used in school labs apparently.Walnut also is pretty good as i'm sure teak is..

teta have you had to sand your iroko yet? That was my favourite choice until I read on her (from noddyholder?) that it doesn't sand well? It's a toss up between walnut and iroko for me...

I like the sound of your joiner's drainer Much easier to repair/replace in future if required.

Amaz... i think the major problem is that it sands down to a lighter colour.So you will have to sand all of it otherwise it will look odd.It darkens with age -ours has already [after one year] darkened noticably[i have a 'control' area underneath a marble slab on my island which is noticably lighter].I'm not sure i will ever sand it!.But it is cheap enough to replace [from Worktop express]especially the counter-tops[the specially made island is more].Unfortunately i have a slight bleach ring now [from cleaner!] that i am going to strip and use a wood dye pen to disguise it and then treat the wood with the worktop sealant.

fossil thanks will pm you.

Thanks teta am not so keen on oak anyway (and deffo not obesessive on the cleaning front, ha ha!!) so if we have wood it would probably be walnut.

I read that it is hard to find ethically sourced iroko which has put me off, though I love the idea of reclaimed worktop, teak would be good. I do try to be environmentally sensible though it can be hard when renovating.

I have seen some Simple human drainers with trays which could work. Is your wood drainer quite slim?

Do you find your sink copes well with lots of washing up? You have lots of DCs if I remember correctly...

Similar to the Ikea sink and comes with a drainer basket.

I have a drainer with an under tray but I don't like it. It only takes 2 days for the water which pools in the tray to start looking murky and bacteria ridden. Of course it wouldn't if I drained & cleaned it daily, but I'm too lazy and there are always things draining on it! It also seems to accumulate water underneath the tray which would be disastrous on a wooden worktop. I'd prefer to drain dishes in a second sink like the one above or the Ikea one, or I also like the sound of teta's bespoke draining board!

Oh that sounds a bit grim. I dont want to have the clean the drainer every day, that's just adding to the cleaning workload plus our drainer always has things on it too.

Am wondering if its easier to bin the wood idea and have a quartz worktop with double undermounted steel sink and drainer grooves. Seems much less hassle.

Shame wood looks so nice though!

Yes,the sink copes well with lots of washing-up[have 4 dc's and frequent visitors].But the ceramic sink does show the dirt!.However i have a country kitchen and a butlers sink just seems to fit in better with the general scheme of things.My wooden drainer is exactly the same size as the worktop,just with ridges in.It was a bit of left-over worktop.Walnut is a good choice for families with kids.My friend has several, and has had her worktops for several years [and they've worn pretty well].Reclaimed worktop is a really good idea [i reclaimed my own slate from my pantry and repolished and reshaped it for either side of the cooker].

Reclaimed slate sounds good teta, I love slate but hear its not ideal for a busy kitchen...

So do you still have a pantry? We are converting our understairs to walk in pantry/larder which will be great.

Out of interest what sort of sink do you have in your utility? Am hoping to conver our downstairs shower room to a utility room (at the mo the washer/drier are stacked in a dark cupboard) and am not sure how to kit it out. Think wood worktops will be a no go though!

gobbly your sink looks v swish but is also inset, do you have yours fitted in a parcticular way (hard to tell from the link)? Is the gap at the front of the worktop (as the sink is only 500mm deep)?

We have a left hand side drainer...it's been set with a gap at the front and back.

Pannacotta i knocked down the pantry wall and amalgamated the pantry with the rear utility to make a big cloakroom.A joiner has just made a 10 ft high shoe rack for us,plus cupboards and a hanging rail [for the masses of shoes and coats that i was fed up of tripping over].This shoerack is my current object of beauty.Our pantry is now 6 full height Ikea pull-out larders along one wall of the utility.We used a single Domsjo sink in the utility,but the Ikea tap was pants.I replaced it with a pull-out tap from sinks taps.com so we could wash the dog there [another reason for why oak is not suitable in a utility].Sinks taps.com are a really helpful company by the way.

Your cloakroom sounds heavenly teta

teta I am impressed with your storage and organisation! Did you plan all this by yourself or did you get some help?

I strive to be organised and to have wonderful storage but it doesnt come at all naturally to me!

Thanks for the recommendation, I have already been plaguing the customer service people at sinkstaps.com with all my questions about the various sink options!!

Hello! Have mailed you... Could you have mostly wood with just a small amount of something else on either side of the sink? That would work if you're putting the sink in the bay area.

We had the same dilemma and actually went for wood-effect laminate. I think it works reasonably well, though DH who can't wash up without creating a mini-flood now wishes that we'd gone for white corian everywhere.

Two of these side by side?? (probably wouldn't work but desperately trying to solve an understandable dilemma) There is a 1.5 bowl version too.

It is quite bizarre that there aren't more sinks appropriate for wooden worktops!

Or, if space permits, have the sink area jutting out further than the rest of the units on that run, making more of a feature of the sink area. Then have the jutted out section in quartz with undermounted sinks, with wooden worktop either side of this at the usual 600 depth. That might help the fusion of wooden & quartz worktops? Ie making the sink more of a standout feature area.

No idea if that makes sense?!

Postman has just delivered a sample of walnut worktop from Barncrest. It's beautiful

Thanks Pannacotta.I would love to think i'm organised-but i'm so not!.I just got fed up of our puppy running away with one of every pair of shoes.I got the idea from a picture of an american cloakroom with all these different size cubbyholes for various bits of apparel.The shoe storage was inspired by a tall narrow wall [no one seems to do large shoe storage units] and a lack of wardrobe space [thats next on my list!].

amazonian thanks for your suggestions. I think we might have a run of quartz in the bay where the sink will be and have drainer grooves cut into that, this way we get our double sink and no worry with wood, then have walnut or reclaimed teak elsewhere if I can find it. How are your plans coming along?

Is your sample the block or wide stave walnut? I love the fact you can order extra deep worktop. We are going to do that in the long run of units and either side of the range, to give more prep space.

teta did you do the drawings yourself for your storage areas? You are brave having a puppy as well as 4 DCs!

That sounds like a really good solution.

Pannacotta that sounds perfect. I actually like kitchens with 2 different worktops, less matchy matchy.

Just waiting to have our plans (version 4 or 5!) drawn up, promise I WILL post them next week (had a busy but largely fruitless week with PTA, as always)

The sample is just the normal block walnut, not wide stave. I've given it a couple of coats of oil just to test it and water is beading beautifully on it!

Glad you approve, have to admit I would prefer one worktop throughout but cant see another solution really as I dont want the IKEA ceramic double sink (think stainless steel is much more forgiving).

Who is doing your plans amazonian? I still have no idea where we will get our kitchen from, even though I have a better idea of how I want it now....

Hi Amazonianwoman

Try these for your European walnut, there a little less in cost.

www.topworktops.co.uk/woodworktops/index.php/worktops/european-walnut-worktops-1.html

I have had a walnut off them on 2 occasions for personal and we also use these for our customers.