Wooden worktops - any photos?

[Nononon]

I'm trying to decide on whether or not to get a wooden worktop in my new kitchen. I keep reading on here that it's not a good idea and they go black around the sink / mark easily / are horrendous to look after. I've been trying to find some pictures of used wooden worktops to no avail. Only brand spanking new showroom ones to be seen on the internet.

Is there anyone on here that's kind enough to post pic of the state of their wooden worktop? Please?

Not my pics but google images had these to show...

I've known a few people with wood tops and they've all gone manky around the sink area after a few years.

We have wooden worktops and they are starting to blacken around the sink, though not as severe as the ones below.

I'll see if I can take a pic.

We have one and it's a pain.
You can bleach the black out though.

Ours went black too, but not as bad as that.

We have had a solid oak worktop for almost 2 years and it looks perfect, (apart from a small dent where dh dropped a heavy (solid oak) chopping board onto it).

Ours is coated with something which means water leaves no marks and we can be completely non paranoid.

I love the look of wooden worktops. We have no water marks or black spots whatsoever.

I've got wooden worktops (but only installed about 3 months ago) I love them. I've been oiling them regularly as they are new, and it literally takes 10 mins and is no problem. If anything stains, I have a fine sanding block which I give it a quick rub (less work than getting a stain out with a normal scourer) and slog a bit of oil back on it.
I hardly use my sink so not overly concerned about it going black.

You can get osmo oil which basically coats the worktop so nothing can get through.

My 6 meter of worktop cost £400 (unusual sizes too) so not much more expensive than laminate. They really lift my fairly cheap kitchen and make it look much more expensive.

Not all woods are the same, oak is particularly prone to going black as it has some substance in it that reacts to water/iron. I don't think it's exactly mould.

You can design your kitchen to mitigate it - we have a front to back sink to reduce spills, TBH we don't use it much as we have a dishwasher. We have reclaimed teak worktops done in Osmo hardwax oil that look almost almost the same now as they did 2 years ago when new. Just starting to lose sheen in the heavy use areas. The harder and more oily the wood, the more durable, but make sure it's sustainably sourced to save the rainforests.

Every report of a stained worktop I've read it turns out Danish oil or tung oil was used, usually on oak, I really don't know why suppliers/fitters are wedded to the stuff.

So the questions you should be asking are what timber, what sink and what finish? An undermounted sink (or sinks) with "drainer grooves" and taps coming out of the worktop in oak with a cheap oil finish is a high risk configuration IMO. One piece stainless or ceramic sink not so on trend but much more protective of your worktop.

If you use Osmo hard wax oil and ideally a full depth sink like IKEA DOmsjo you will be fine.
Wood looks great, it is much less noisy than hard surfaces, much cheaper than stone and far more homely IMO.

I've never uploaded a pic, but I'll try.
This is next to sink, it's oak and 2years old.

I live in a rented flat and our worktops are worse than the first pic posted above. Its also warped in places & you can see where the varnish has worn off in others. Obviously this is an example of wooden tops that haven't been maintained but i would never buy them should i ever get my own kitchen!

The landlady is replacing them next weekend thankfully :D

We had wood in a previous house and we were really careful with it so it looked really good. But it was a nightmare to live with because I was always worried about it marking so I was afraid to use it. Even though I love the look of wood, I'd rather go for something easier to use to avoid having to worry about it!

I have an oak worktop - see pic. It's 4-years old now and I'm still really pleased with the way it looks - no blackening round the sink or staining - any light scratches or marks can just be sanded out. It's fairly low maintenance - around every 6-months we re-oil it.

Thanks for your replies. Had my heart set on a solid wood worktop until I started reading about them on here.

I have thought about a wood look laminate one but I'm worried about it looking really cheap as it's quite a sizeable kitchen so it might over power. Hmm...

Just replaced my split, blackened wooden worktops. HATED them! They were from Ikea and one kept splitting and had to be replaced several times. They expand/contract according to humidity. And they went very black around the sink. Too deep to bleach or sand away. And, although it doesn't sound too onerous, I found it a real drag having to clear all the surfaces, sand down and oil every few months.

Although boognish yours looks lovely!

Yes stonecircle - like you say, the upkeep sounds easy enough but I think I just wouldn't get round to it. What have you replaced them with?

Just laminate - granite etc just too expensive. We'd tiled around the wooden worktops so replacing them would have probably meant replacing the tiles so we never got round to it. I've just gone for a high gloss laminate from B&Q with upstands on the grounds that, if it doesn't wear well, it can be replaced easily without any disruption to anything else. I'm really pleased with it so far!

Yes we've discounted granite - waaaay too expensive for our budget. I've looked at the oak woodblock laminate in b and q which looks fine. I'm just gutted to find out the truth about wood worktops as I love the look of them. Oh well

I thought it might be the fact that I'd bought cheap wooden worktops from Ikea but my sister had really thick expensive wooden worktops - which also went black around the sink.

I know I didn't oil as much as I should but it really was a drag. Especially clearing all the worktops and not being able to put stuff back until the oil had soaked in. Probably my fault, but I also found the oil got everywhere - in oiling the underside of the protruding bit of the worktop I'd get oil on the cupboard underneath. The grouting was always stained with oil. The smell of the oil would hang around etc etc I was SOOO glad to see the back of them. I've now got extra tall cream gloss cupboards with cappuccino high gloss worktops and i love them!!

Here you go - teak/iroko oiled on installation then nothing for 2 years. Dishwasher area and tea making area. I am not paranoid about marks, I think you need to consider it in terms of "character" with timber.

Sorry, the light's not brilliant, but this is solid oak, treated with the dreaded danish oil, been in situ for 8 years. There are a few marks where something wet's been left on it for hours, but they'd sand out if we cared to bother. We wipe up sink overspill after we've finished, and re-oiled it about four times in the first year, then about once a year after that.

I have them. Don't like am afraid . They are a pain to look after

Just don't! It's a false economy. I saved money by using IKEA kitchen units and invested in quartz work tops.

I love them, and I don't find the oiling a bother, just slosh some on of an evening before bed or sand and slosh olive oil on any marks. I like the fact you can refinish them, unlike scratched laminate or chipped granite. I loathe stone worktops so wood was the only real choice for me. I wrapped it round my cabinets too.