Wooden worktops - how much hassle?

[JustStirItUna]

We're due to complete on our first house next Friday. Kitchen is fine as it is, but I'd like to lay a new wooden floor (galley kitchen) and replace the worktops with wooden ones.

Each person I've told about this does the sharp intake of breath and tells me how much hassle it is maintaining wooden worktops (you can't put a sponge down, you can't leave plates, you have to oil it every 12 months)

Anyone care to give me their opinion on these if you've actually had them??

I have mine (Iroko) for 7 years. I have re-oiled them twice but it just went on all sticky and they look awful. I love the feel of them and the softness (as opposed to Granite) of them plus the sound absorbancy of them so would stick with wooden worktops but maybe with a better arrangement about maintaining them.

Black - the units are from hand made kitchens of Christchurch , the wooden worktops are from a local saw mill and the granite worktops are from Diapol.

The wooden workshops were finished with a varnish they use for bars in pubs and hotels , so we never have to oil them. But the area around the tap and the prep sink is still perfect, as you can see .

Like other posters said, we don't put hot pans on it or chop on it . But then we don't chop on the granite worktop either , or our knives would be blunt

We use clear glass protectors on top of our worktops on the most used parts of our worktops so we dont have to worry about mopping up spills asap.

Around the sink is a different story. Constantly wiping up there.

The wood adds such warmth to our plain white cabinets and white tiles.

We've had it 2.5 years now and use Osmo 1-2 times a year. We dont bother with sanding too much, just a little bit and just brush it on.

Although we get many compliments about the worktop, some days I long for a nice laminate or composite stone so I can splash and rinse under the tap without an immediate dry up.

Ours were Ikea.

Hard wax oil is the way to go , 10x better than oil.

Two things: Right wood. Right oil.

Oak is very susceptible to going black due to tannins or something - it isn't mould. Hard/dark woods like iroko are most durable but you need to make sure they are sustainably sourced.

Hardwax oil like Osmo Polyx oil is IME the only durable and waterproof finish but for some bonkers reason almost most timber worktops seem to be (a) oak and (b) finished in much less durable oils like Danish oil that needs 5 coats and renewing every 6 months .

My worktops are recycled teak (like iroko) they seem pretty bullet proof so far.

Why why why would you have worktops that you have to treat with kid gloves, not put anything down on, and faff around oiling and sanding every five minutes? It's a working kitchen!

Get some nice bomb-proof granite. We've had ours for years and it still looks as good as new, and needs no attention at all.

Exactly Cointreau

But they don't. If installed properly in the first place, which is not really a big ask. Honestly not everyone likes or can afford solid granite.

Boule Iroko is a very dense oily wood so you would need a different thinner oil to penetrate it, it needs a very thin coat.

We're getting wood because clinking on granite feels to sharp and I prefer the sound absorption of wood.

Hopefully it will be ok. But it will be prepared.

I think if I had granite I would spend more time cleaning up smashed glass/china than the time I spend treating our wooden worktop

Not to mention the fact that the solid oak worktops cost £200 versus the £2000+ granite would have cost

Quartz is the way to go. Looks lovely, and so easy to keep clean. Wood always looks unhygienic to me.

I like the 'warmth' of wood and the non clinking. Wood is very forgiving if you treat it properly. Osmo shrugs off everything here - red wine drips left overnight, even turmeric in a curry. Nothing has marked post Osmo. I am not careful what I clean with either - any old stuff on offer gets used on them.

Sinks and drainage area needs to be thought about I suppose but we have never had any issues there either post discovering Osmo.

We did move into a house with Beech worktops which were black around the very DIY ish sink area. We replaced them with black walnut + Osmo. Made shelves for the pantry out of the good bits of old worktop and have not looked back.

Osmo oil is a million times better and more user friendly than the Danish oil type stuff. I do wipe round the sink and try not to let that stay wet for too long, but otherwise everything else just beads off once they're treated. I love wood.

Personally I thought life is far too short to faff about sanding and oiling bunker tops - I went for corian. Love them.

We had oak work tops in our old house, I had all the above quoted reservation, but they were great. I cannot remember what oil we had at the time, but I oiled them several times before we started using the new kitchen (was part of a bigger conversion) and it was absolutely trouble- and stain free after that.

We now have Corian as I found granite too hard - I did not like working on/with it.
Corian is great, it does everything they tell you it does, but I miss my timber worktops and would have them again.