Is a real wood work surface in a kitchen a really bad idea?

[Aliasnumberone]

We're doing an extension and will have our kitchen coming off an open plan living dining room. I was planning on matching a real wood floor to the worksurface and having down stands on the edges of the island and the cabinets to run the look of the floor up and over the kitchen to link the two spaces visually.

We've been to a few kitchen places and they're always quick to emphasise how much work a real wood worksurface is.

I don't mind oiling it regularly if that's what it takes but has anyone else looked after a wood surface like this and just felt like they were losing the battle despite being diligent?

If hate to spend a fortune on a beautiful matching floor and worksurface for the worksurface to just start looking dingy after a couple of years and then replace it with something else anyway!

I like my wooden worktop. It was oiled with Fiddes hard wax oil which is durable enough to be used on wooden floors. We've redone it once in 2 years. Wood isn't as hard as stone, that's obvious but I think a lot of people redo their kitchens way before their granite worktop expires because fashions change. I love the light it brings into the kitchen.

I've never known it not to go black around the sink/taps.

Go for granite - bombproof!

The last 3 houses I've lived in have had wooden work tops. Never again, far too much hassle. Last house we stupidly put solid oak flooring in the kitchen. That was also a terrible idea. Life is too short to be obsessively wiping things up.

Short answer...yes

If you want a wood surface it's worth tracking down some hardwax oil - Osmo, Fiddes etc. If you use this they are pretty waterproof and certainly don't need coasters/weekly oiling/mopping every second. It's kind of like the waterproof mascara of wood finishes. Danish oil is more commonly used but is not as durable judging from all the horror stories.

A sink which replaces a section of worktop or a normal inset sink where the taps come out of the sink not the worktop, and with a proper drainer not those grooves, is best.

Belfast sinks/wooden drainers were used in sculleries where nobody ever cared if the wood surface looked stained/scummy.

I had oiled (Danish oil) beech a worktop in the previous house and it was a total pain with constant wiping and oiling(though nothing went black round the sink).

In the last six years we've had an oak worktop which looks slightly more lived in but overall not far from how it looked on the first day. That was because I discovered Osmo oil (hardwax oil). It creates an impenetrable skin on the wood, water beads on it and can dry naturally without any impact. In six years I sanded the worktops once and recoated twice. It probably needs another sand and recoat in the main worktop area now, though round the hob, sink and breakfast bar part are completely fine.

It is all about what you protect it with. And with hardwax oil stuff you just do one thin layer, there's no constant coating and waiting for the coats to sink in...

I had an oak work surface at my old house. It looked stunning and quite probably sold the house by itself! It ran all around the kitchen, you could barely see the joins...I miss that work surface (not that much, this house has a work surface made of that stuff they pour on, so it is really all one piece...may I recommend that, someone will know what it's called).

Two words, Danish oil, shiny and durable, don't rub it on, use a paint brush. I only did it once in 3 years and it looked like new. The only place it wore was on the edge of the sink but you sand it down lightly and oil again and call it character. The effect of real wood is well worth all the effort imo.

This is my kitchen... (excuse the ridiculous wide angle lens estate agent pic!)
we oil the work surfaces about once every 3 years and we've sanded them once after DH some idiot chopped on them without a board and left marks all over them

The wood is absolutely fine, even around the sink and even after having a leaking tap for a few months

I personally think it makes the room look a bit smaller and would prefer white granite or similar but DH loves it and I can't say it is high maintenance

NotMeNoNo, snap!

Yeah, the taps in our sinks were in the sink. Last sink is set on top of the worktop.

Our previous (rented) house had teak work surfaces, which were pretty much bomb proof - one friend tested this by taking a wok straight off high heat and putting it on the surface. Not a mark. We were far from obsessive about spills, and it was fine. DH use to oil it every 6 months or so. However it was always slightly sticky - cheap supermarket plastic bags used to leave their print behind on it. Whether this was because we didn't have an extractor fan and fried a lot, or simply a feature of the type of oil we used (supplied by landlord) I don't know.

However the kitchen was about 40 years old, all solid wood, and in very good condition. The house had been rented out for over half that time; DH was there for 5 years, and the surface didn't look as though it needed sanding when we left.

The kitchen did have a double drainer sink, which occupied the whole of one section of cupboards between the door and the low window (the kitchen had been the front room), so I don't know how happy the teak would have been with dishes dripping over it as they dried.

Hope that helps!

Have oak worktop and it is fine so far (1.5 years) DH oiled it about 3 times once it was in and does it again if it starts to lose it's waterproofing - so if it looks dull and liquid soaks in rather than beading on the surface. I think he has done it twice since it was fitted, but the first time we did it we were too sparing of the oil, after that we slapped it on and let it soak in, and was much longer lasting. I think it will last much better than the laminate we had previously, if it gets badly marked we can sand it to bring it back, with laminate once its fucked, it's fucked.

We have lovely oak worktops. They have been treated with a special coating, not oiled so we don't have to be careful with them and treat them like any other surface.

Here are a couple of photos of my kitchen sink arrangement. I had a solid, but dated and discoloured, wooden kitchen. A local joiner removed the return, shortened the doors and swapped the composite sink and draining board for a Belfast sink, and made oak tops. The floor is tumbled marble and I had the units painted.

I think oak is fine, but I would avoid draining on it and you need a food prep surface. I used one of the larger floor tiles, which was sealed, and then I put on some silicone "feet".

I put in wood work tops in our previous house and 9years later when we sold it was as good as new. Professional installation is a must, tennon joints at the corners and 3 coats of oil each side before installing. Where the integrated D/W was installed the underside was coated with polyurethane, as was the underside around the sink. Large glass worktop savers either side of the hob and chopping boards to hand.
I oiled them every 6 months. I definitely would have them again. Sadly new house has lovely expensive units and equipment, but they cut costs with laminate wood look alike![ sad]

I've had two kitchens with oiled oak tops and would have another in a heart beat. Three coats of danish oil topped up every few months and you'll have no rings/marks/problems. Just a beautiful, warm kitchen.

Thank you so much for all taking the time to post. I'm definitely feeling the wood love!

sparechange your kitchen is lovely, is the down stand section of the island the same as the worksurface? So it's a butcher block style? I haven't actually researched the type of wood yet as we need to find the floor too and we haven't even had the final drawings back from the architect yet.

jt04 brilliant advice, I can imagine if you get some randomer in who didn't deal it properly it'd go tits up fairly quickly so having those pointers is extremely helpful thank you.

Definitely feeling more bout ant about the prospect of wood again. Sounds like oak is the way to go, I suppose anything with a tight grain is going to be more naturally hard wearing.

We're in Northern Ireland so probably more limited on choice, but would appreciate any recommendations of companies to purchase from.

Another recommendation for Osmo oil. When we moved into our house, the wooden worktops were sticky to the touch and any spilt liquids immediately soaked in. After doing some research, we lightly sanded them and oiled with Osmo oil and they're now silky smooth and liquids bead on top. We repeated the process after about 7 months, to provide extra protection but they still seemed fine then.