Wooden worktops in real homes

[cosmo30]

Hi, I've posted this in chat hoping to get more replies but didn't get one!

I was wondering if anyone Would share a picture of their solid oak worktop from DIY kitchens please? Or if anyone can tell me if they are of a decent quality?
My samples haven't turned up, I can't get to the showroom and am desperate to see the wood in real life before ordering.

Also, I'm going to use osmo oil but there is a few different ones and I'm not sure which one to get first? I want to make them as water repellent as possible too.

Would be grateful if anyone could advise

If you've got a busy life and a family don't do it!! We did and I wish someone had warned us. They look nice for a time but mark easily and you'll be forever thinking you need to sand down and oil, moving everything each time. A wipe clean surface much better option

Don't do it is my advice. We had a wooden worktop when we first moved here. It eventually went black around the sink.

They look fabulous when new and ropey when not. IMO a kitchen work surface should be practical and not require a lot of effort to keep it looking good.

Don’t. The only one I’ve seen that looks is in DBs house and he lives on his own and is always cleaning it. Was at a friends yesterday and was thinking how grim the wood looks around her sink, in her otherwise beautiful kitchen.

I've got a wooden worktop - but my fitter advised me to get my kitchen from DIY Kitchens and my worktop from Worktop Express so I did.

It's still v new but I love it!

It needs oiling every week for about 6 months which is a faff but otherwise it is no effort.

Also even if there is a problem, it can easily be rescued by sanding it and then - new worktop! There are some v reassuring videos on youtube of trashed worktops being made good as new by sanding.

Osmo Polyx oil, your choice of matt/satin. It will protect from water but oak is vulnerable to marking with iron/non stainless steel , try a tin can.

Don't do it!!!

We ended up with toadstools tucked between the wood and the Belfast sink. Admittedly, the worktops weren’t new when we moved in, and we didn’t replace the kitchen for 15 years. But, even so.... yuck.

I agree don’t do it. We had our kitchen done earlier this year wooden worktops. They look lovely but we’re constantly worried about marking them, and you can’t just wipe them down like you would with non wood worktops. I’m a bit gutted we didn’t think about how impractical they are. I’m pleased with the kitchen and we’re getting less precious about it but I’d never opt for wood again.

Another one saying avoid!

They need regular oiling, and mark / stain really easily. They are a lot of upkeep for a kitchen worktop!

Will be redoing it again in a couple of years and staying well away from wood.

Just to echo the above - choose something else!

We avoided the sink problem by getting a raised sink.
Well oiled it stayed looking good.Stains are easy to get rid of if you use lemon juice,even tumeric.
We had beech and loved it.

😩 I was afraid everyone would say don't do it ! I just can not afford granite or quartz and laminate I'm not feeling. I've looked and looked.
And toadstools 😱😱

In fairness, the surfaces must have been 20 years old by then. And it could provide a useful food source if well maintained .

We’ve had ours five years and it looks great. Just have to mop up any spills, no bother with it.

We had one in the previous house (my choice) and after living with it my advice is don't do it. They mark and you have to be very careful with them. I recommend granite

Ours are still great but my DH is handy and does oil them and will take off when they blacken and then sand again.

He was also fastidious before he fitted them and put multiplie layers of oil around the sink.

I love ours and wouldn't want any other worktop All from DIY/Worktop Express a couple of years ago.

We also don't have a dishwasher and a large family and the sink area is fine.

Ours is 5vyear old too. I still love it.

Yes it sometimes marks but it's nothing sandpaper doesn't fix. And usually it only happens because nice not reoiled it recently.

Osmo polyx oil is brilliant. I have no issues with watermarks round the sink etc. I use the raw one so it still looks like fresh sawn oak

Have you ruled out composite worktops?

We asked about wood work surfaces when getting a new kitchen 3 years ago.

Kitchen company advised against for the reasons people have mentioned above.

They also said before installation the wood needs oiling 3 times on both sides. Anyone else heard that particular advice?

Echo what others say about wood. I hated them - once they start to go black around the sink they look terrible. My dsis has the same problem with hers.

I have had mine four years and it's still looking pretty good. No issues round the sink. It does have a few marks on it where I've left stuff to stain overnight rather than clearing up as soon as I finish cooking, but as a rule it's fine. It isn't something where you can just leave the kitchen because you can't be bothered to clean it though.

I will try the lemon juice tip.

My parents have a wooden worktop too and dad was constantly leaving a metal jar he kept his coffee in the freezer in on the worktop and that left black circles. They also have a tap inset into the wood rather than the sink, and that means the wood there has got too wet and gone black.

Ultimately, I couldn't afford granite or anything fancy, but found a wooden worktop in B and Q for £80 and decided I would have to put up with the irritation of maintaining it because I thought all their laminate looked cheap and I had a £1500 budget for my entire kitchen, so I was reusing everything I could and scrimping on anything I couldn't.

Yes, it's not as easy to keep on top of as something expensive, but I am prepared to put up with that for the saving.

I have big glass mats which cover the areas where the kettle and toaster and utensils sit next to the cooker so I can put things down without it being on the wood.

We have lovely chunky oak and love it. We use osmo oil every now and then. We did put I a huge triple bowl Belfast sink that goes all the back to the wall so it actually only buts up to one side of the wood. We have a dishwasher and if anything needs washing up if dries in the other sink bowl so you don't leave anything on the wood. We also have pot stand type metal rods that sit in grooves in the wood next to the oven so no hot pans.

We have oak worktops, they've been in 3 years. H sands and oils them every 6 months, not a big job.

Ours still look like new but we are careful and look after them. We use worktop protectors around the hob and for kettle and brewing up. Never put anything hot on them. Wipe up any spills immediately.

We have a double Belfast sink - no drainer. I put tea towels at the side of the sink to protect from splashes.

I regret having them, I long for worktops that I can give a good clean and wipe down (I would never tell H though as they were my idea)

I had an iroko worktop for 12 years and it didn't mark at all in all that time. It was fabulous.

In this house I have a worktop express one which I am going to have to get rid of next year as it is a mess- warped all over and needs sanding every few months.

Iroko every time for me!

We have oak. I love it. We used 2 osmo products and it looks brand new 2 year on. No marks at all. We have a double Belfast style sink that sits over the worktop rather than under it. I've had oak before and not used osmo, it was a nightmare. If you do decide to go ahead, happy to look up what we used.