Wood worktops - would you?

[Gazelda]

I'm sure this has been discussed many a time, but I've searched and can't find a recent thread.

We've got a Victorian cottage and are extending to create a smallish kitchen/diner/family area. We have a separate sitting room. We love the shaker style of unit. We're probably going for a cream or sage. Porcelain wood effect floor tiles.

We can't decide on the worktop. Wood looks so lovely, and we can't find anything else we like. But I know that we'll regret it as soon as the first water drop or hot pan marks it. And either we'll forget to oil it regularly, or DH will take weeks to sand/oil/sand/oil to get a perfect finish, meaning that my worktop is,out of use for 4 months every year. We've been recommended Rustin Plastic Coating, but not sure how durable that is.

Anyone got ideas, suggestions, thoughts etc?

Definitely not. Had them in my last house and god the worktops in this new house are so much more practical ! I actually love them a bit every single day for not being wood!!

If you're the kind of person who's going to be upset if you do mark it, then maybe not (I'm not, I like a kitchen that's lived in, and the burned ring where I forgot to put a pot stand down in the middle of making lollipops, and the beetroot stain where I dropped a whole pickled beetroot just make me smile a the memory).

I inherited the fake stone (not the resin stuff, sparkly black but something that I can put a hot pan on without it caring) in my current house, and it's an absolute PAIN to keep streak-free. But it is fairly bullet proof - doesn't show oil like PIL's granite, unstainable like the wood, just needs vinegar and a polishing cloth more than I enjoy!

I love wooden work tops. Beautiful, warm and homely, feel nice. Would I fit them in my kitchen? Not unless I had given up on life and decided to exist solely on a diet of pot noodles eaten with disposable cutlery. Even then, I would have glass fitted on top of the wood along the section housing the kettle.

We have quartz so I don't have to stress about stains, water marks, and hot pans. It's a colder look than I'd like, but I'm happy to compromise for the sake of practicality and minimal upkeep.

@eurochick

Nooooo. Had them in our last house. They were bloody awful. Never again. We have granite now. I like the look less but they are so much more practical.

100% this

I hate mine! I want to change them but it’s expensive as there are not many options with with having a Belfast sink. Laminate would probably go the same way round the sink. I’m debating have odd sides, one wood and the sink area granite but I am
Undecided.

I lived in a rented house with a gorgeous kitchen and a wooden worktop. The wooden worktop was the most impractical thing ever! For all the reasons on this thread. Made me think I would never ever have a kitchen with one.

I think if you get the boat quality oil it’s absolutely fine. A boat goes under water so it copes with anything a sink chucks at it. I agonised over the wooden floor which is oak like the countertop both going strong 10 years later. We reapplied oil twice in that time.

One wet tin and you are left with a black ring. It's so impractical for a heavy use area to have something so delicate.

We have oak now, inherited from the last people. I wouldn’t choose it. We will be replacing with quartz when we redo the kitchen but if it was between wood and laminate I’d pick laminate. Duropal do good laminate worktops, we installed them in the old house.

@bluedomino this happened to us, and then it just looks ruined. I really hate wooden worktops

No. We've had it previously and I was quite fastidious about oiling it and drying round the sink but we still ended up with black mould and mildew. I'd never have it again.

@FoolsAssassin we use rustins worktop oil. We put a good few coats on prior to fitting 5 years ago. DH or I then give them a really light sand before giving them a coat ( sometimes it’s just one coat but can require two). It’s one of those jobs I find strangely satisfying.

I would use a nice wood for one section of worktop, ether a breakfast bar or an island. Everywhere else is around the sink and hob I would go for stainless steel or light granite.
That way you still have the nice visual of the wood.

Ours was lovely for 15 years, but we rented our house out to “friends” for a year and they absolutely wrecked it. Just completely trashed it. Literally warped it, massive cracks in the wood, and burn marks everywhere. I have no idea how (they also “hilariously” bashed a massive hole in the wall with a frying pan and spilled oven cleaner on our bedroom carpet, which is two floors above the kitchen).

So it depends on how careful you are overall.

Never again for me, it looked nice for about a month and then the area around the sink became heavily water stained. I really regret it.

Kind of like this