Anyone with solid wood worktops - do you love or hate them??

[MadameGazelle]

That's it really am in the process of installing a new kitchen and can't make a decision on worktops. Have decided (finally ) on white high gloss units and a wooden or wood effect worktop, was going to go for laminate as more hardwearing but am being swayed towards real wood as I know it will look far nicer; I don't mind the sanding down but don't want it to look manky in 6 months. We have no room for a dishwasher so will be doing a lot of washing up. TIA

i googled the astracast one was nice but mega lolly - think the ikea one is my budget area but im still thinking its a non runner as no hole in it for my tap. That said i suspect my kitchen may ever happen as dh has started going in them boxes housing it in the dining room and swearing and cursing is going no big time.

no no! don't do it... we have beech tops. very stressful, am always worried about them marking and getting wet!
i have two dc who love cooking-makes me so nervous when they are working with food colouring(!) and to have to worry about water spashing and staining is just ridiculous in a kitchen!
we inherited our beech tops, that hadn't been looked after. have just paid £200 at xmas to a fab carpenter who spent a long day sanding down and polishing for me. the tops look great but i am being very careful!
go for something easy to wipe down and child-friendly unless you are prepared to sand and oil regularly.

Nappy they don't put holes in them so you can choose where you want the tap to go (and incase you want two taps instead of one, or want the tap wall mounted) but they do a tap hole cutter thingy (technical term!) which is really easy to use, takes two minutes. I think they've got a bit of a cheek charging you £10 for it though, considering you only need to use it once! I'm sure it was half that price when I bought one. But you could always take it back for a refund afterwards

We've got white gloss with real walnut tops and love them. Am rubbish at remembering when they were last oiled, but doesn't take long when I do remember - and if it's a surface where food goes, I use olive oil.

We also have lots of boards on the surfaces - we had some extra when we ordered the tops and our fitter chopped it up and sanded the various bits down for us. Means all our chopping boards match the worktops, and they're v handy by the kettle etc. Again, I use olive oil to oil them so they're ok with food.

Thanks MrsL123 - i think i will defo get the ikea sink now i know that. Im flitting back to laminate wood look worktops this morning following gardens post - not surei want a trillion mini chopping boards all over my kitchen tops.

sorry to slightly hijack - but how do you sand them down? Ours are nearly 3 years old now, and looking pretty crappy as we haven't ever sanded them - neither of us are handy!

So the Danish oil that you use to oil them - is it food safe? or can you not put food directly on the worktop?

Agree with chunkypickle. Love ours, even though it's in acute need of a sand and oil, because have convinced myself it has a weathered charm! If I tended to perfectionism I would hate it.

Have a look here, Pollyanna

My MIL has just bought the Astracast Bistro one for her house from a firm called 'CityPLumbing' for £195 plus VAT. They are all over the South of England, so you can get it cheaper...

I use the Danish Oil BTW and we have all survived so I assume it is safe!

Good to know cece! I have an old orangey pine dining table which I am thinking about sanding down and finishing with Danish oil, but DH is questioning whether it's ok to use Danish oil for this. Also considering wooden worktops but have to convince DH.

I even use it on the shopping board - never occured to me it could be dangerous!

I am thinking of a sit-on ceramic sink like the ones on this page - they are mostly French and go the whole width of the worktop. I cannot seem to avoid splashing water over the back of the sink when washing up in my present sink.

There is always Osmo TopOil - that's supposed to be food safe I think but I don't know how it compares to danish oil for durability.

I would suggest Osmo woodwax finish for a table (have it on our coffee table) because it doesn't mark with hot cups/plates/water. I just haven't worked out how to get a shiny finish - maybe wax polish on top.

I have solid oak worktops and I ruddy love them!!

They have marks, scrapes and I still love them.

oh and we don't have a dishwasher and there are 5 of us so we wash up a lot