Any Kitchen Worktop experts?

yorkie1980

Hi all,
Does anyone know what I should be looking for in a kitchen worktop?

We'd like solid Oak, and have found some pretty cheap deals, but wanted to know the difference between each company - surely oak is oak?

They mostly all claim to be about 40mm thick, with 150 grit finish. I've seen really cheap (we need 4m and 3m lengths) at woodandbeyond.com coming in at about £300.

The price then ascends to over £1000 depending on the company.

If all the spec is the same, why is the price so different? Does anyone have experience of woodandbeyond?

cheers, yorkie

antilles

Not an expert myself but with worktops you are paying for brand names and durability. Oak may be oak but some worktops will be harder wearing depending on the outer coating and how they are manufactured. (I'm sure an expert will be along to correct me here soon!)

Dad in law is a kitchen fitter and he recommended Duropal (or something like that) worktops to us as they are harder wearing, they were more expensive than other makes but we've had it in 6 years and there's not a mark on it

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: advice available here...love that oak.;)

HTH

Canucklehead

yorkie1980 wrote: »

Hi all,
Does anyone know what I should be looking for in a kitchen worktop?

We'd like solid Oak, and have found some pretty cheap deals, but wanted to know the difference between each company - surely oak is oak?

They mostly all claim to be about 40mm thick, with 150 grit finish. I've seen really cheap (we need 4m and 3m lengths) at woodandbeyond.com coming in at about £300.

The price then ascends to over £1000 depending on the company.

If all the spec is the same, why is the price so different? Does anyone have experience of woodandbeyond?

cheers, yorkie

paddypaws101

I suppose as always it all comes down to budget!
I bought my oak from woodwortops.com and although they are the 'cheaper' butchers block type I am very pleased indeed. I treated them with Osmo wood products and they are so far proving attractive and durable.
I am sure that a £1000 piece of oak is absolutely gorgeous and will last a life time...but it is way out of my budget and anyway most of us want to change our kitchen style after 5 or 10 years!

sinks-taps.com

One thing to look for is how many small strips make up the width (not the length)of the worktop. The better quality tops are made up of more strips glued together which makes them more expensive but much better quality. They wont bend/warp as much!