real wood or laminate wood style kitchen worktop

aah

Hi I an getting a new kitchen - yayy!

It is gloss white base cabinets and birch and gloss white wall cabinets. With a sort of patterned - not wood style - laminate floor.

So I want a birch or birch style worktop.

I wonder if anyone out there could let me know whether real wood worktops are worth the hassle - oiling, sanding etc. They seem to come completely unfinished, and need time and work to mature to look good. Does anyone have any experience of this - how long does the worktop take to look good - how much work have the real wood worktops in the showrooms had? Is this worth the bother? Or would a laminate, no work, but not real wood worktop be ok.

I'd be really interested in your thoughts it will help me make up my mind.

Many thanks, a.

Ionkontrol

Depends on your budget.
Cheap wooden worktop = nightmare
Expensive laminate = maintenance free bliss.

leveller2911

Some wooden worktops age better than others such as Iroko ,American Black Walnut(my favourite)and European Oak, others don't age well these include Birch, Beech and Maple........If your having an underslung sink/Butler sink/Belfast sink then don't even entertain the last 3 as they are not as durable as the others.

Worktops such as Wenge I don't have a clue as Ive never used them. Cheap timber worktops made up of narrow strips of timber IMO are crap.
Like Ionkontrol says Expensive good quality Laminate is better than cheap poor quality wooden worktops.

dander

It's going to depend a lot on you as well. There is no question wood will be more work to maintain, but a fair number of people can be snooty about laminate - thinking of it as the cheap option. To my mind, there is no worktop that beats laminate for practicality so I don't see it as second best, I see it as what's best for me. However, if you think you're getting the "second best" when you put it in, you might never be happy, if you see what I mean.

Of course, laminate is cheaper - so it's probably better to put laminate in and then change your mind and upgrade than vice versa.

aah

Great stuff. I'm not snooty but I do want decent ish quality - of course there's always gonna be someone who thinks that what you have put in is cheap and nasty....

Bottom line - I just cannot afford marble / granite or the like. So I'm going to look for decent quality laminate worktop. Trouble is light wood seems to be going out of fashion.... will post again asking for help on this - but to you all, thanks for replying, you have been really helpful
A.

Bangton

Are you sure you can't afford granite? The only reason I ask is because mine is granite and it wasn't that much...and real solid wood is surely as expensive (it was when we got our kitchen fitted) : - )

gingerninja72

SWMBO refused to have laminate, so we went for Iroko worktops. Yes, it is a pain in the butt to oil/sand, and yes you need to be a bit more careful with them, ie mop up spills straight away. But they look amazing and you just won't get that natural look with anything else

Time will tell if they stay looking good, but I plan to re-oil on a frequent basis, doesn’t take long. As others have said, avoid beech etc. I have found out that wood like iroko has natural oils in it as well that should help with protecting it

philbostavros

My son chose Iroko worktops for his kitchen which good-old-dad then had to fit and prepare.

The oiling is the best bit, to be honest, as it is gratifying to see the would grain come to life. Yes, it takes time to do it properly (the company who supplied the tops recommend at least 5 or 6 coats (especially on the underside before fitting).

In the last 15 months, we have re-oiled about 6 times - they do say to do it every month for the first year but to be honest, this is a bit OTT. A very light rubdown and oil only takes about 30-45 mins (3 metre and 4 metre lengths).

I was very sceptical about using wood but the beauty is that it is relatively easy to rectify the inevitable mishaps, something not always possible with other types e.g. laminate, composite etc. (Other son has composite granite-effect worktops and is not happy with the amount of marking caused by everyday use).

If you go for solid wood, a tip is to try and keep any off-cuts, so that in the event of needing major surgery, you have some matching wood that can be used to "patch in" repair.

Hope this helps.
Phil

aah

thanks for all your replies - they are illuminating, enough for me to see that wood = too much work.

I am not lazy - there are just other things I would rather do than oil worktops 15 times in as many months - or even a third of that amount, so the information you have given me has been great.

Laminate all the way - now where do I get some decent stuff?

madget_2

We don't have a wood effect design, but are very pleased with our Duropal laminate worktop. The square edge profile looks really smart, plus it's easy to clean and durable.

covlass

We have just had a white gloss kitchen fitted and have had a Duropal Woodmix block worktop fitted we liked the fact that it was available in 3 different widths and had upstands to match and using the colourfil the joins are invisable