Worth getting a wood kitchen worktop?

whirlwind

Hi
Just wanted some views please. We are planning to stay in our house about 5 years, we are getting a new kitchen from either Howdens or Benchmarx.

I can get a solid wood board oak worktop from a joiners for £200 more than a pretend oak laminate from Benchmarx. The units we are getting are either cream or light grey laminate shaker style.

Would wood look out of place with laminate doors etc and is it what people want? I really like wood worktops. The floor will probably be "luxury vinyl" (camoro), fake wood or slate look.

Thanks

warmhands.coldheart

If you are a clean freak with time on your hands go for wood. If you are a lazy sod like me and can't be arsed constantly cleaning every little spill and treating it like a child, NO!

Melaniep101

I went for solid oak worktops with my new kitchen (which was cream laminate - Benchmarx Tucson) and it looks fab! The wood worktops make the whole kitchen look more expensive.

We got our worktops from Worktop Express after my kitchen fitter recommended them:

http://www.worktop-express.co.uk/wood_worktops/oak_worktops.html

We also went for slate tiles for the floor and it really does look great, I love the combination of the black/dark grey floor, cream kitchen and oak worktops.

Hope that helps.

Melaniep101

Just another thought, if you get wood worktops, you'll need to oil them a lot initially, then less frequently. Mine seem to be bearing up quite well even though i have a very messy teenager around that tends not to clean up after herself!

LEJC

whirlwind wrote: »

Hi
Just wanted some views please.

is it what people want? I really like wood worktops. The floor will probably be "luxury vinyl" (camoro), fake wood or slate look.

Thanks

I personally dont like wood worktops...they look nice but for me the maintanance to keep them looking good is too high...

the key is however if you like them and are happy with them then thats what matters...its your kitchen so you have to opt for things that are practical to you and the way you live...

Practically what you need to consider is if the cabinets that you choose will support the weight of solid work tops as I assume there are substantial differences in wood and laminate weights.

We have slate tiles in our kitchen and whilst the total cost was quite expensive to start with the maintanance of them again is quick and cheap they have been down 5 years and still look very good...I hope they will remain so for many more years!

For me when choosing things its all about what I like and will be adaptable to how we live and thats what you should consider when you choose your kitchen...theres little point creating what you think someone else will want to buy unless you are doing your house up to sell...in my mind its about having whats best for you as presumably you'll be living with it for a while!

phoebe1989seb

In our last-but-one house we had wood (teak) worktops with cream Johnson and Johnson painted MDF units and a natural slate floor. We had these fitted soon after buying the house and they were still standing up well to family life when we sold up 10 years later (and I know they are still there now a further 5 years on as the house as recently sold again) - this was with minimal care, just occasional oiling when I remembered.......I am pretty anal about wiping surfaces dry, though, LOL!

In our last house we had granite, but having just had a new kitchen extension built and taken receipt of solid wood handpainted units in a traditional style (with an aged limestone tiled floor) we have again decided to go with soild wood worktops (although we do have a large granite-topped island) and like poster Melaniep101, we have opted to get these (iroko) from worktop express........not received them yet though so cannot comment on quality etc......

I would say though that if you are pretty good at wiping spillages etc and have something else to stand hot pans on (we'll use our granite island for this, but worktop protectors, trivets etc do the same job and obviously with laminate you'd still have that issue ), then solid wood will be ok

whirlwind

Hi, thanks a lot.

We are going for fake wood/slate flooring which is non-slip when wet for having kids and elderly relatives etc. If I had no kids it would be slate all the way.

maxamilllion

I personally wouldnt have them again. Too much maintenance for me and I'm not clean and tidy enough to keep them looking tip top all the time

Melaniep101

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

In our last house we had granite, but having just had a new kitchen extension built and taken receipt of solid wood handpainted units in a traditional style (with an aged limestone tiled floor) we have again decided to go with soild wood worktops (although we do have a large granite-topped island) and like poster Melaniep101, we have opted to get these (iroko) from worktop express........not received them yet though so cannot comment on quality etc......

Worktop Express are really good, I think you'll be really impressed with the quality of their worktops. I don't work for them btw!! I was just really pleased with my worktops and their great customer service.

drummer_666

i got my solid beech worktops from worktop-express a few weeks ago

far cheapest i could find and good quality.

doesn't take long to oil them either.

i reoiled one of them the other night, only took a couple of mins.

whirlwind

Hi, how much oiling to you have to do? before it's installaed and after. Do you get them as rectangles and use a jig saw to cut out for the sink etc?

Thank you!:)