which wood type do people recommend for kitchen worktop?

cb101

Hi

Looking to fit new wooden kitchen work top and was wondering what the pros and cons were of each type of wood?
Ikea have birch, beech and oak and I see B&Q also have maple. My kitchen floor is also maple (cupboard doors are painted ivory) . Any suggestions/recommendations/warnings ?
Thanks
C

Magenta_Wolves

I have oak in my kitchen, I've had it now for about 6 years, its in direct sunlight and has therefore faded quite a bit even though its regularly oiled. It's got a few marks on it too - Mr Muscle oven cleaner and Oxyclean are two products that should never come into contact with it!
Overall though I'm very pleased with it and would definately reccommend oak.

RufusFrog_2

I must admit that I chose my wooden worktops on price (this is a money saving site!) and a thorough internet search a few year's ago led me to the following site (with whom I have absolutely no connection):
http://www.hardwoodfloorstore.co.uk/worktops/hardwood_kitchen_worktops.htm. I got beech at £95 + VAT for a 3m length which beat the sheds hands down at the time. Now they have rubberwood for less, but some more exotic woods at not too unreasonable prices. If you already have maple flooring, take a sample to a posh wood flooring shop and see which sort of wood you like it up against. I would either go for a match in maple or a contrasting colour (iroko for instance), we had cherry flooring with our beech and that looked fine but I think a stronger contrast would have been better.

benood

We had oak in our previous kitchen and used boiled linseed oil to get a finish and it lasted extremely well. My parents have sycamore (type of maple) and after 30+ years that is still in great condition without ever being oiled. Iroko is supposed to be good but very dark.

Louise1521

We've got oak as well, and love them.

cb101

Thanks for all the replies

Toots- I guess I was asking which of the colours would go together as well as whether any types of wood were easier/better to look after than others

C

Norma_Desmond

We've got walnut and it contrasts beautifully with our light maple units and pale travertine floor.....it's easy to look after if you oil it regularly; we've been using an offcut for a chopping board and it's interesting to see that with all the punishment the board's taken, it still looks great!