Worktops - Laminate or wood

bluedrop

Hi all,
I am totally confused.

I need worktops to go with our Howdens Burford cream gloss kitchen. I'd like to have a solid oak or walnut worktop, it will bring superb contrast into my kitchen.

Having said that, I am a busy mom who works full time. So the worktop has to be low maintainance. I can do with oiling it once in a few months, but looking after it on daily basis will not work (wiping spills immediately, making sure its always dry etc)

I hate the look of cheap laminte - I keep coming back to it because of the low maintainance factor.

Can you please share your thoughts and opinions? Should I go for walnut worktop? or get a laminate?

Do expensive laminates really look good or is it just a illusion a higher pricetag creates? Does anyone here have one?

I can spend up to £500 and I need two 3m worktops.

LEJC

Neither...I'd go granite...

We have put in laminate in the rental property...its going to serve it well but its clearly never going to be of sustainable quality for many years,but having said that I dont think it will cost a great deal to replace if needed.

in our own house we opted for granite over wood simply for the reasons youve outlined for not wanting wood....and 5 years on the granite is still looking good...although it will cost more than your quoted preferred budget.

PollyOnAMission

If you're not willing to wipe up spills immediately then you're right, wood probably isn't for you. I have oak; spills certainly need immediate attention. It also requires oiling (and sanding if you wish) to keep it in top condition.

I'm not keen on laminate (the reason I went for wood), but some of the more expensive ones do look quite convincing.

bluedrop

PollyOnAMission wrote: »

If you're not willing to wipe up spills immediately then you're right, wood probably isn't for you. I have oak; spills certainly need immediate attention. It also requires oiling (and sanding if you wish) to keep it in top condition.

I'm not keen on laminate (the reason I went for wood), but some of the more expensive ones do look quite convincing.

Can you give me an example of a convincing walnut laminate please?

DirectDebacle

Have a look at this, but you really need to see them 'in the flesh'.

Better_Days

We had a beech worktop in our previous property. It looked wonderful, was hard-wearing and you could sand out marks.

But - it did have to be oiled every 6 months and with hindsight we should have done more coats of oil when it was first put in. Also it did stain round the sink, but again it could mostly be sanded out.

I did love the beech, but I probably wouldn't have it around the sink again. OK for rest of the kitchen though, and no laminate that I have seen looks as nice. Horses for courses really.

anotherbaldrick

solid wood or block wood need oiling at least once a week with this stuff and they will stay new looking but you have to keep them wiped dry, do not let them stand wet. Danish oil is not much good and is considered carcinogenic to humans.

http://parkerbailey.com/index.cfm?pid=10287

I have no pecuniary interest in promoting this stuff, have just found by trial and error that it works best. Is made containing food grade oil according to the label. You can get it on-line or in Lakeland.

PollyOnAMission

bluedrop wrote: »

Can you give me an example of a convincing walnut laminate please?

Sorry I don't actually know of any by name. All I know is a few I've seen around looked quite a lot like real wood! Sorry I couldn't be of more help

Ionkontrol

These are top quality laminates.

http://www.lechner-ag.de/index.php?language=en

scottishblondie

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

solid wood or block wood need oiling at least once a week

Once a week!?! My mum oils theirs every couple of years, and it still looks brilliant after 25 years! You shouldn't have to do it more than every 6 months initially. The key is not to skimp on the initial number of coats, and then you won't have to do maintenance coats so often.

phoebe1989seb

We had teak worktops in a previous house for ten years and only oiled them very infrequently. They looked just as good the day we sold the house as they did when they were installed, but I am pretty OCD and even with a young family, ensured spills were wiped immediately

In our last house we installed granite which looked fab, but I did worry about someone putting a hot pan onto it without using a trivet/worktop saver and cracking it so in this house we opted for granite on the island and iroko on the perimeter surfaces.

We've only had it about six months and oiled it loads to begin with - and only once every few weeks now - and so far it's wearing very well and IMHO doesn't need *babying*. We don't chop directly onto the surface though as we have a separate butcher's block with end-grain timber for that. TBH, I think I'd be more worried about accidentally damaging laminate because wood is more forgiving and can be rubbed down and re-oiled if marks do occur - but like I said, I'm OCD