Ikea kitchen worktop water marks part of general ikea kitchen disaster!!

[EmmaCairns]

so we've had a new ikea kitchen fitted (well that's stretching it to be honest) and in addition to a whole catalogue of issues which I'm too tired and fed up to go into right, the oak worktops are water marked after just a few days of use.

I've been told by ikea that it was supposed to have been treated with some kind of oil which is news to me! They don't know if the installers were supposed to do it or if we were supposed to and apparently are getting back to me on Monday about it. To be honest i just don't want to even speak to them again about anything as they are so bloody useless, and I'm even less inclined to wait for them to come and sort it out if they are supposed to.

Can I just sand the wood and apply a wood treatment myself?

 

[kev25v6]

You will need to coat them loads of times with danish oil. Mine had about a dozen coats by the time the fitters left and need to be done each week for the first few months to build up the protection. The wood will look loads better once coated, just a bit on a lint free cloth and wipe with the grain. Screwfix have the tins of oil for a tenner, a few quid cheaper than Wickes.

 

[KenGMac]

EmmaCairns, good evening.

From your post I have vibes that you are not entirely satisfied ??

One possible line of "Complaint" would be to contact the owner of IKEA "Direct"??

MDs do not like direct contact ? They assume that their "Customer Services" WooHoo will divert and sort out winging by the general punter? MDs are generally "protected" by customer relations after all ?? The MD has to be protected by the organisation, after all if there are complaints, the management chain responsible for the product feel the heat from above [if you see where I am coming from??]

How about you find out who owns this Company and complain direct to his e mail account??

Or, see what you are told by the ubiquitous, so called "Customer Services" on Monday next, if you are not satisfied with what you are told you can tell them you are left with no option but to make a real shall I call it a "Fuss" on every social media platform you can get typing on.

OK Now for the obvious ? have you Googled any other problems with the fitting / material / marking / Etc.? for the product that was fitted by the Company??

Ken.

 

[Doggit]

The worktops should have been oiled on every surface (top bottom, front back and ends) before being installed, and a good fitter would have known that. You can use Danish or Teak oil, and someone mentioned a Ruskins product recently that would give a nice shine. The undersides should be fitted with stainless steel screws (as ordinary steel screws rust when in oak) and they should be in slotted brackets to allow them to slide if there is any expansion.

As long as the worktops are only water marked, then they'll recover nicely, but you need to keep steel pans etc off of the worktop, because they will mark the Oak. You need to rub the worktops down with a maximum of 120 grade sandpaper, done in the direction of the grain, then wipe it down with a cloth that has white spirit on it, and that'll take off all the dust, and dry in about half an hour, then you can start treating the worktop with whichever oil you wish to use.

Alternatively, you can contact Ikea and reject the kitchen as being poorly installed, and ask for a full refund - assuming that that it was Ikeas kitchen fitters that installed the kitchen. And if you paid for it with a credit card, then you can look to get a refund from them if you get your local citizens advice beureau to draft you a letter accordingly.

 

[EmmaCairns]

It was an ikea 'installation' but done by a third party company which ends up meaning that no one seems to have a bloody clue.

The woman on the phone went from saying that I should have known to oil it by reading the care instructions on line or I should have been told about it when designing the kitchen- which I have no memory of as it was 4 months ago?! But after discussion with a colleague she then said they would need to discuss with the fitters to find out I if they should have done it.

Its so frustrating as if I had known we were supposed to oil it we wouldn't have started using it!! Surely the fitters could have just bloody told us?!

We are getting some tiling done by someone else in the kitchen so I'm thinking I'll just ask him to do the oiling as we've got a one year old so doing any DIY ourselves is almost impossible at the moment!!

 

[rules&rulers]

We are getting some tiling done by someone else in the kitchen so I'm thinking I'll just ask him to do the oiling as we've got a one year old so doing any DIY ourselves is almost impossible at the moment!!

Get some danish oil on order/delivery and ask your tiler to apply a coat, watch him apply the oil so you can do subsequent coats.

You can go down the complaint route with ikea by email only/post,dont phone them but maybe just move on and danish oil it your self,there will be youtube videos.

Its very easy to apply the oil and it dries in very quick.If you have time do an oil coat last thing before going to bed so in the morning its dry and ready for use.

Fitted a few of their worktops and always instruct the home owner on how to oil them,they are actually very good worktops and with care look great.

Good luck,

 

[EmmaCairns]

Hi rules&rulers,

So are the fitters supposed to tell us? I'm just so annoyed and talking to ikea is like banging your head against a brick wall! I think I will just sort it ourselves and write a letter of complaint. Do we sand it first?

 

[rules&rulers]

ikea kitchens are on the better side of good.its the clowns they often sent to fit them.

if the work top is smooth just oil it several times,after the first oil see how it dries.

 

[Doggit]

The woman on the phone went from saying that I should have known to oil it by reading the care instructions on line

But this is why you get a company in to install the kitchen, simply because it's beyond you're scope and awareness. You dont get a dog, and then bark yourself so that's a cop out comment on their part I'm afraid, but par for the course.

Did the installers do a survey before they fitted the kitchen, or (as I suspect) did they just turn up one day, and start fitting it. Even if the fitters didn't oil it themselves, they should have told you about what you need to do before they left, but having said that, they should have been oiled on all surfaces, as moisture can get in to the worktops from underneath and cause them to swell; it's not only for protecting the top from water. I've already given you the instructions to do it yourself, so reread my earlie post.

If you're getting no where with Ikeas general staff, then ask them for the MD's name and address, and as KenG already said, they don;t like being bothered, but they tend to have a team specificaly to deal with complaints to them, so it's a route worth going down.

 

[KenGMac]

EmmaCairns, good evening again.

If when you entered into a Contract with IKEA to
1/. Supply the Kitchen complete.
2/. Organise with you that a Contractor would be appointed by IKEA to undertake the Installation.
Then IKEA are legally bound to show to you a "Duty of Care"
By an act of omission IKEA or their appointed representatives [the fitters] failed to advise you of the need to treat the worktops prior to use, and has been posted by Doggit The unseen underside of the worktop should have been so treated.

As an aside, I purchased a sideboard from Oak Furniture land [Other such suppliers are available]
During the Purchasing procedure, and especially prior to me forking out my Bank Card I was told the Side board had to be treated with bees wax when delivered and at intervals there after, the same information was plastered all over the receipt and brochure that comes with the purchase.
I was then bombarded by several e mails reminding me to ensure that the piece of Furniture i had just purchased must be treated by me

Point I am laboring is that if an article you purchase should require to be treated then the purchaser must be told, which in the case of the latter supplier was made very, very clear.

Point is IKEA must have a huge volume of information on the requirement for the treatment required to a worktop, one has to ask why was that information not passed on? just a thought??

Ken.

 

[blightymam]

If you have a look at the Ikea oak kitchen worktops online it gives you the assembly instructions to click on, which takes you a online brochure where it clearly says to treat with oil.

 

[conny]

If you have a look at the Ikea oak kitchen worktops online it gives you the assembly instructions to click on, which takes you a online brochure where it clearly says to treat with oil.

But if the lady has used a fitter recommended by IKEA why would she think/need to look on-line, or anywhere else for that matter, for assembly instructions?
In my opinion IKEA have breached their Duty of Care policy and she should have redress against them, who in turn should have redress against the fitter.

 

[blightymam]

But if the lady has used a fitter recommended by IKEA why would she think/need to look on-line, or anywhere else for that matter, for assembly instructions?
In my opinion IKEA have breached their Duty of Care policy and she should have redress against them, who in turn should have redress against the fitter.

Yes, I guess I made the mistake in thinking folk did their homework in Ikea. Or about wooden benches. I don't think Ikea have done their job, or the fitters because someone along the line should've mentioned it (presuming that the OP didn't just forget) but in our house we try and research things before we buy them. We research for this very reason because we don't trust people to give all the info.
I wouldn't buy a wooden bench without knowing the pitfalls or how to look after them. It is the fact that they have to be looked after regularly with oil, and mopping up spills quick, keeping hot pans off etc that puts me off buying one although they look amazing. This goes beyond the fitters original job of oiling too.

 

[DaveHerns]

People these days expect things to be maintenance free.

 

[Seafarer1966]

I've shopped at Ikea a few times over the years and generally the quality of goods is poor and made by seven year olds in Third World workshops.

The most notable experience was the Ikea non-stick frying pan. After one use the non-stick material bubbled away from the metal. Made in Vietnam. Probably made from melted down B-52's.