Reliable walnut worktop seller

[whookam]

Hi,

My wife and I have fallen in love with the look of American Black Walnut and we really want to use it in our new kitchen. However, finding a reliable seller is proving to be difficult as pretty much every company says that only they are selling legit walnut and everyone else isn't. I don't want to spend that much money on something that isn't what it should be!

We got a couple of samples from different companies. One from Mountain Hardwoods looked amazing but marked very, very easily. A slight press with a thumbnail left a mark. They told us that this is because the sample only has a single coat of oil and further coats will help with this. Does this sound right? I've heard stories of companies staining cheaper wood and selling it as USA walnut.

We got another sample from Worktop Express and this really didn't look as good but was significantly cheaper.

Now I've come across Wooden Kitchen Worktops and Norfolk Oak which while more expensive, seem to be making a big deal about being 'legit'.

Have any of you used these or any companies and know the products to be authentic?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Jasonb]

The problem with most of these worktops is that they will have a lot of sap wood in them which is an allowable "defect" on American Black Walnut. This is not helped by the fact they are made from short narrow finger jointed staves. The sapwood is a much lighter colour than the heartwood

If you want a nice dark uniform coloured ABW top you need to find a maker/supplier that will do them from full length wide (100mm or so) staves and not have any sapwood on the show face. Unfortunately this does not come cheap, expect £300-400 per meter NOT per worktop.

Have a word with South London Hardwoods about this type of top as they no longer show then on their site, just the staved type. I've had them make me tops in the past and they are very nice.

If you just want staves then Try Richard Russel their timber tops are good quality

Both will have FSC etc products and they are on display in their showrooms/warehouse

Jason