Where Can I Buy a Solid Oak Worktop OnLine?

[Tony22]

Can anyone tell me where I can buy a solid oak kitchen worktop (2500 x 650 x 40mm) online and how much I should expect to pay? What finish would you recomend varnish or oil (I prefer the look of oil but not sure how durable it is)?

Regards

Tony

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lynda, moderator

please note forum rule 9

 

[2scoops0406]

Tried google?

 

[nobody]

whatever you do don't use varnish.

use a good oil.

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Are you sure you really want a solid oak kitchen counter top?

It seems to me that the reason why you don't see very many of them is because they wouldn't be very practical.

I'd be concerned that if you put a hot pot on the counter top, the heat from the pot could soften the finish on your counter top, leaving it very suscpetible to damage while it's hot and soft. A lot enough pot could even leave a depression in the finish where you set it.

Also, any oil finish or varnish you put on it is going to be soft as butter compared to the other things that are going to be on top of that counter top, such as porcelain dishes and stainless steel pots, pans and cuttlery. Unless you've given this a lot of thought, you might want to consider a harder material to use for a counter top.

 

[2scoops0406]

Can't obviously vouch for Canada, but over here, wooden worktops are quite popular. One of the favoured methods of sealing them is to use Tung Oil.

 

[mr_mike]

Hi Tony,

I'm based in London, but recently installed some 40mm Oak Worktops for customer who bought them online from www.wood-worktops.co.uk . They claim to be able to beat any price like for like on the web. Funny though, have re-visited their site and they're updating it ! They are a part of www.diy-kitchens.com based in Pontefract, so I guess you could contact them via that site.

The worktops are made by 'second nature' and are very good quality. They supplied 7 metres of 620 x 40mm in 3 and 4 metre length. I'm not sure what you'd pay for 650mm but for 620mm x 40mm x 3m they charged £234.58 plus vat.

I'd recommend Rustins danish oil. Looks much better than varnish in my opinion & will be fine (as long as you use common sense re: plonking hot pans on them ! Goes without saying really !)

Make sure you oil the surfaces (top and bottom) at least 3 times before you install them, and oil end grain (including cutouts for sink / hob, etc) 5 times before installing. Then once the'yre in. Oil once a month for the first 3 months, then once every 3 to 6 months. It's not as gruesome a task a people make out, and they will look great. Here's a couple of photo's below, tiling needs finishing though ! :

Cheers...........Mike.

 

[Scrit]

It seems to me that the reason why you don't see very many of them is because they wouldn't be very practical.

I'd be concerned that if you put a hot pot on the counter top, the heat from the pot could soften the finish on your counter top, leaving it very suscpetible to damage while it's hot and soft. A lot enough pot could even leave a depression in the finish where you set it.

Yes, Nestor, but the same problem applies to laminate worktops (probably 60 to 70% of the UK market). Corian and other solid surface worktops don't like red hot pans either. The solutions are simple - either use a set of unfinished wood trivets, or have the fitter install pan bars in the top (I favour the latter as looking a bit classier).

Oil finishes don't work badly with wooden worktops because they are infinitely repairable. So lighter marks can be taken out a couple of times a year by wiping clean and oiling, then buffing the excess off and leaving to dry. If they get really bad, then can always be scraped and re-oiled.

Personally I'd have concerns over oak for a different reason. Oak is a high-tannin wood. If the surface is damaged and we, non-stainless (or poor-quality stainless) steel utensils are left in contact with the wood, the water can combine with the tannin in the oak to form tannic acid. This in turn will attack the metal and leave a dark blue to black stain which can penetrate the wood to several millimetres in depth.

Scrit

 

[Northbeach]

^^ The Oak top as posted by Mr Mike admittedly looks good though eh?
You can buy portable pan bars for a few quid from hardware/kitchen stores - or even use the rubber magnetic (stick on your fridge when you've finished using them) pan mats.

Mr Mike - did the worktop have the holes for the sink etc pre cut? If not what 'implement' would you use to cut them?
I guess an Oak top would be heavier than the faux marble MDF's - so would a little bit of reinforcement be required?

btw - Mike - are you tiling over tiles in that kitchen ?

 

[Northbeach]

Scrit - is there a more durable wood under the circumstances you presented? My girlfriend tends to leave water and utensils over our current worktop (mdf) but if we were to adopt a nice wooden worktop this might be a problem!

 

[mr_mike]

Hi Northbeach,

As Scrit stated, pan bars can be installed into grooves routed out by the fitter if so desired, and they do look good.

The worktops come as blanks. I use a drill and 10mm bit for the four corners of the cutout, and join the holes with a jigsaw. You can use a router for extra clean edges for these cutouts, but they're not seen so a jigswa is fine. With wood worktops, it's better/safer to have rounded of cut outs rather than cutting them square. You would use the router for the worktop joins and edges. In this case, the customer wanted straight edges, instead of a rounded type profile.

They need support every 500-600mm and are fixed using slotted stretcher brackets, screwed (only quarter of a turn tight) through the elongated cross grain slots on the brackets. This allows the wood to move, remember it's a natural material right, so this is essential. This is why you also have to leave a good 4 - 5 mm expansion gap between the worktops and the walls/tiles for the same reason.

Yes Northbeach, well spotted ! Tiling over tiles is perfectly acceptable, as long as they're secure, sound and flat. It provides a nice flat surface to tile onto, and as long as the joins don't overlap is fine.

 

[Northbeach]

'slotted stretcher brackets' - are these something you can pick up as standard? And would you attach them above the worktop (and eventuall hide them with tiles) or below?
Yeah - forgot about the expansion bit - wouldn't all the crumbs/general food/flour dust et al slip down this gap though - could you cover with flexible silicone? Bit of a concern as I'm a messy cook!

Wished I'd tiled over my existing wall tiles in the bathroon - the walls behind almost fella apart and the plasterer (at the time) made a right bodge of the angle of the wall

Cheers Mike - they look superb.
Ahh, the router - this keeps cropping up...perhaps I need to invest (I'm such an early days amateur in the carpentry game that I'm not entirely sure what a router is or does - I would have said use a circular saw for the joins and edges!!).

 

[Scrit]

Scrit - is there a more durable wood under the circumstances you presented? My girlfriend tends to leave water and utensils over our current worktop (mdf) but if we were to adopt a nice wooden worktop this might be a problem!

Personally I'd recommend Iroko - it is a naturally oily timber and resistant to water - in fact one of it's uses is harbour pilings. It will tend to darken with age and develop a lovely mellow hue.

Scrit

 

[mr_mike]

Yes, these :

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=A332898&ts=04242&id=12920

The round holes attach to the sides of your base units, and the slotted holes to the bottom of your worktop.

Re: Expansion gap, you can apply a low modulus (allows for movement!) silicone to fill the gap between worktop and walls/tiles, or, fit a an 'Upstand' that fits along the rear of the worktop (which look great, more traditional, country....)

Router's have (and it wouldn't be too strong to say) almost revolutionised woodworking, though I still love (and prefer to use in a lot of cases) hand tools. You can use a circular saw to cut the backs of the worktops where they join the wall (if necessary), you could use it on the edges, and sand any saw marks away (we're talking wood worktops here !, but I would be cautious of using it for the joins, the router leaves a much cleaner face for the join. It is possible with circular saw and belt sander, but is also very easy to accidently round the edges (which you don't want when joining !) Hope that makes sense....

 

[Northbeach]

or, fit a an 'Upstand' that fits along the rear of the worktop...

I guess a worktop version of beading as seen on your picture?

Router's have (and it wouldn't be too strong to say) almost revolutionised woodworking, though I still love (and prefer to use in a lot of cases) hand tools. You can use a circular saw to cut the backs of the worktops where they join the wall (if necessary), you could use it on the edges, and sand any saw marks away (we're talking wood worktops here !, but I would be cautious of using it for the joins, the router leaves a much cleaner face for the join. It is possible with circular saw and belt sander, but is also very easy to accidently round the edges (which you don't want when joining !) Hope that makes sense....

Indeed it does Mike - I might take a look on ebay later - this is something I could probably do with (router) though as I'll only use it occasionally then I'm not willing, at this stage at least, to pay for a top model (not talking Kate Moss here either ).
Would you use one for cutting channels/grooves/rabbets for say the back of a picture frame (have posted a query on that as it happens).

Personally I'd recommend Iroko - it is a naturally oily timber and resistant to water - in fact one of it's uses is harbour pilings. It will tend to darken with age and develop a lovely mellow hue.

Funny - I'm just looking at Iroko on another browser - seems perfect, though I guess it would be more expensive than Oak...and is it japanese by any chance?

Thanks all.

 

[Northbeach]

I see what you mean - very neat (beat's my Ikea pan bar any day!)