Wooden kitchen tops

[Maisonetteer]

Hi all,

We inherited some pretty tired looking wooden kitchen tops when we bought our flat (see attached pics). The varnish has come off most parts of them, so any water that gets on them is damaging the wood, marking it, and going mouldy - especially around the tap.

I have a few questions about doing some diy on these tops until we can afford to replace them. Grateful for any tips/suggestions!:

- Would sanding the tops ourselves and re-varnishing/re-treating them be a big job? Would we need an electric sander or could we do it by hand? If the former, any recommendations for good electric sanders which don't cost too much?

- We need to replace the tap and were wondering if we could put kitchen tiles between the back edge of the sink and the wall while we're at it? It would be one row of tiles the width of the sink . As you can see from the photo, the current lack of tiles around the tap allows water to get on the wood and it keeps going mouldy.

Thanks

 

[ree]

Thats a drop-in or sit-on sink and its supposed to sit on the tiles not have the tiles butt up to it - dont follow the imbeciles on you tube. Running a line of tile behind the sink is a bad idea.

I suspect that the sink cut-out was not sealed on installation, same with the tap hole in the w/t, same with the back edge of the w/t.

When the sink was dropped in it should have had its rim sinking into a bead of silicone to seal against water creeping under the rim. Your sink appears to be a dry fit - no sealant.

Go to the woodwork forum for advice on "re-varnishing" but i think you would waste your time attempting to remedy the w/t - but DIY is all about having a go, and it would be a learning experience for you.

As a DIY'er you might struggle to replace the tap - go under the unit and look up.

 

[chappers]

the technical term that describes your worktops begins with F, They haven't been cared for at all.
You could sand them back and refinish, but no amount of sanding is going to remove some of those stains. I'm not sure it's worth bothering to protect them any further