[CarolW]

Hi, We are hoping to have the units & worktop in our kitchen replaced.  I really like the look of wooden worktops but a few people have said they take a lot of looking after and aren't any good if you cook /bake lots, which I do.
It isn't a huge area and it's only got to be done once so I want to get it right.  Please help ! 
It's quite a dark kitchen so don't want to go for dark tops.  Our house is over 100 years old and I would like to keep it olde worlde.
~Carolx

[doganjo]

Wood is dark though.  Why not go for a very light marble?  Marble is as old as Methuselah!

[CarolW]

Marble sounds good, I dont think it scratches -does it ?

[HappyHippy]

My marble chopping board has scratches  I think marble is also porus, so you could end up with stains on it. Granite is definately the hardest wearing surface for worktops - there are light coloured granites available too. (If you do a lot of pastry work granite is lovely and cool for working it on.) Go for something with a gloss to it and install under cupboard lights to really bounce the light around if you're worried about it feeling dark. There are also a lot of composite worktops available which are a mix of resin and stone particles/dust - these give relative hard wearing properties for a fraction of the price of the 'real' thing. If you really want wood and are worried about it marking just invest in some pretty pot stands  And at worst, if it did get marked you know you can sand it and restain/varnish it (lol, can you tell I've got my 'interior designer' head on tonight  )
HTH
Karen

[jacob and Georgina]

i am a joiner so i may be a bit biased, i would always say wood looks best, most wooden worktops you buy now will have several coats of lacquer on so will not scratch and will be fairly resistant to heat!! Plus i would guess wood is probably cheaper 

[jacob and Georgina]

P.s about the colour not all wood is dark, woods like ash,maple and beech are plenty light enough and even oak isnt particularly dark!! You cant go wrong with a good oak worktop, very traditional and would most definatley not look out of place in your house  check some of these out to give you ideas  http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?fh_eds=?&fh_reffacet=specificationsProductType&fh_location=//catalog01/en_GB/categories%3C{9372014}/categories%3C{9372039}/categories%3C{9372151}/specificationsProductType=natural_solid_wood_worktops&fh_refview=summary&fh_refpath=facet_159016185&ts=1287086589550&listerGallery=true&fh_view_size=50&fh_start_index=0

[morri2]

We had sycamore worktops in our last your.  Sycamore is a light coloured wood and contains a natural antiseptic (so I'm told).  Plenty of danish oil for water resistance and they looked great. Had worktop protectors for hot pans, just in case. 

[doganjo]

On reflection I would go with the granite - but it is expensive.  However, my utility room worktop has just been replaced with imitation black granite and it looks fab.  It certainly would beat anything else for hygiene.  Didn't think about the porosity aspect of marble, sorry.  I would worry about oil or lacquer getting in food if using the worktop for rolling pastry etc

[CarolW]

Thanks everyone, I'm gonna search for granite suppliers and check out the link for wood tops now.

[Norfolk Newby]

If you want to look further into the wood options, Beech was traditionally used to make 'ordinary' furniture so thing like the kitchen table would be made of Beech. You can still get nice straight grained lengths of it if you don't mind searching and paying the going rate.

Beech is a light coloured wood. It stands water quite well so it can be scrubbed and kept clean. However, it is a 'natural' product so it does tend to expand and contract as it is left in a house and the humidity changes over time (Summer/Winter, particularly in a kitchen or bathroom).

I think that butcher's blocks were traditionally made from Beech.

If you want to make a table top or similar large area, you need to use several narrow pieces and place them so that the rings in the grain are alternately curving up then down (looking at the end of each length of timber). This means that the movement in one piece will cancel the movement in the next. I hope that is clear. A good word work shop can join the narrow pieces using a technique which cuts matching grooves along the sides which lock together and are then glued. Modern glues are very strong and waterproof so you get your work surface or table top.

I wouldn't give up on the wood option till I had considered the finished effect.


NN

[plumseverywhere]

I had walnut worktops fitted a year ago and they are gorgeous!!!  as for being dark, they are fitted onto cream cupboards so the contrast is great.
we have to sand them and give them an oiling probably 3 times a year?  if one of the children writes on the surface we can sand it and reoil, problem sorted     I love mine!!

[Frieslandfilly]

I had beech worktops at my last house, they were great, we oiled them when we first had them, used to put down hot pans etc with no problems, and they can be sanded down every few years to get a nice finish again.

[faith0504]

we have wood worktops in our new house they are beautiful, would def advise wood 

[OhLaLa]

Surely it depends on what your kitchen units are? For example, an oak worksurface would look awful on pine units.

For my personal taste, I don't like anything plastic. Real wood (oiled) looks lovely on painted units, Slate or Granite or Marble are nice on wooden units. My favourite is Granite. Expensive but so so nice. Lush.   

[smallholder in the city]

We've had wood worktops for a few years. They are great, we made sure they were well oiled before they were put in and did them again a year later. We only oil them if we've had to sand off a scratch or something now. I would definitely have them again.