mik

Still humming and hawing over this.

Dogs g0nads or **** Sandwich?

Look so much better than std Laminate worktop, but don't fancy re-oiling (how often?) sanding it back (do you ever do this?) or splitting (do they?).

2 kids, so need it to be durable, and "worktop care" not to become a hobby.

Don't know anyone that has one.....hence my question to you lot

pugoetru

slab of marble?

mik

Not sure about Marble ~ can look good, can look a bit "boudoir"

Also - do you need to buy it pre-cut for sinks & corners etc? Can't see the joiner's jigsaw slicing through it

skiddus_markus

It depends on the wood and stain.It's easy to make them look naff in the wrong colour.
The wood won't split as the glue makes the joints stronger than the wood itself.It shouldn't cup either-curl up like a horizontal"(" as the wood is glued with planks laid alternately in relation to the way the rings go.
You can actually do it yourself very easily and cheaply.Wood doesn't cost anywhere near as much as wholesalers would like you to think if you find a good timber yard.All you need then is a good saw,some PVA glue and some clamps.

Gordo

the nuisance with wood is stopping it swelling - we had maple and it was a nightmare (even after lots of tedious sanding and oiling sessions!) - luckily we sold the house before it started to get too obvious!

ariel

Well my sister's wooden worktop split and MFI(useless robbers) would not replace it. MFI stuff is definitely crap.

JackClark

I have two lengths sat in my hall. Ikea, so probably not the best, £100.00 for the pair.

Adrian F

my parents have got it. it limits what you can put on it as it doesn't like heat apparently and the re-oiling can make it sticky i choose to go for laminate. i would not have a wooden one if i could afford it i would look at the marble.

Luke

The best is "Junkers". If it is fitted and sealed well its fine.. But granite is much nicer.

mik

Thanks folks - pretty much confirm my thoughts!

What does Granite cost then?

mik

answering my own question ~ "from £165 per linear metre"

Plus pre-cuts for sink etc.

Bit more than I want to spend......

RichB

Granite + kids =
Ketchup, coca cola anything acidic are very bad for Granite.

I know someone who can supply granite and glass worktops, let me know if you want a price! The glass is lovely.

Gordo

what about slate? someone was telling me that there is good stuff coming in from China at reasonable prices.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Best way to keep the wooden blocks from splitting is to lay a damp cloth on it overnight from time to time. They split because they dry out, ours is usually worse for splitting in winter when the central heating is on.

We never re-oil or sand ours.

John.

blueE9

we got ours from Worktops Direct in beech, and sanded and oiled it once. It looks great and hasn't given us any problems at all. Granite/marble tends to be either ******* expensive or just very thin (and therefore crap-looking) from what I remember.

Pete Croney

So glad I read this. My wife was really trying to get me to fit wood block worktops and I couldn't see it being very practical or very hygenic.

In the end we went for tiled with epoxy grout and its great. I like the sound of glass worktops.

messiah

what about the wood-block effect laminate worktops that MFI do?

mik

Pete - Funny you mention Glass - Rich pointed me OVER HERE in an email ~ no pix but these guys do glass Kitchen worktops.

RichB

I didn't post that address because I have a slight interest in that company but if anyone is interested in Glass products then it is worth a look, a friend just had a large worktop installed (damn it was heavy ) and it looks great!

You can have the glass painted on the underside to give it a nice look, you can also bond glass to glass where the joint will be stronger than the glass itself. You can not bond two pieces of painted glass together though.

They have just a laminated desk top where the middle of the three bits of glass is shattered. Looks

(Edited to say the glass is painted, not you can paint it... )

[Edited by RichB - 04/08/2003 15:32:40]

RichB

Just as a guide, toughened 19mm thick (I think) 1250x1250 with 250mm oval overhangs each end was circa £600 all in. So it's not cheap but looks great. It is a good financial alternative to granite. With a matching dining table it looks the business.

Mungo

We had wood block from IKEA and it was fine. Oiled it very 3 or 4 months - leave overnight to dry off. No problems with swelling/shrinking - I think the oiling stopped any major ingress of water. You need to stick a plastic sheet over the bottom of it so condensation doesn't soak in from that side.
Any nicks etc just add to its character.

If you're feeling flush, you could consider Corian (from Dupont) - man-made granite.