what wood for outside table

[sunnybob]

i'm building an outside kitchen area and need to know what to build the worksurface from.
Granite is best, but at 3.5 metres long, thats about a grand, so on to plan B.

Because its outside i plan to tile it, so dont need all wood. I cant decide between blockboard, plywood or mdf.

This will be against the back of the house. There is an overhead perrgola roof, but no side protection. It will be 0.70 metres x 3.5 metres, resting on 4 block walls.

Temps can be pretty extreme here, from minus 2 right up to 45 degrees, so I need the most dimensionally stable base for the tiles.
help please.

 

[PAC1]

How much rain do you get?
I have a teak table that has lived outside for 10 years on Crete. It has been sanded down and teak oiled each year and has been under a canopy made of olive netting to keep the strongest sun off it. The table looks as good as when new.
I would not use any man made board for a base on an outside table where you are.

 

[MrYorke]

Perhaps Accoya. It'll last forever pretty much.

 

[Zeddedhed]

Tricoya MDF would last forever. But it costs over £120 per sheet

 

[ED65]

Granite is best, but at 3.5 metres long, thats about a grand, so on to plan B.

Yikes, that much?! Any other stone a possibility maybe? Granite commands a premium but there are many other stones, and one of the composite or resin-bonded materials might work outdoors too.

So for timber, I was going to recommend acetylated wood too.

 

[sunnybob]

I would get change from a thousand, but not enough to buy anything big with. And thats not the black sparkly stuff either! Havent seen any alternatives here, anything acrylic fades very quickly in the harsh sunshine.

It has to be maintenance free, stone or tile. we're too old to start getting into annual varnishing.
I'm happy to tile and seal all sides against the rain, which when it does come is extremely heavy and lasts for a day and can blow in through the sides. But the temp swing is what I am concerned about. Even now, it can go from 10 at sunrise to 25 by midday and then back again in the evening.
i dont want the tile grout splitting open every other day, thats why I'm asking about size stability.

 

[dzj]

A concrete countertop shouldn't set you back too much and it's pretty much bulletproof.

 

[Jacob]

Yep concrete, with or without tiles.
Trying to mix tiles and wood is difficult enough indoors but doomed to fail outdoors.
The nearest you could get away with it would be to have a timber undercarriage supporting a concrete slab with tiles.

 

[PAC1]

Get several concrete lintels to span between your block work butted tight against each other. Put a screed on top and then tile it.

 

[sunnybob]

i was afraid that the wood idea was a bad one.

They dont do concrete limtles here, everything concrete is reinforced and cast on site, Then of course I have to make a round hole for a sink, and a smaller one for a tap.

looks like its going to be the granite. There goes my next toy.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Reference your point about local construction methods - can you not make a wood/ply former and get concrete cast as a work surface. Look at it as a small piece of 1st floor on a stout wooden frame to take the weight. Sink cut out could easily be included in the former and you may want the surface finished/trowelled to a better than normal floor surface!

Terry

 

[sunnybob]

Hey Terry, I was back in Taunton for xmas. Got sick and am still not recovered fully. Glad I left that place! (g).

This is one of those do I/ dont I decisions now. Just getting together enough shuttering and forming and bracing it all, then buying the reinforcing steel, then getting the concrete delivered and poured, is so much hassle that the granite is looking a much better proposition.

I'm annoyed that I broke the granite that was there when i tried to remove it. I had a piece almost 2 metres long with a sink cut out and I was going to get another piece to match for the other part, but it broke across the sink hole during deconstruction.

It looks like imminent emptying of bank accounts is in the very near future.

 

[Wildman]

Whats wrong with Oak?

 

[sunnybob]

Maintenance.

 

[Logger]

I don't tend to make outdoor items but make doors and windows. I was thinking that if the timber is going to be covered by tiles (may have misunderstood) but what would be wrong with something like larch or douglas fir. Used for lots of outdoor projects, relatively cheap. Some planks jointed together could work.

Cheers

Nick

 

[sunnybob]

I havemt explored the possiblitiy of a single type of wood under the tiles. My original thought was blockboard, thinking that would move the least.

As this is going to be a " summer kitchen work surface" with tiles, and electric hobs and griddles on it. I am seriously concerned about expansion movement cracking the tiles and letting grease and weather in.
This is going to be a one time build with no further work ever, kind of job.