Making own kitchen worktops.

[Matt1245]

Hi guys,

I'm looking at making my own wooden worktops when we buy our new house. Rather than making them solid, i was thinking of making them from 30mm MRC then a 10mm solid iroko 'veneer' on top, (or 35mm and 5mm). Is this an acceptable way of doing it, or does anyone else have any other suggestions.

Cheers.
Matt.

 

[martlewis]

Iroko... ewwww no, I have bad skin reaction even just coming into contact with the stuff.

I'm not an expert on here but there's lots of varied opinions about the stuff, especially allergies and working the wood. I'm sure you are going to get loads of advice.

Martin.

 

[Matt1245]

Iroko... ewwww no, I have bad skin reaction even just coming into contact with the stuff.

I've used a bit of iroko before and not had a bad reaction to it, but i know the dust can be nasty stuff, so i was very carefull.

I think it is used a lot for kitchen worktops tho.

Matt.

 

[martlewis]

Probably just me, all I have to do is touch the stuff and I start to itch

Having said that most people are allergic to something, wouldn't be much left in the world if we removed everything that could cause allergies...

 

[Anonymous]

You 're going to have a potential problem with such a thick veneer bonded to a man-made board. The wood will try to move while the board is stable. The forces in a 10mm veneer will almost certainly cause it to split if it shrinks or buckle if it swells.

Aha!

Even while I'm typing this I've thought of the solution.

Allow a 10mm expansion gap at the back of the worktop and conceal this with a 20mm thick upstand siliconed to the wall.

Use floor glue. This is special adhesive formulated for bonding solid wood flooring to concrete floors. Even when set it allows a certain amount of movement. I've bought it at Howdens but I'm sure all wood floor shops will sell it. It's about £50 for a big can.

Having said all that though, I'd go for solid wood. A 4m length of oak worktop will cost you around £200 if you know where to go. Stain it darker if you want and give it a few coats of oil. Better and probably cheaper!

Cheers
Virgil

 

[Anonymous]

I'd either go for the cheap option of a ready veneered or faced board, or solid iroko. Seems pointless to mess about in between.
Iroko makes an excellent worktop. "Poor man's teak" newly planed is a bit pale and insipid but quickly goes a lovely rich colour with oil, and very heat and water resistant.
Dust is a bit of a problem so you need good ventilation and/or facemask when sanding or machining.

cheers
Jacob

 

[woodbloke]

Matt - I'd go for the solid iroko option but bare in mind that it's nasty stuff to work with so decent extraction at all times on machinery and the use of something like an Airshield would be advisable as well - Rob

 

[kafkaian]

I'd go for granite (if affordable) and save all that potential maintenance work - especially if your kitchen is going to be of a high standard.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go for granite (if affordable) and save all that potential maintenance work - especially if your kitchen is going to be of a high standard.

Granite expensive and getting to be just very ordinary - everybody is doing it, sheepishly following fashions.
Not maintenance free either - chat groups full of queries about how to maintain, repair surfaces - and breaks rather easily. Virtually impossible to recycle or modify if you wanted to re design or adapt your kitchen. Ugly dark colours. etc etc. I hate the stuff.
On the other hand - there is a wonderful material called '"wood"

cheers
Jacob

 

[spadge]

A bit off topic but the most attractive worktops I have seen are slate. A local guy has a display with a pale green slate worktop that has various natural green shades running through it. Looks stunning but don't know how hard wearing it is (and it was £4k for not a huge run!).

Cheers

Grahame

 

[Nick W]

Or there's concrete. And before you go eewwww take a look at this site.

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting. Basically same as terrazzo which has been around for several hundred years, but usually just for floors with heavy machines to grind it off and polish.
Perhaps with modern lighweight machines you could do it in-situ as a DIY work top.

cheers
Jacob

 

[kafkaian]

I'd go for granite (if affordable) and save all that potential maintenance work - especially if your kitchen is going to be of a high standard.

Granite expensive and getting to be just very ordinary - everybody is doing it, sheepishly following fashions.
Not maintenance free either - chat groups full of queries about how to maintain, repair surfaces - and breaks rather easily. Virtually impossible to recycle or modify if you wanted to re design or adapt your kitchen. Ugly dark colours. etc etc. I hate the stuff.
On the other hand - there is a wonderful material called '"wood"

cheers
Jacob

I think it's finding the best material for the job whilst I don't give a monkey's chuff for fashion. All surfaces have their pros and cons but I've been in similar positions where wood is just as difficult to recycle if it's pitted, stained and warped.

I love wood also, otherwise I wouldn't be on here, but in a long term project with a well thought out plan and a neutral colour that allows some alternative future changes in schemes then I think granite is a cost effective, hygienic and sensible choice. I currently have stainless steel and the scratches it harbours, reveals a complete eyesore. Laminate veneered chipboard is hardly going to set the world alight whilst grouted tiles on chipboard/plywood is just a breeding ground for grout stains, flotsam germs as are the grain grooves found in wood. And if you've got a family and a busy life, the low maintenance of granite is ideal.

Anyone got Corian or marble? Thanks for the pointer to slate. I've heard this looks stunning too

 

[houtslager]

Personally I'd go for concrete. Very one off ie; can be really personal with added inserts like with furniture one can add inlays, from coins to metal strips, this is my material of choice for my kitchen.
The ideal info book on this material is not for the light hearted
it is - concrete countertops by FU-TUNG CHENG ISBN no.1-56158-680-3

A very hard wearing material as Mr Grimsdale said very much like TERAZZO which as Scrit should confirm that it has been used in the Netherlands in bathrooms and kitchens for flooring and ALSO for counter tops in kitchens.

all the best ,

HS busy on the roof installing MORE timber rafters in the hot sun

 

[kafkaian]

Personally I'd go for concrete. Very one off ie; can be really personal with added inserts like with furniture one can add inlays, from coins to metal strips, this is my material of choice for my kitchen.
The ideal info book on this material is not for the light hearted
it is - concrete countertops by FU-TUNG CHENG ISBN no.1-56158-680-3

A very hard wearing material as Mr Grimsdale said very much like TERAZZO which as Scrit should confirm that it has been used in the Netherlands in bathrooms and kitchens for flooring and ALSO for counter tops in kitchens.

all the best ,

HS busy on the roof installing MORE timber rafters in the hot sun

Yes, bought into the Cheng Dynasty with the book on Concrete Countertops. Very smitten with the idea but a bit shakey w.r.t. sealants and pigments. As usual in this country, started to make some enquiries about these two areas and drew a blank or two. Even the sourcing of "Type 1" versus "Type II" cement draws a blank with most suppliers

As for nylon fibres to reduce cracking and other materials, these can be got from ebay pretty easily

 

[Jake]

The thing with concrete is that it is very vulnerable to acids like lemon juice, and vinegar. I was very keen for a while, but that put me off - the only real solution is to splurge plastic sealer over it, but then you might as well have a melamine top.

 

[Chris Knight]

Err Guys,

I think Matt wants wood? Whilst I personally think it's not the best for worktops, I bet Matt has considered the alternatives in terms of the basic material.

Does anyone have views on oak versus teak versus iroko versus etc - well you get the idea :wink:

 

[kafkaian]

Err Guys,

I think Matt wants wood? Whilst I personally think it's not the best for worktops, I bet Matt has considered the alternatives in terms of the basic material.

Does anyone have views on oak versus teak versus iroko versus etc - well you get the idea :wink:

Point taken.

Can we split this thread in two? One for up heere and one on alternative materials down below?

 

[Max Power]

Matt , you would almost certainly encounter problems with a lamination of the type you described. A much better solution would be to use solid wood and Iroko would be an excellent choice (used extensively in laboratories). Make sure to coat both sides of the wood before you install the tops and allow for movement when you fix them to the cabinets.

 

[jasonB]

Back to Matt's question. Given the anount of wood that will be wasted planing & thicknessing the stock down to 10mm veneers I would just go for a 20mm (ex 1" board) solid top with a thicker strip along the front edge.

Well held down with stretcher plates there should be little risk of cupping though slotted cleats at say 600mm intervals would keep everything flat and also serve to pack the WT upto height at the same time.

Teak/Iroko are probably the best two timbers for worktops as unlike beech, oak, walnut they will not suffer much if (when) water finds its way into the wood.

Jason