Worktop - oak

[Doug71]

I did my utility room in Oak using leftovers I had acquired from jobs and finished it with some oil (can't remember what).

If I did it again I wouldn't use wood but if I had to use wood it would be finished with a polyurethane varnish!

It is where the kids clean their football boots and paint brushes get washed out etc so it has a hard life.

 

[imageel]

This is a repeat post but including some pictures for comparative purposes -
I used Tung oil on my kitchen worktops, and one area that gets almost daily wiping and is exposed to spills from hot liquids is the area around my hob.
This was purchased/installed 5.5y ago and from memory had a total of 4 coats - 2 initial thinned 50/50 with white spirit and the final 2 applied with a rag rubber.
As supplied from Ikea - actually this is the cut-out from the hob -

Here 5.5y later adjacent to the most frequently used burner under natural illumination - you can see that the block on the corner is showing slight lightening where the coating has worn through daily wiping -

Here under artificial illumination - the line is the shadow from my hand from the overhead extractor lighting -

Tung oil is food-safe - it is used on commercial wooden kitchen stuff- salad serving utensils, bowls etc and it is super simple to either spot re-coat or re-apply to the entire worktop with a rag which if thinly applied will be dry enough for use if left overnight.
TBH the pictures make it look far more pronounced than it really is, and AFAIKT there is little to no discoloration/staining of the underlying surface so a recoat would restore it to as-new,
/Ed

 

[Tal]

Hi all,
Thought I would update you all on this thread. Appreciate it was a few months ago now, but life is busy with a 3yr old and a house renovation/full time job, so progress has been slow!
I appreciate all of your replies, I took them all into account, watched countless videos and read everything I could find.

So rightly or wrongly this is what I ended up doing for the worktops:

• I rough cut my lengths to size with a circular saw, finished my edges with a Hikoki M12VE 1/2" router and throw away Trend cutters (I used one new cutter per joint, then cut sinks/hobs out with the worn ones).
• Using Fiddes Hard wax oil, I applied 2off coats to the underside of the worktops, and 6 coats on the exposed cut edges.
• Butt joints used throughout, with 3-4mm gap around all walls etc.
• Bought a basic worktop jig for 3off dog bone clamps.
• 4off biscuits #20.
• Titebond 3 wood adhesive.
• Clamped up as quick as I could (I used zip bolts on the third join after the struggle of the confine spaces of the first two, fantastic bits of kit, wished I had used on all 3 joints)
• Fixed on slotted brackets to units, where the unit top was solid I drilled a 10mm hole and used a large penny washer and pan head screw.
• Using a metabo 150mm random orbital I sanded the joint as evenly as possible with 120grit until perfectly smooth.
• Then sanded the entire worktop surface with 150grit.
• Applied 3 off coats of Fiddes Hard wax oil.
• Fitted my sinks (1 utility, 1 kitchen) and gas hob. Clear silicone bead around the perimeter using a silicone tool.
• Covered all edges with 80mm oak upstand. (this is still a work in progress).

I will upload photos shortly for critique, but so far so good, its still a long way off, floors mainly, but that's another topic I may start next.

Cheers all!

 

[Tal]

 

[Tal]

As I say it's not quite finished, but as far as worktops I am. The main joint pictured was the worst one, regular dog bolts were too slow to close before the titebond has set (pretty fast to be fair), it was awkward access, wish I had zip bolts for that one.

But the other 2 were decent.

Will be fitting an oak post next to support the free end of the overhanging worktop, will use upstand at the wall side.

 

[Tal]

Oh and my plan to fix the wooden 80x80mm post I to position is to buy a pocket hole jig.

Then I can insert some oak dowels to cover the holes, followed by oiling as per the worktops, should be invisible fixings almost. Sound like a decent idea? I know this may struggle with expansion due to multiple fixings to the worktop above. But that breakfast bar has been fitted for about 8 weeks now. Will it have done it's expanding/shrinking already?

 

[Dee J]

I've certainly been caught out by solid wood worktops. Oak worktop either side of a narrow kitchen (one side with inset stainless sink). Freestanding stove in the space between at one end. Despite carefully sealing underneath and in openings, Fiddes hardwax on top, and scrupulous care to cleanup spills and keep worktops dry... The sinktop side has grown sufficiently in width (10+mm in 800mm according to witness marks around the sink) to clamp the freestanding stove in place and distort the edges of its hob! A problem that I'll have to fix at some point.....

 

[Tal]

Wow that is quite significant! I've been meticulously drying them at every opportunity...

 

[Drifter2406]

Although I'm not keen on the colour it produces, when it comes to wood worktops we always use Danish oil, minimum of 3 coats top and bottom, that seems to seal it well and then replenish every six months.