| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| cab |
Kitchen Work Tops Advice Please?We've had a bit of a catastrophe. Our lodger (a lovely Sardinian lady who brings over all manner of fun sausages, breads, hams and suchlike from home) has put her burning red hot expresso pot on a work surface and melted through the top.Only a little bench, but it's right in the middle, so out it must come to be replaced. Now I want to replace it with something that's a test surface for the rest of the kitchen, so I want it to be (1) durable, (2) workable, (3) affordable, and (4) future proof. This is the first surface to change, next year (if this one handles well) another one will come out when I build in some new kitchen units. I'm currently looking at beech; any advice anyone? |
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| sean |
We had beech in our last kitchen, treated with an oil whose name escapes me. It was great.
Granite or marble would be good if you've won the lottery. |
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| Bugs |
We have beech, don't know if you would have noticed them. They look very nice, I think they will need sanding and reoiling...you have to get in to the habit of wiping up splashes/spills quickly  and using a chopping board...but they should stand up to such refurbishment, which is good as this is not our "forever" house.
We bought them from homebase as they were thicker than Ikea...don't know where we could have found a better supplier and would be interested to hear.
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| Bugs |
Re: Kitchen Work Tops Advice Please?
Wood of some sort definitely stands up to all of those..even if your housemate doesn't learn from the thorough slapping I'm sure you have dealt out, you would be able to repair most of it yourself. |
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| cab |
Re: Kitchen Work Tops Advice Please?
Didn't slap her too daft, she was mortified already. Besides, she goes back shortly. Wood looks like a good choice, the only issue is how fast you need to mop up spills. How fast is fast enough? |
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| Jonnyboy |
We are getting beech in our kitchen, a 3m piece costs abou £320.
The guy designing the kitchen recommended that you sand and oil it twice a year but at least once a year. |
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| sean |
Junckers rustic oil, having been down the shed. We didn't bother to sand, just gave it a real going over with a green scrubber and re-oiled about every 4-6 months.
I don't remember being particularly gung-ho about wiping spills. |
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| cab |
Cheers for that. Sounds like the maintenance ain't too arduous. You're paying more for it than I've been expecting; looking around it doesn't look quite that pricy in most places, but that does depend on how deep the surface is and also how thick. I presume you're going for pretty weighty stuff? |
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| cab |
Good man, thanks for that 
We were eyeing up some Junckers work tops. They look fairly durable, and relatively 'future proof'. |
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| Bugs |
Yep, it's not that desperate...you can finish putting stuff in the oven and washing the cocoa out of your hair, just try to run the teatowel (sorry hygience police!) over the work top before you start the first of your 8 course dinner.
We have the same oil, wondered what it's made of? We kept the cutout from the sink which would make a marvellous chopping board but not sure the treatment would be appropriate for that kind of food use. I think our worktops are junkers thingy too. |
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| Northern_Lad |
Most worktop will be a laminate of some description: the thinner the layers the cheeper it will be; the thicker ones will look better but be more expensive. |
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| judith |
I made a horrible stain on my sister's beech worktop by putting down a wet cast iron griddle . That had to be sanded down and oiled again. I wasn't popular for a while.
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| RoryD |
We bought the Ikea ones. Great, no problems and much cheaper than we thought they might be. Needs oiling once a year with some Ikea own brand Funstrdlblum oil. Just be careful when you buy as I think theres a dark and a light beech block. We bought one of each by accident. doh | ||||||||
| Treacodactyl |
Re: Kitchen Work Tops Advice Please?
Having had plenty of experience mopping up after a certain member of this forum I can say it's only a few things that stain. Tea is bar far the worst and should be cleaned up immediately. Red wine will stain after a while but strangely tomato sauces don't seem to stain at all. Ours a the thicker Junkers light beech worktops, I think it's about 40mm. I waited for Hombase's sale and got them half price and then got even more off the 2m one as it had a damaged end (which was cut off anyway  ). The rustic oil also varies greatly in price but is worth it.
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| Slipsurfer |
I've just installed 4" polished concrete worktops...10 cement mixers full. They are very heavy duty; diamond polished, sealed and waxed. For my first attempt I'm quite proud of the results. | ||||||||
| Jonnyboy |
Sounds interesting, any pictures? |
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| cab |
I managed to pop into a couple of places on the way home and ask about buying work surfaces. Some of them are keen on selling surfaces, others can only sell whole kitchens. The typical conversation is:
Me: "Hi, I need 2-3 metres of beech block work surface" Shop Monkey: "Well, we only do that as part of a kitchen" Me: "I don't want to buy a kitchen, I want to buy a work surface. What if all I want changed in my kitchen is a work surface" Shop Monkey: "We can't you see, we've only got them priced as whole kitchens" Me: "But you don't buy them as whole kitchens do you? Surely different kitchens have different amounts of things, you're buying it all at trade prices, why not try to undercut the other places who are also selling work surfaces retail price? Shop Monkey: "But they're only priced as part of the kitchen, we can't sell the surfaces on their own." You know, some places just don't want to make a profit 
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| wellington womble |
We've got granite look laminate, and I hate it. It looks OK (if you polish it after wiping!) but you can't cut on it, put anything hot on it and everything slides around on it. Don't get it.
You could just inset a marble slab and use it as a pastry/chopping board. I'm defintley going to in our 'forever' house. I've got th board, but its too heavy to drag out of under the stairs everytime. next time it marble or granite - the real stuff. It's cheap in spain. Oh - what about a tiled worksurface? I don't know (or much care!) if they are in fashion or not, but they'd be really practical and there are loads you could choose from, then. Slate look ones, or stone or anything. Floor tiles would take the wear, surely, and you wouldn't need many so you might get them end of line reduced. |
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| Bernie66 |
Polishes concrete, if you have not seen it done as a worktop is actually very classy, surprisingly so. And i would imagine its not likely to damage if you drop something onto it! | ||||||||
| tawny owl |
They're a pain to clean, though, and the grout is a real bacteria harbour, even if it's cement grout. If I had the money, I'd go for Corian or similar. It's natural stone in a bonded resin, and is supposed to be low environmental impact because it lasts so long. Joins are almost invisible, so nowhere for bugs to hide. It still won't take a boiling hot pan that well, but you can get metal rods inset into it to act as a trivet. Very dear though - even the cheaper versions (Silestone etc) are something like 80 quid a metre - eek. |
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| cab |
Well, thus far the best bet for beech worktops looks like these guys, they're certainly cheaper than the local shops seem to be:
http://www.withknobson.com/ Edit: Ikea look far cheaper. Regrettably, they're bloody expensive on delivery, they don't have online ordering or any kind of phone ordering that I can see, and they're blinking miles away
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| tawny owl |
Madness, isn't it? Apparently, they do mail order throughout Sweden and Denmark, but nowhere else. |
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| cab |
I've found someone on Ebay who lives right near to the Birmingham store... She buys stuff from the shop and posts it. I'm in contact with her to see if that might be cheaper (can't be more expensive!). | ||||||||
| Bugs |
Have you tried home base, or see if junckers or whatever they're called, have a stockists list? | ||||||||
| monkey1973 |
We have beech worktops and whilst it was recommended to sand and linseed oil every three months, we haven't done it at all in 6 years and, to be fair, the worktops still look fine. The heavily used areas are a wee bit bare looking (but that just adds character) and there are a few marks from wet tins (that were left on the worktop overnight) and a steel grater which wasn't put away but all could be sanded and re-oiled. We are in the process of organising a re-decoration so I propose to do all the worktops then. Go for the beech. | ||||||||
| bagpuss |
Remember on that front we may beable to offer assistance |
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| Jonnyboy |
Bit of a nightmare on the pedal bike eh? |
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| Northern_Lad |
That's why you need the 'Henk Inkjumspranker', the new self assembly vehicle. Look out for it after the kitchen section. |
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| cab |
Yes, I've done so, and I've found a couple of Junkers stockists. All a lot more expensive than the other options, but they are really nice worktops. |
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| cab |
I didn't like to ask, but I may do. Want some jam, bottle of wine and dinner maybe? |
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| Northern_Lad |
Haven't you both got other halves? Or are they very understanding? |
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| tahir |
Maybe they're swingers? 
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| Jonnyboy |
Can't be, Cab doesn't own any car keys |
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| Northern_Lad |
Maybe he puts his bike-lock key in. |
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| boff |
Bike lock maybe..... |
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| bagpuss |
Given I was going to ask for assistance in some sausage making this weekend if you are about but any of those would be fine |
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| Jonnyboy |
Looks like Tahir was right
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| bagpuss |
well cabs OH is very pretty
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| tahir |
What's she hanging around with Cab for? |
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| Northern_Lad |
Maybe it's so she can be close to Bagpus. (Where's Behemoth when you need him) |
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| Jonnyboy |
She won't leave until she gets the last word in, 10 years and still no luck (sorry cab, only joking) |
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| cab |
Of all the times to mention sausage... | ||||||||
| bagpuss |
unfortunately I made the response before i saw the level of the rest of the conversation
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| Bugs |
Come now Bagpuss, you've been around here long enough to know that 2 and a half pages of discussion on almost any subject is teetering on the tip of innuendo  
And don't call her sausage in public
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| cab |
And I thought you two being gym pals was all innocent... |
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| mrsnesbitt |
Cab I have a granite offcut approximately 800mm square...........free to a good home!
D |
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| cab |
Most generous Mrs N, but 800mm square is rather smaller than we need, and she's got her heart set on beech now anyway
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| mrsnesbitt |
being a woman she wood!
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| cab |
Knot that old one
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| mrsnesbitt |
leaf my jokes alone!
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| tahir |
I'd be interested too |
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| Guest |
Sorry no pics at the moment...tiling splash backs. Will sort out some photos when complete.
Some Points: 1) Normal chipboard units will probably be not strong enough; reinforce back and side pannels with plywood. In addition plastic legs will not be strong enough. I was totally put off by standard units after a couple of hours spent looking at the various off the shelf rubbish that exists in the DIY shops. I like cooking and wanted a kitchen designed to cook, I did not want to have a plate shelf and wine rack just because they fit. Many fitted kitchens seemed to be designed to put things away neatly not for cooking. Custom built kitchens were out of my budget; so I built my own. I used a fantastic design by Sir Terance Conran which is very strong and totally flexible. 2) I dyed the concrete brown and used mult coloured chippings. 3) Obtained a French cooking range valued at approx £2000 for £700 as it was dented (in the back!) placed range in Inglenook fireplace. 4) Placed brand new commercial extractor unit up chimney. Budget for extractor was £400, but bought one in a boat jumble sale from trader for £30! 5) Spent the money I saved on a top of the range tap and a deep stainless sink. Posh kitchen....down sizer style. |
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| Slipsurfer |
Sorry forgot to login. |
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| otatop |
Going back to kitchen worktops.....
I'm probably well out of date here, but a similiar thing happened to me a few years ago. I believe in covering things up, so I bought a nasty Edwardian washstand from a junk shop and used the marble top as a pastry board (covering the damage). The rest of the washstand was re-cycled in various ways - tiles backed with felt and used as pot stands, drawers and handles used in various other projects. Probably in 20 years time this will be considered to be vandalism - but nothing is better than marble for rolling pastry on. |
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| wellington womble |
I agree about fitted kitchens - why on earth hdo they have to have silly legs on, anyway? If they weent down to the floor, youu would have the equivalent of another drawer for each unit!
Never having another one - or any horrid eye level units that I can't see into! |
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| footprints |
wood work topsI supply and fit kitchens for a living. The drawback with wood worktops as far as I am concerned is that there is toomuch movement. Beech work tops are attached to the base units on slotted fixings to allow for movement. Failure to install correctly voids manufactures warranty. 25mm gaps at freestanding cookers and ranges. Failure to install correctly voids warranty. I particulary disliked this as the cookers/ranges look unfitted. Butt and scribe joints on worktops move despite the fact that they have 3 bolts and are biscuit jointed . Belfast sink arrangements are by their design, dirty. No drainer for the sink unless you have it machined into the top. In one breath we talk about water stains and mopping up spills. Lots of fun in the sink area. Tiling the walls on top of wood worktops? Relatively large amount of movement between the two materials. seal needs to be flexi or forever cracked. For my money, wood looks good, but it's not for me. When tiled worktops were fashionable?? We used to say that everybody has tiled worktops.... once! This is just my opinion. (the concrete sounds interesting) |
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| jema |
Re: wood work tops
We got lumbered with one by virtue of it being there when we moved in. But for the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone whould ever think that tiles were a sane solutions for a worktop
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| Bernie66 |
If they went to the floor then most fitted kitchens would have chipboard resting on a floor which gets wet and mopped regularly-most of the units would "blow" in no time due to quality issues. And most of the legs are adjustable to make up for the almost certain uneveness of the floor. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Re: wood work tops
When I looked into getting a wooden worktop all the glossy kitchen mags had them installed. After a fair bit of research I settled on the 40mm Junkers as they should be less likely to warp. Then I read the installation instructions.
Just like you say FP, however I phoned the UK importers and spoke to their technical people to see what guidelines to follow and they gave more helpful advice along the lines that the recommendations were very, very conservative. I've not noticed much movement in ours since installing them and I have used slotted fixings with s/steel washers to allow movement. I have seen some quite poor thinner worktops in showrooms and stores so if you are having them built in I'd go for the good quality thick ones. |
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| genesis |
We have Oak in the scullery, which looks good but like the beech you have to look after. I've sealed it with lots of Danish oil but it is still stained around the sink. But the plus side is you can sand the marks out if you have the time and the inclination. While doing the rest of the kitchen though we had an epiphany and used slate. Its strong, heatproof and just needed a little bit of olive oil to seal it. |