Farmhouse Kitchen worktop.

[GeoffP]

Hello again,

A little off topic I’m afraid but as an inexperience woodworker, I would welcome a little advice from the wood experts.

After waiting for over two years, my wife is now nagging (understandably, I suppose) for the kitchen to be finished.

As an economy measure, I am attempting to make three short(ish) lengths of pine worktop to match the existing self standing sink unit top by joining 5” x 1.5” boards together, using clamps and biscuit joints etc.

Surprisingly, this is working OK up to now but in view of its application and possibility of spillage, I would like to know what type of glue I should use for the joints and also what sealant and finish you would recommend for the surfaces.

Your help would be appreciated,

Geoff

 

[Jon Maine]

A good waterproof pva or a pu glue would be fine.

I would just use an oil to seal it but do all end grain and edges with top and bottom so if spillages occur it will not be able to soak in. Teak, Tung, Danish, Boiled linseed any should do. There will be a slight difference in colour and also different finishes so have a play first.

You can use things like Treatex hardwax oil too or Osmo. I know the Treatex is food surface compatible.

 

[skier-hughes]

After waiting for over two years, my wife is now nagging (understandably, I suppose) for the kitchen to be finished.


Geoff

What luxury, just about coming to end of year 4 and I'm still not on worktops.

Remember to have your grain going in opposite directions for your pieces of timber, so that cupping etc is stopped by the enxt piece of wood.

 

[Toby Newell]

...took the word right out of my mouth. change the direction of grain every other board as suggested. Personally I wouldn't advise using pine er or any other wood for that matter apart from maybe a teak or similar naturally oily wood. I would also agree oiling and very regular re oiling (every month at least) would probably be advisable as almost any other finish will eventually crack up and start flaking off.

 

[skier-hughes]

I was going to use Oak, what would be your suggestion for a non wood surface Toby?

 

[Penners]

In addition to all comments above, with a pine worktop it's very important to cleat the panel. That is, screw and glue (see Jon's post above) cross-battens to the underside, at 90 degrees to the grain run. This will further improve your chances of avoiding cupping. I would space them every 12 - 18 inches.

 

[Toby Newell]

Well oak is nice, but then oak moves a lot too! Oak would be better though as it is much harder, if you like the softwood look then pirahna pine (sp?) would be better as it is a hardwood. I cannot suggest a cheaper better looking alternative! One of my customers went to cumbria to source stone to carve out their sink and it looks great! only you would have to win the lottery. No it's just that unless you get a naturally oily wood that resists moisture then water and wood don't really mix. Oak is fine if you keep it wet (hence keep the decks 'swabbed') but moves when it dries, pine is also quite soft and will get damaged. I love the look of wooden worktops and they are okay if they are a hardwood and are not going to get wet, in that case I would go for a rustic oak or as it is hard and cheap and the figure won't show up the marks so much. If you mean for around the sink area then stone or for a cheaper version I would tile around with quarry tiles/stone tiles etc. That's all.

 

[Toby Newell]

Oh and I agrre with all of the above posts too, remember to treat ALL the sides/underside with whatever finish you are going to use as moisture is not fussy where it enters the wood! and use the best quality D3 rated PVA you can get, it's not expensive.

 

[skier-hughes]

I like the oak look, so other than sourcing some good teak, what would you suggest? Price isn't the major factor here, but I ain't going astronomical either

 

[Penners]

The majority of commercially produced worktops seem to be laminated beech. It's a usefully hard wood, with enough figure in the grain to be recognisably tree-wood, but without the grain being too pronounced.

But, as Toby says, wood and water don't really mix. So it's still going to need conscientious maintenance, if it's to maintain its good looks.

 

[GeoffP]

Thanks very much for your interest.

Although I prefer oak, I’m using a softwood (I’m assuming it’s pine) firstly, to match the existing sink surround and secondly, because it was cheap - cost me £10 for 20 metre lengths of 5 x 2 un-planed that had been stacked in the woodyard for a few years.

The sink surround is softwood and finished in a varnish of some kind which, after about 4 years of use, is wearing off and getting discoloured in places so I’ll be sanding this back to bare wood.

In an attempt to stop any movement, I’ll make sure that the boards are placed in different directions and I’m planning to screw plywood under each piece where it can’t be seen – any comments on this?

I would like to darken the wood when I finish it so possibly a stain of some sort before oiling?

Thanks again,

Geoff