Wood for kitchen countertop

[Steve Jenkins]

I have been asked to make some wood countertops for a kitchen. My thoughts are to use a very hard durable wood in the color range the client wants so no stain is needed then use an oil finish.
My thinking is that an oil finish (just linseed oil) over natural wood is easily renewable by simply recoating as needed.
I'm concerned that stain then a film finish regardless of type may be damaged and would be difficult to repair.
I have made up a sample of Ipe and they like it.
There are no children in the household.
What are your thoughts?
thanks,

[Ted Shrader]

Steve -

I would be concerned with the stain fading/wearing over time. Agree that a film finish would not be appropriate. What about the oil finish with stain added. That way each coat would refresh the previous. Do they want the ipe a lot darker than natural with oil on it?

Regards,
Ted

[Dan Mages]

I though IPE was so dense, that it is nearly impossible to put an oil finish on it. Anyhow... I have several large wood cutting boards at home and I prefer to use a premade cutting board/salad bowl oil that is available at Linens and Things as well as similar stores. When you start to build up coats (one has 26 coats over the past year) it does develop a darker tone to the wood. It is possible that stain may not be needed.

Dan

[Todd Burch]

Steve, run through a few household spill tests with it so they can see how it will react. Mustard. Mayonaise. Ketchup. Flour. A sweating water class that will leave a ring. Achohol. Clean it with whatever counter cleaner they should use.

My vote would be for something like Duravar from ML Campbell - a post catalyzed lacquer finish that is tough, tough, tough, and good looking, and fast to apply. 2 coats, you are done.

Todd

[Jamie Buxton]

When I get a request like that, I first try to talk 'em out of it completely. If that fails, I try to talk 'em into mixed counter materials: wood away from the sink and dishwasher, and something more water-resistant where you know there's going to be water. Mixed counter materials look quite good to my eye.

[Jim Becker]

I'm with Jamie if you can talk the customer into it. The wood top on my kitchen island has definitely shown some staining from various liquids, despite regular mainenance...and it's not butting up to the sink!

There have been some pictures of wood counters (and sink!) recently in This Old House Magazine...they were made out of some kind of hard, dense tropical wood, but I don't recall specifically which. It wasn't Ipe, but that would be on the short list for me! Otherwise, maple, cherry or another close-grained wood would work for me, again, as long as it isn't surrounding the sink. An oil finish would also be what I'd choose for both renewabilty and to eliminate the staining problem that sometimes happens when moisture gets under a film finish, despite it's hardless and "durability".

[Steve Clardy]

Don't know about wood kitchen tops, but I actually made some pine vanity tops a few years back. The new house was a pine log house, pine throughout the whole house. I built all the kitchen and bath cabs in pine.
Customer wanted two of the vanity tops in pine, and the third vanity in the kids room a store bought marble look top.
I tried to talk the customer out of it, but no go. So I built the tops, used 3 sealer coats, and three water proof lacquer coats, and told Her to WAX very often. This has been about five years now, and I haven't heard back or been back to see how the tops have worked out.

[Tom LaRussa]

I have been asked to make some wood countertops for a kitchen.
Steve,

I'm with Jamie and Jim, i.e., try to talk the client out of it.

Another piece of ammo to use in that regard is the fact that it is next to impossible, (or so I've read), to sterilize wood. Seems to me that a kitchen with all wooden counter tops is going to be like a gigantic petri dish.

Yuck.

[Bob Smalser]

I adore old oiled wood countertops with stains, scuffs and burn marks....but sadly, my wife still prefers formica, even over granite.

Anyway, I've done several, and lay the stock up on edge like this:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/50414150.jpg

Ipe might be an excellent choice...but linseed would not. Boiled linseed is full of heavy-metal driers I'd want no where near food products, and raw linseed can mold if it gets beneath a sink fitting. I'd stick to an approved salad bowl finish.

Maple molds easily, cherry heartwood is good...and all ring porous woods may harbor bacteria in those pores.

[Betsy Yocum]

Steve - I'm with those who say talk them out of it. I can't give you the wood type advice - but they have no children now and may not - but what if they want to sell the house later - children may eventually show up and make that counter a disability in the selling point meter. And it sounds like they will have trouble keeping the top looking nice - lots of maintenance.

Just me two cents.
Betsy

[Steve Jenkins]

Thanks for all the advice. The countertop will not be used for direct food prep. anymore than their existing tile one is. They don't want the butcherblock look. I've decided to go with Ipe and one of the salad bowl type finishes. The end grain at the sink cutout I will treat with a penetrating epoxy, for whatever good it will do on Ipe.
I'll let you know how it all turns out.

[Jim Becker]

...but linseed would not. Boiled linseed is full of heavy-metal driers I'd want no where near food products, and raw linseed can mold if it gets beneath a sink fitting. I'd stick to an approved salad bowl finish.
Tried and True BLO products don't have the driers, but are somewhat expensive. But ALL finishes sold today are "food safe" once cured, including those that use driers.

[Bob Smalser]

Tried and True BLO products don't have the driers, but are somewhat expensive. But ALL finishes sold today are "food safe" once cured, including those that use driers.

Ok....but you're gonna have to show those to me, as it's counter to everything I've ever read about it. "Boiled" linseed, the main component of a huge number of finishes, is chock full of heavy metal cobalt and other poisons.

It just isn't worth the potential liability problems to use anything but an approved salad bowl finish.

[Jim Becker]

Bob, there really isn't any body that "approves" any finish for food use...that's a myth and frequently called out by finishing pros in forums that target that segement. Unfortunately, I don't have the "data" on that, but it's been heavily discussed for years since I've been participating online relative to woodworking. Even T&T's labels are misleading in that respect given use of the word "foodsafe" and implying approval as such--despite the fact that they really do have a product that is "safe" even in uncured form since it's polymerized via heat rather than using dryers. (Don't forget the shellac on jelly beans!! :D )

[Howard Acheson]

Bob, Jim is correct. Like all interior finishes manufactured since the mid 1970's, boiled linseed oil is required to be non-toxic when fully cured or polymerized. The metallic driers added are considered by the FDA to be too small in quantity to have any negative affects on humans.

That said, any true oil--linseed or tung--is a poor treatment for wood countertops. It has no resistance to water or watervapor and provides no other protection. Water and stains pass immediately into the wood and both oils require frequent reapplication to maintain their appearence.

In the shop I was involved with we too would try to talk the customer out of wood countertops. The treatments we would use were either oil/varnishes or the treatments used on commercial butcher blocks. This treatment was a mixture of mineral oil with paraffin melted into it. In both, the endgrain near the sink was infused with a thinned epoxy to prevent water from entering.

[Steve Clardy]

Bob, there really isn't any body that "approves" any finish for food use...that's a myth and frequently called out by finishing pros in forums that target that segement. Unfortunately, I don't have the "data" on that, but it's been heavily discussed for years since I've been participating online relative to woodworking. Even T&T's labels are misleading in that respect given use of the word "foodsafe" and implying approval as such--despite the fact that they really do have a product that is "safe" even in uncured form since it's polymerized via heat rather than using dryers. (Don't forget the shellac on jelly beans!! :D )
Shellac on Jelly Beans. Now you done it.:eek: Guess I'll have to reconsider my Jelly Beans.:eek::eek:

Guess that's like floor wax on Apples.:(:(

Steve:)

[Bob Smalser]

OK.

Thanks.