Best type of wood for wood coutner tops

[Chris Hachet]

I am thinking of building wooden counter tops for my kitchen. What type of wood will work best? I am thinking hard maple or white oak, but am not sure. Any advice would be great.

[Judson Green]

Hard maple is an excellent choice but I'd not use any kind of oak. Oak is porous and tends to check or crack could also discolor due to the tannins in the wood. I'd use walnut, maple (soft or hard) and cherry. Not use oak, ash and hickory.

[Peter Quinn]

Best? I've made hundreds, lots of species, maple, birds eye, jatoba, walnut, white oak, zebra wood, cumaru, mahogany, bubinga, cherry, the list goes on. Every one was for a client who though their idea was best to satisfy their needs. So first you have to identify your goals and needs more clearly, spell out the situation. Hard use? Kids? Sink involved? Are you a cleaner upper or spill things and leave type. Finish desired? And what else is going on in the space...stained wood, stainless, painted kitchen? Short answer, no best, its not an Olympic even, it's an aesthetic and performance based decision that is connected to the space it occupies and the people it serves.

[Chris Hachet]

Kids, cabinets will be painted most likely, water does get spilled and sit. Not sure how hard maple will hold up, but I think that it might be the best thing for my kitchen.

[Mikhail Lermontov]

Chris, why don't you want to use a stone?
Thanks.

[Rich Riddle]

Hard Maple or Beech are two good options.

[Mike Cutler]

Chris

I would take Peter's advice to heart.
I love wood and the look of wood counters is striking but I built a Padauk Counter for our house. Two 45-50 year old adults, and it was a royal pain to keep it looking nice. Definitely an improvement over the harvest gold formica, but it's a granite top now.
The wood look is pretty, but it takes work to keep it looking nice.

[Jery Madigan]

I would go stone in the kitchen, but plan to build a wood top for the powder room vanity - probably jatoba as it looks great and is very hard. Anyone see problems with that? It get light use.