Polyurythene varnish for wooden kitchen countertops?

Katzi

Am trying to decide on kitchen countertops for kitchen remodel.

Was originally considering wood but have been told that it marks easily from wet glasses etc. and that it has to be regularly oiled.

Another friend has suggested that I buy untreated lengths of hardwood for my countertops (eg. oak or other hardwood) and varnish them with a polyurythene varnish.

Does anyone have any experience with wood? I am aware (vaguely) that wood needs to be allowed to expand and contract with air temperature.

Can wooden countertops like those sold in In-House be bought untreated and will varnishing work? Thanks.

Minder

I put oak counter tops in our previous property. I used teak oil to seal them - with hindsight I probably would choose another treatment. The teak oil gives a beautiful finish but is very fumey and can take 24 hours to dry when putting on the additional coats. The first coats are absorbed very quickly. Teak oil gives a good moisture barrier but I found that it reacted to wet tin cans (never anything else wet - so crockery, glasses etc was all fine). On the odd occasion I left a wet food can sitting on the worktop for several hours - it made a black ring on the worktop that had to be sanded out.

Maintenance wasn't much of an issue - The oiled wood did react to some strong cleaning products (oven cleaners), producing marks that needed to be sanded out. About once a year I would sand out all the marks using a light sandpaper, then go over the whole countertop with a sander for a couple of minutes. Clean off the tops with a little white spirit to pick up all the dust. Then apply some more oil with a lint free cloth.

I would use oil again, it produces a beautiful finish and is a great moisture barrier. I'm sure some of the furniture oils are less fumey. Not sure how a varnish would react to a spot of localised sanding and a new coat. One other point worth considering is that some oils can change the colour of the wood - worth trying samples on some off cuts before committing to a product.

Katzi

Thanks for all that information Minder.

As I have been used to Formica (very very low maintenance) using oil seems like a lot of bother. I have teenagers so am looking for something I don't have to worry about.

A friend had simple pine (softwood) countertops that she varnished and they seemed to be fine for years. I am wondering how the new 'butchers block' style countertops (hardwood) would react to varnish.

I think I would almost prefer to sand down and have to re-varnish every 5 years or so than use oil. Has anyone used varnish?

ART6

Katzi wrote: »

Thanks for all that information Minder.

As I have been used to Formica (very very low maintenance) using oil seems like a lot of bother. I have teenagers so am looking for something I don't have to worry about.

A friend had simple pine (softwood) countertops that she varnished and they seemed to be fine for years. I am wondering how the new 'butchers block' style countertops (hardwood) would react to varnish.

I think I would almost prefer to sand down and have to re-varnish every 5 years or so than use oil. Has anyone used varnish?

When I had a young family I used Formica work tops always since anything else is sure to get marked a lot. If you use varnish you will have to bear in mind that if you put anything hot on it (and that's hot in the sense that you wouldn't want to touch it for long, like a hot cup of tea) then you will soften and damage the varnish. All that would be too much bother for me:)

racso1975

My kitchen table is reclaimed pine and it had a bee's wax coating on it and it used to annoy me something terrible dur to the amount of rings on it.

I sanded it down to raw wood and varnished it. I had to do this three times as you do with most wood the first time you varnish it.

It's never looked better and we place dinner plates and cups without coasters on it and it's never marked though i would never put a tea pot on it without something underneath it.

It is fairly thick as well approx 4 inches it 7ftx3.5ft so would prob be the size of a counter top.

I used an industrial varnish also to allow for extra wear and tear on.

only concerns you might have wood (:D) be that a sharp kitchen knife will penetrate the varnish and may allow water to leak and stain and a soft wood will get dents in it given that its soft