Seal Butcher Block? So confused!!!
enigmaquandry
14 years ago
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enigmaquandry
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Butcher block insert in marble island, advice please
Comments (30)I think that Christopher Peacock kitchen does have a lipped cutting board sitting on top of the marble -- just like the oldalgebra and homepro01 have mentioned. I suspect it looks different because if you are Christopher Peacock, you get a wood artisan to create a custom piece for you and it is made to fit over the edge of the marble and back under to the cabinet so that it looks perfectly finished and it stays in place better when working at it. If you are going to pay for a CP kitchen, you certainly aren't going to photograph your kitchen with a cutting board you could buy off Amazon, and if you are CP, this is one of those things you sell your client on -- art as function. Looks great and protects the marble even if you don't cook in the kitchen....See MoreCan I stain butcher block? How do I seal?
Comments (8)The properties of warping of wood have been thoroughly studied and understood scientifically. Casual observations relating warping to finish (or lack thereof) are faulty. My mother had a butcherblock portion of counter for over 30 years, never oiled or finished anywhere, that never warped. I've had boards that warped and others that didn't, some finished, some unfinished, some partly finished. It's not the finish. Wood tabletops, countertops, decks, etc. are exposed to more water on the top than the bottom, causing the top to swell and try to expand. But the wood's thickness remains stable and prevents this. The cells of wood on the top of the board become compressed from their original cylindrical shape (like a soda straw) into an oval shape. As it dries out, the wood cells do not fully regain their original shape, so the top shrinks, pulling the board concave. This is called "compression shrinkage." Therefore, finishing the bottom of a tabletop or countertop will not prevent warping. Warping will always be cupping of the top due to swelling from wetness of the top and subsequent compression shrinkage. If lack of finish on the bottom caused warping, you would see the tabletop bow, not cup -- but this never happens. Or think about it another way: what liquid is going to soak into the bottom of your installed butcherblock counter, that a finish is going to block? It's not going to happen. And no finish blocks water vapor (from humidity in the air), only slows it a little bit, so this would make no difference in protection either. So if you want a tabletop or countertop not to cup over time, there are two things to consider. The most important factor is the quality of wood making up the butcherblock: the size and shape of the wood cells, their density, how the wood was cut in relation to the growth rings, and how it was dried. Butcherblock made up of dense, old-growth, quartersawn boards slowly air dried is going to hold its shape (even when totally unfinished), while strips of young, low-density, plainsawn boards are going to warp easily. Second, keep the top as dry as possible. Don't let liquids soak into it, or use a water-resistant film finish if you expect liquid exposure. It's not the finish on the bottom, it's how dry you can keep the top, that helps prevent cupping....See MoreFrustrated with staining butcher block in white and waterlox
Comments (18)I love the Monocoat finish - gorgeous. It doesn't need a sealer, NC? There's also Osmo, which is Rubio's big competitor. I think they also have a white. No, it is a standalone product, one coat only (it sticks only to raw wood so no point in putting it over itself). What they told me (about using it on stairs) was that it will wear off eventually but that reapplication is simple -- you don't have to refinish the whole piece, just wipe more Monocoat over the center of the treads where it's worn off. And it is supposed to act as a sealer; it is essentially an oil finish. They told me that [major chain restaurant, name withheld because I could be remembering it wrong] uses Monocoat on its countertops. I am of course interested in this conversation, because I have a lot of it left over from the stair treads (a little goes a long way) and it is not cheap and I want something to use it on. :) So I might have to put in wood countertops just to use up my Monocoat. lol. (Mine is the Pure = clear.) What I don't know is how well it would do around a sink, especially an undermounted one. So if someone calls them to ask (or has used it themselves on a countertop), I hope you post about it! There is a thread somewhere around here about Osmo; maybe that poster will see this too. (I don't know anything about it.)...See More?-for those who 'waterloxed' their butcher block....
Comments (2)I've never used Waterlox so I won't comment about that. About the deep cut marks--you might consider removing the counter & turning it over, putting the marred side down. Another thing you could do is to find a wood shop that has a wide thickness planer, wide enough to pass the block thru. And, whatever treatment you decide on, I would finish all sides, edges & ends of the block before I reinstalled it. This is a really important step for preserving wood because finished surfaces and raw surfaces absorb & lose moisture at different rates. This difference will, over time, contribute to the failure of the glued joints and also lead to checking & splitting of the wood itself. Also, for that reason, it isn't a 'best' practice to put hot pans directly on the counter. 'Occasionally' isn't going to be a big problem but, over the long haul, it's just best to develop good habits that minimize subjecting the wood to extremes....See Moreenigmaquandry
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