finish for wood countertops?
Comments (25)
brickton
12 years ago
mtnrdredux_gw
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Finishing a wood countertop that WILL be used as a cutting board
Comments (17)I'm a wax and oil fan. I have Waterlox on my floors -- a miscommunication. I don't like it. It definitely flakes up. It is not a repairable finish. Some people love it, but I think it looks and feels plasticky, just like polyurethane, and the only thing they say you can do when it gets damaged is to paint on another layer of the stuff, which it sounds like you would need to do fairly regularly. I have a lot of wood furniture, much of it antique. Oil and wax are not rocket science. Don't overintellectualize it. You can use oil, wax or a mix, or use them in sequence. Oil, like mineral oil, is the easiest. I'd put a little of that on first. (But I'd definitely talk to your countertop person before doing anything I learned about on the Internet! They may have finished them with something, or they might be able to do something for you just for the asking.) A 50/50 mix of beeswax/mineral oil, sometimes sold as Beesoil, buffed on at room temperature is next easiest and lasts longer. Gives a nice silky feeling. Buffing on pure beeswax is harder, but it can be done. You need to build enough speed (remember physics class?) that you create heat, melt the wax and distribute it evenly. Don't do something like melt the wax on the stove and pour it out on the counter! You'll just have a big candle sitting there you'll need to scrape off and rub in. We're talking a microscopic layer of wax. But if you don't have time to wax, you can throw on a little oil in between. The counter shouldn't be sticky with any of these. If if is, you need to take the excess off. You can wipe up excess oil, and with the wax, you buff the wax off (the wax melts and cools down to a sleek solid layer), and when you do the floors, you can slide down the halls in your socks. They're literally sqeaky clean. However, once you try this, if you decide you want to Waterlox after all, you'd have to do a serious sanding to get up ALL the oil and wax. But in my personal opinion, the difference is like the difference between painted clapboards and vinyl siding. You're obviously accepting a lot of permanent damage due to chopping. A few water spots aren't going to bother you. That is a beautiful counter. But hey, have you ever thought of using a cutting board?...See MoreBudget countertop choices
Comments (26)Diana, we've ordered cabinets already. :) Similar price point to Ikea, but plywood boxes and solid wood doors and drawers. Hopefully they will be here next week. Not that we're anywhere ready for them, but we wanted to get them before a sale ended. Thanks for the experience with marm material. Thanks lavender. I've had laminate before and never had a problem with it. Well, other than the gross gold flecked stuff that came with this house that was so old the fold flecks had worn off in the most used areas. LOL I think after seeing the picture of someone's kitchen that was bumped from an older thread I want to go with butcher block on the peninsula for sure. They didn't have a cabinet height difference, but the butcher block was 2" versus the shorter height of their soapstone that butted up to it and I liked the way it looked. What was in that picture was what I was trying to picture in my head but couldn't get a feel for the way it would look in real life (thus my thinking that we needed to raise the counter height of the peninsula more than that). With that decided (at least until another idea pops into my head...), on the rest of the counters I'd like to go with the preformed granite counter slabs that we can get locally from a discount building supply center. They come in 6' sections and we'd have 2 joints, not counting where the granite and wood tops meet. I feel confident my husband could do the 2 joints fairly well. I need to see the color in person though as it's not what I would pick if I had a choice. It's a white granite with black and gray speckles. Pretty basic and I preferred something darker, but we shall see. If that doesn't work, I think I would be ok going with the soapstone Wilsonart and the wood peninsula. The peninsula would be different enough to give the counters the extra ooomph I'm looking for and the sheets of it would only cost $200 (that insanely cheap price is very attractive!) for the perimeter counters plus plywood base. And if I really ended up dislking it, I could easily go over or remove it and go with a different material. Now experts, what are the opinions on the state of the butcherblock given my cabinets and that the floors will also be hardwood. The back of the peninsula (the part facing the dining room we're opening the wall up into) will be painted reclaimed beadboard. Probably painted a shade of white--not too stark, but something complementary to the BRIGHT green. Keep them the "natural" color with Waterlox? A different wood stain with Waterlox or tung oil? Or do the india ink stain and seal with Waterlox? Our current dining table that my husband built has a black stained base and glass top. I believe the beadboard will continue around the dining room walls. We bought an old farmers Grange building that is falling down and this is where we are getting this reclaimed stuff like the floors and beadboard and hopefully I can rewire the old schoolhouse light fixtures to use somewhere....See MoreWood countertop for kitchen island?
Comments (2)I tried to post this, too but it blanked out - here's trying again! I use them for a lot of my "wanna be handy man" projects for friends/family actually because they are easy to work with, forgiving and inexpensive but look Super expensive if you go with a species like Black Walnut. I recommend doing a waterproof finish like the waterlox finish that the wood countertop company I've been using recommends. It's easy to apply... the instructions look a little intimidating, but it's actually a lot easier. Not sure why they made some of the coats called "CRITICAL COAT" because when I first saw that even I was worried. But it was actually fine/simple. a lot of dry time between coats, basically. Their DIY stuff is at the link below. I actually called in before I placed my first order and talked to a woman... don't remember her name... but anyway she helped explain the whole deal to me(why waterproof finish is good, alternative finish options, installation help). I recommend that if you're nervous about wood....See MoreWooden countertops with the wood going the "other" way?
Comments (11)OK, yes you have to account for wood movement. (Afraid I assumed that went without saying, as it applies to all woodworking.) If you screwed them down tight to the cabinets something would break-- that's why you always install wooden tops with slotted holes or other means to accommodate movement. It's a very predictable phenomenon. But beyond that it's not rocket surgery. Any "butcher block" island top has to deal with all of these issues as both the edges and ends are exposed (ours is 5' x 9' curly maple). It changes width by as much as 1/2", the design just has to plan for that. I'd make such a thing in pieces 4-5 ft long and glue them together on site using splines for alignment. The disaster in the blog cited had nothing to do with the direction of the boards, they would have had exactly the same problems running them the other way. All that said I wouldn't do it in my own house, it would look "wrong" to me. But I would have no qualms about it as a woodworking project....See Morerhome410
12 years agopowertoolpatriot
12 years agolaurielou177
12 years agoMadeline616
12 years agoartemis78
12 years agomtnrdredux_gw
12 years agolaurielou177
12 years agojillandmatt
12 years agoI went back and forth between mineral oil and waterlox too and decided to go with mineral oil because I like the matte/natural finish and being able to cut on it. When I put the mineral oil on the bottom to try it out, I did not like the color of the wood. My top is black walnut from Craft Art's DIY store. It was too light and had an orange tint. It was confusing because many pics I had seen on the web of bw were darker and had less grain... I decided to stain the top a darker color and eliminate some of the graininess. Here's a picture of just the mineral oil:
After staining, the mineral oil finish was not an option, so I had to go with the Waterlox. Here is a picuture after staining and with several coats of original Waterlox. I just put the Satin on last night, so the top has a bit more shine in this pic than it will when I'm finished. Now that I have the Waterlox on I'm reall glad I don't have to worry about water rings and stains. I have three kids and that would have been a constant issue. I realize I'm glad for the protection. It is my favorite thing in the kitchen and I would hate to always be worried about stains on it. I went with a really dark stain but I love it!
cookingofjoy
12 years agolaurielou177
12 years agowritersblock (9b/10a)
12 years agoeoz3106
12 years agogreenhousems
12 years agojillandmatt
12 years agocookingofjoy
12 years agosarahhomeremodel
12 years agoJillandMatt - WOW that is amazing. I love the rich color. I didn't do the finish myself, I got mine from their custom line. How was the finishing process for you? I have refinished a piece with waterlox sealer/finish and satin finish and it went well.
I don't know if this offer still exists.. but I posted my pics of my finished Craft Art tops on their Facebook page and they sent me a free cutting board....(and I emailed them before and after pics because I got to be phone-pals with one of the girls that worked there) not sure if the promo is still going on but can't let a fellow Craft Art black walnut countertop owner miss out.
laurielou - My black walnut countertops (pic above) were finished with the Waterlox Tung Oil. No real sheen to them as you can see (this photo was taken day 1 btw). I read up on it and saw that it is organic and natural since
I had concerns about food safety, too. I've lived with the wood countertops for about 6 months now and love them more every day. For me, the waterproof element is a life saver... My family isn't exactly great about wiping up after themselves if I'm not in the room.Before I had these countertops I had laminate perimeters and a chopping block style island that just had a mineral oil finish. I didn't mind putting the oil on once a month, but it stained and water marked so badly that I was pretty glad I knew that going into this purchase. I knew mineral oil wouldn't work for my lifestyle (and lack of OCD haha). But i couldn't bring myself to part with the chopping block island so I called the company I got my perimeter wood countertop from and they emailed me directions on how to refinish the chopping block. That was pretty cool actually considering I hadn't bought it from them come to think of it.
Basically, to refinish the mineral oil chopping block with Tung Oil finish they said to wait till the chopping block was Totally dry (at least a week since putting any oil or water on it). Then sand it down and do the finish. Their directions were way better. If anyone wants them I think I still have them. Let me know and I will try to figure out how to post that.
laurielou177
12 years agojillandmatt
12 years agoCapegirl05
12 years agomacybaby
12 years agojillandmatt
12 years agoCapegirl05
12 years ago
mtnrdredux_gw