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Do you have/love/hate a butcher block countertop?

12 years ago

Hello,

I'm bouncing around some replacement countertop ideas.

One of the 3 ideas I'm considering is a butcher block island top, stainless countertop around the range, and Calacatta Crema for the 3rd countertop, where my main sink and large kitchen window are.

I've spoken to Devos, a wonderful family-owned business. They're really forthcoming and helpful with information, and sent me some samples, but I don't know if any of their natural woods will be thr right color. The dyed woods seem to have a stickiness to them, and also seem more susceptible to surface scratches.

For those of you with butcher block tops, do you love them?

How are they holding up to daily wear and tear, as in patina?

How about water damage? (I have a veggie sink in my island. Devos says Waterlox is a sufficient seal, but another company, Woodcountertop.pro, says their Marine Oil finish--some kind of tung oil formulation--is superior.)

Finally, any suggestions on a hard, durable wood that is a neutral medium/dark brown color? (I want to avoid red or gold tones, and also woods like wenge that are almost black.)

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

User
12 years ago
I have a butcher block island top. It is a movable island that i got from a commercial supplier. I have used it now for about 4 yrs. It only has an oil finish on it... I rub mineral oil into once in a great while. I love it. I do not chop food on it as I use it mostly for a bread dough working area and the odor of chopped food would taint the wood.

I also have a teak countertop for the "L" of my kitchen that contains the main undermount sink and the gas cook top. It has a Waterlox finish that I have applied when the counter top was new, 9 yrs ago. It has seen very hard wear and has held up beautifully. Again I do not chop food on it. Waterlox is a tung oil base also. You might want to look at their web site and read about the product. There are several of us on here who have used it. Also several of us have various wood counters around sinks as well as islands and some cut on them and some don't. You will not find very many folks dislike the wood :) It is a great forgiving surface...all you do it sand and it is new..voila. If you would like pics you can go to my Photobucket acct...link below. Hope this helps. c ( the food pics album shows the island)

Here is a link that might be useful: Final Kitchen pics
juliekcmo
12 years ago

I have John Boos hard rock maple in the oiled finish. We did our kitchen about 10 years ago. It still looks fantastic.

I cut right on it, put hot pans on it, no problems. The only stain that I could not remove with baking soda/vinegar was sharpie marker. I just sanded, re-oiled, and no problem.

I really like it, and would use it again.
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Madeline, check the install directions for the range. Most specify that you can not have any wood for a certain distance above the range, but the Viking range I bought was clear that it had a zero clearance ( meaning you could put wood right next to it) on either side. My range is butted up against a laminate countertop on top of a wooden cabinet and never had any problems. If you get a true commercial range, it will likely require some clearance on all sides, but the home versions usually allow it to be installed right next to a cabinet. Good idea of you to check. My brother had a kitchen with a 30 inch cooktop, and wanted to install a 36 inch, fortunately, the guy they hired to make the cutout in the granite countertop was on top of things and pointed out that it would be a fire hazard because the upper cabinets would then be directly above the cooktop ( the existing design had a 30 inch wall cabinet set higher on top of the vent hood, and the cabinets on either side were much lower )
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I'm about to get an edge-grain butcher block to replace the top of my island, too (it's currently stainless, and since our new counter will be stainless I figured I should go w/ something to warm things up a bit). I'm tired of having to wash the myriad of cutting boards we have, too. Basically any hard wood's good. Maple, yes, but I'm looking for something darker. I was considering brazilian cherry (jatoba) although I'm concerned it might be too red looking. It might just depend on the particular batch (for lack of a better word). Also considered pacific madrone which is local but it's very stripy unless you pay a lot more to cherry pick (I'd probably rather have stripes than too red), and I'm also willing to get reclaimed wood if its prior use was food-grade, e.g. wine vat oak which is fun w/ its occasion rose-colored stripe thrown in. Not as hard on janka scale but harder than some. Also would consider mesquite, teak and possibly edge-grain bamboo though it's lighter than I like. Here are some color examples: http://www.endurawood.com/material-options/ Here are color examples (some very different looking though same wood) as well as their janka ratings: http://www.devoswoodworking.com/Wood_Countertops_Samples/WoodsAvailable.htm This is the place that sells cherry-picked madrone. Uber expensive but beautiful beautiful wood (and very hard): http://www.thejoinery.com/about/commercial/counter%20top/index.php A nice example of jatoba (brazilian cherry): http://lumberjocks.com/Straightpiped/blog/11961 HTH!
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You've gotten good advice! I applied 2 coats of Waterlox Original to the underside of the Ikea slabs before they were cut to size. (A carpenter was cutting and installing them and I didn't want to have to move them afterwards.) I tried every application method I could think of - old t-shirt, foam brush, lambswool applicator, brush, etc. The foam brush (a wider one, 2" or so) worked best for me. Use a new brush for each coat. Do let it dry well in between coats, and be generous with the first few as it will be absorbed into the wood. You're going to want lots and lots of coats around the sink area - and probably a vapor barrier between the dishwasher and the underside of the butcher block. I ended up applying 2 coats of Original to the bottoms, then 3 coats of Original and 4 coats of Satin for a total of 7 on the tops and sides. I'd suggest more at the sink. Good luck - the Waterlox will make it look rich and honey colored!
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I think butcher block on the island with quartz on perimeter will look and function better. If you use waterlox for it, you cannot cut on it. But it will give it a nice protective furniture finish. If you want to cut on it you need to use mineral oil, which is less permanent but repairable. If you cut on it, you will see marks on it, but you can sand it and re-oil over time. You can also use an oil based finish for the more natural look but not cut on it. That what I would do. If you search here you will see discussions of waterlox versus oil versus other products like osmo for wood island tops. Breezygirl highly recommends an osmo product that I am going to use on my wood island counter once it's installed.
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Madeline616
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks much for posting the info.

Both of your countertops are gorgeous :-)

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