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wood countertops in kitchen: Bally Block: Good Stuff

hellothererobby

14 years ago

Hi, I am putting in wood countertops in my kitchen throughout the kitchen. Does anyone have experience with the Bally Block butcher block countertops? They use a product called Good Stuff and Durakryl 102.

I want something easy to maintain and stain and water resistant, etc. I also found this other company Craft Arts that says their product is heat resistant and water resistant. THey use waterlox. Their product is a lot more expensive. Any Bally Block, Good Stuff users? I would love to hear if you are still happy with your countertops and how the protective sealers are working? ALso, any experience with Craft Arts and waterlox and how that might compare, THanks! Robby

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Comments (7)

tetrazzini
14 years ago
I've applied Good Stuff to furniture pieces at work, and my boss thinks it's a good product. I haven't used it in my kitchen tho. Will you use it around the sink? If not, I don't think water resistance is a major issue.

I can vouch for the quality of Bally tho. We've had a Bally "island bar", which has a hard maple edge-grain top, for 20 years. We used the oil product they gave us for a couple of years, but then stopped and haven't used anything on it since. The hard maple doesn't show any signs of damage, water or otherwise. The quality of the piece is very good. We've been 100% NOT careful with it, tho I've never used knives directly on it. It doesn't look pristine, but it looks pretty darn good. I know that it would be restored to new by sanding it. Stains, like from grape juice, just seem to fade after a couple of days, and this is using no finish product. I'm planning to use Bally butcher block counters when we remodel.
kmgard
14 years ago
I'm sorry I can't help answer your question, but I would really like to have wood countertops in my kitchen as well. A guy who did an estimate for our cabinets told us that butcher block counters would cost almost the same as granite. Would you mind telling me if you've found this to be true?

Thanks!
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Groomingal beat me to it - that con list is hardly accurate - especially given the variety of woods and finishes available. Certainly the type of wood and how it is finished can make a difference but we had major damage with a fridge leak on tile - not the floor as it was a morter base but the wall and joists that the water ran through and under. Leaks like that do far more than damage the flooring most of the time since they can be hidden. We have a big golden with longer nails because the fleshy part of her nail is longer than normal. Not a mark on our floors - Pre-finished (because of the dog)Braz. Cherry. Our old oak floors - quite a bit softer - did have nail marks from two goldens but plenty of other things ding softer floors and tend to be part of the patina. BUt if you want pristine looking floors you need to go for higher hardness numbers. They certainly seem impervious to water too - an ice cube that melted and stayed on overnite - did not change the surface at all. My sister does have a cheaper brand of engineered wood and that is not so impervious. A glass of water spilled and it looked pretty bad - still even that was fixed with high heat drying fans - it has a slight raise on the edges but not noticeable. Any floor product can be damaged by lots water if it is not dealt with quickly. I admit if our floor plan did not dictate all one type of flooring I would have done tile in the kitchen - but that is because I just love tile and wanted a place to use some Porcelanosa I fell in love with. However, I have been happier than I expected with the Hardwood and it is warmer and softer underfoot.
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kompy
14 years ago
I've found butcherblock slabs to be MUCH less than granite. Now, the problem is getting someone to take the slabs and fabricate them to fit your kitchen. The labor part is probably what takes the cost up on the BB. But I would still think it'd be less.
stw954
14 years ago
You might want to look into Devos (out of Texas) and Brooks Custom (somewhere in the northeast). They are still expensive but significantly less than Crafts Art. And they all use Waterlox (though Brooks tries to obscure that).
tetrazzini
14 years ago
hellothererobby, I have to apologize: Our island was made by Boos Brothers, not Bally! My brains's been on the fritz lately. Can't tell you anything about Bally's quality, sorry!

kmgard, people here have gotten edge grain countertops from IKEA for a very low price, tho they're not maple, and they're thinner than the typical ones. But they look good.
hellothererobby
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi thanks for the feedback! now we are considering using craft art wood countertops. anyone have any experience with those? they say u can use any kind of sink with it and they are heat resistant. does anyone have it/seen it? how has it held up with water, stains, heat, etc. thanks for any feedback;\
also, anyone have experience with Brooks Custom or Devos?
thanks again. Robby
allison0704
14 years ago
I ordered my can of Good Stuff from them for our antique pine island countertop. Great stuff! Have been very pleased - 3 years in new house. Our sink is in the island. We are good about wiping up splashes but don't ever wipe the "cut ends" at the sink. Pictures below; scroll down to French Gray Island Kitchen. You can click on them to enlarge.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Kitchen

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