Quality solid wood worktop that doesn't cost the earth?

[Emeye]

Bought an IKEA kitchen but wasn't too impressed with their solid oak worktop (the butcher's block type). Saw some really nice stuff in B&Q, but it's about £500 - 600 per 3000mm x 620mm length. I need about 2 and a half lengths.

Can anyone suggest an alternative supplier of a decent quality solid wood worktop that isn't going to require me selling my girlfriend?*




* If I sell the girlfriend, what is the point of the kitchen?! Only joking love, now get me a beer will you petal.

Edited by Emeye on Tuesday 2nd March 21:28

[B17NNS]

http://www.woodworktops.com/

[Smallend]

We bought from Howdens. Good price, decent wood.

We had some strange shapes to make, so ended up with a couple of fairly hefty offcuts.

I had oiled them all while they were in the original sizes, so flogged the offcuts on eBay and covered the cost of the original worktops...

... which was nice!

[_dobbo_]

B17NNS said:

http://www.woodworktops.com/

This looks like excellent value, I wish I'd known about this! Cheapest I found was screwfix for solid oak, Ikea is close but they sell it in weird lengths which makes it seem cheaper than it is.

Anyway buying it cheap is easy - the hard bit - fitting the fking stuff.

[Simpo Two]

www.withknobson.com/acatalog/Wooden_Worktops.html

Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 2nd March 21:05

[Emeye]

_dobbo_ said:

B17NNS said:

http://www.woodworktops.com/

This looks like excellent value, I wish I'd known about this! Cheapest I found was screwfix for solid oak, Ikea is close but they sell it in weird lengths which makes it seem cheaper than it is.

Anyway buying it cheap is easy - the hard bit - fitting the fking stuff.

Thing is the IKEA solid wood is cheap for a reason, the sample didn't seem very well finished and wasn't even smooth - it was all lumpy.

[_dobbo_]

For what it's worth I got the about 8 metres of the IKEA stuff - it's pretty smooth and not at all lumpy. I was just happy to find a worktop that the wife liked which wasn't £600 a length!

[B17NNS]

_dobbo_ said:

B17NNS said:

http://www.woodworktops.com/

Anyway buying it cheap is easy - the hard bit - fitting the fking stuff.

Did my mums in Oak last year from these guys. Quality was great, a rub down with wire wool and plenty of danish oil and it still looks like new.

Had a 2 x 4m lengths, incredibly heavy and the thought of one wrong move with the router and its £200 in the bin is a sobering thought. Hate to think how nerve wracking it is to work on a Zebrano or Wenge top at £550 a length.

Save the off cuts and cut outs and make chopping boards out of it. If you don't need or want them flog them on t'bay.

[Simpo Two]

B17NNS said:

Save the off cuts and cut outs and make chopping boards out of it. If you don't need or want them flog them on t'bay.

I made matching windowsills out of mine - worked really well (I don't like tiles):

[Emeye]

Simpo Two said:

B17NNS said:

Save the off cuts and cut outs and make chopping boards out of it. If you don't need or want them flog them on t'bay.

I made matching windowsills out of mine - worked really well (I don't like tiles):

Looks good - where did you get your wood from and how much?

My joiner's trade mark is to use the left over worktop to make the plinths - but not when the wood is £500 per 3 metres!!!

[TheDetailDoctor]

I used www.worktopexpress.co.uk

[Simpo Two]

Emeye said:

Looks good - where did you get your wood from and how much?

As mentioned, www.withknobson.com/acatalog/Wooden_Worktops.html . It's 40mm stave cherry. Perhaps a little soft for serious kitchen use but easier for DIY work, unlike walnut or beech.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 3rd March 13:23

[_dobbo_]

Oi Simpo, you've nicked my kettle - give it back!

Nice windowsills though, great idea but I don't think I have enough leftover to do that.

[motco]

Smallend said:

We bought from Howdens. Good price, decent wood.

We had some strange shapes to make, so ended up with a couple of fairly hefty offcuts.

I had oiled them all while they were in the original sizes, so flogged the offcuts on eBay and covered the cost of the original worktops...

... which was nice!

I went to Howdens too. They are a trade only supplier, but aren't too fussy about opening cash/card accounts. I found also that they were the only source locally of 500mm deep units (usually 600) for my daughter's house.

[Simpo Two]

_dobbo_ said:

Oi Simpo, you've nicked my kettle - give it back!

As you can see, I'm a vampire

[_dobbo_]

I was trying to work out if the little pink area on the right was your arm!

[B17NNS]

Simpo Two said:

I made matching windowsills out of mine

That looks ace.

[Vron]

B17NNS said:

Simpo Two said:

I made matching windowsills out of mine

That looks ace.

I did the same.

I got 3m solid walnut (ex MFI at £700 a length) for £150 a 3m length from Ebay.

[Emeye]

Vron said:

B17NNS said:

Simpo Two said:

I made matching windowsills out of mine

That looks ace.

I did the same.

I got 3m solid walnut (ex MFI at £700 a length) for £150 a 3m length from Ebay.

How did you judge the quality buying off the internet?

[Vron]

Emeye said:

Vron said:

B17NNS said:

Simpo Two said:

I made matching windowsills out of mine

That looks ace.

I did the same.

I got 3m solid walnut (ex MFI at £700 a length) for £150 a 3m length from Ebay.

How did you judge the quality buying off the internet?

Because I went and looked at it at MFI first.