Anyone have any suggestions when it comes to finishing a wood countertop with Oil and not Poly or Varnish.
I am installing a wood countertop of air dried, 1-inch, Wild Black Cherry. I don’t want a surface finish for aesthetic reasons, however I am worried about near the sink area. I have had 3 wood countertops before…about 20 years ago I made a Cherry counter and used linseed and tung oil with the advice of a friend, i.e. oil once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, and once a year thereafter. I lived with that counter for about 3 years then sold the house. I think it held up o.k. but can’t really recall that well. My second counter was oak and I used Poly. Recently I installed a temporary plywood counter and used one application of Watco as per the directions on the can… after 7 years there is some blackening around the rim of the sink, but overall the Watco has held up well.
Anyone have any experience with an oiled countertop? My other options are poly the whole thing, or install some other laminate type section at the sink which somehow “flows” into the cherry counter.
Replies
I've got a maple counter top for just over 1 year and using mineral oil only on it - so far so good, it still soaks up the oil- and the color is only now getting the rich honey tone. Cherry should be beautiful. But your right, the sink area still makes me nervous not sure how I could have designed it different but I have thought maybe wood next the the sink is not the best idea.
cool call,
how often do you apply the oil and are you getting discoloration around the sink?
The trouble areas I can spot on my temporary plywood counter, oiled with watco, are blackness behind the faucet and in places where we once kept a rubber dish drain.
I hear you about worrying. I don't want to always be fretting if some moistures laying on the counter. Then again I prefer the aged and used look of wood rather than the perfect polyurethane look. It's the blackish mold that I fear and my wife finds unacceptable.
Thanks for the input.
We oil the hell out of it (top and underside) when we installed it. once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year. lots of oil - clear everything off wash it with a light dish soap, rinse it well and then just puddle up the oil overnight. Even after 1.5 years it some of the boards still soak it in - in the begining it really drank it in. we don't have any discoloration other than the darkening of the i.e. no stains. (We do have a nasty stain on the sink cutout turned into a cutting board - seems I left a wet cast iron pan on it overnight.)
Part of the counter is a raised breakfast bar - also wood- and we have found that even 2-3 weeks after we have oiled it still give back oil to books, mags, newspaper, etc.
I still think it looks good and is worth the extra work
cool,
that's a great testimonial.
Besides the apparent non-toxicity, was there any other reason that made you go with mineral oil as apposed to some other wood oil treatment.
the short answer would be -- no ok maybe $$, but the recomendation here was mineral oil, and have never tried anything else.