# Oak or Beech?



## No skills (8 Feb 2011)

Hi all, got some kitchen renovation planned for this year and I'm looking at potential worktops. 
We have settled on solid wood (standard high street stuff 40mm thick staves etc) but cant decide on either beech or oak - dont get me wrong I'd love some walnut or something a bit more exotic but its not in the budget  
So does either wood have any better qualities for worktop use? or is a well maintained beech top just as good as a well maintained oak top?

Cheers.


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## Hudson Carpentry (8 Feb 2011)

Go with which looks better in your kitchen. Oak is harder then beech but it makes little never mind.


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## moz (8 Feb 2011)

Walnut is a bit soft anyway in my opinion. Beech is closer grained than oak so I would probably choose that. But, have you considered maple? Very hard and dense and would be my choice in timber.

John


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## No skills (8 Feb 2011)

Hi, thanks for the replys so far!

Colour wise the oak tops I've been looking at are fairly light (no oil yet tho) which is the reason I had no preference to that or the beech, I had wondered if I could use a wood dye to darken a solid wood top prior to its first coat of oil.

If I went to a different wood (such as maple) I'd prolly have to make it myself, which could end up a costly cock up - something I can ill afford atm  

Truth be told I'd love an endgrain worktop (mixed light and dark timber, chessboard style) but thats not gonna happen anytime soon :lol:


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## yetloh (8 Feb 2011)

I agree with Moz that the closer grain of beech might be a better kitchen choice - I wold have some cocerns about food getting intothe more open grain of oak. 

So far as finish is concerned, I suggest you choose a wood whose colour you are happy with rather than think about stain; damage is inevitable at some point and a stained surface would be hard to repair. I have cherry worktops (expensive but what she wanted, but if she is happy so am I) and finished them with normal Osmo Polyx Oil; they looked stunning but the finish scratches very easily. I would need to be satisfied that the oil Polyx now sells for worktops was a whole lot harder than the regular stuff before I would consider it. I can't help feeling that a really tough non-oil finish might have been a better bet. 

JIm


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## Hudson Carpentry (8 Feb 2011)

The grain should be filled with the finish so oak and food isn't a worry. Keep up the maintenance as you should anyway and you will have no issues with food in grain.

What are units made out off and colour?


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## No skills (9 Feb 2011)

What are units made out off and colour?


At the risk of being hounded off the forum in my first week  I'm afraid the units are bog standard mfi and doors are gloss cream mdf. This is a real low budget effort with me having to re-use a couple of good exisiting cabinets and source some cheap bankrupt stock mfi cabs to fill the gaps. The whole kitchen 'budget' (and I use that term very loosely  ) is £1000-1200 plus eventually some new appliances. This includes the building work as well...


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## yetloh (9 Feb 2011)

Lots of people here are on tight budgets so no problem there. The reason MDF is used is not just because it is relatively cheap (although that helps) but because it is a highly suitable material for the job, being stable and consistent. This is the very reason why many of the top cabinet makers use it for veneered work whch is essentially what plastic film covered mdf kitchen doors are. MDF may have a poor image but it is still a great material.

Jim


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## Sawdust (10 Feb 2011)

No skills":hn4tbikn said:


> ...
> 
> Colour wise the oak tops I've been looking at are fairly light (no oil yet tho) which is the reason I had no preference to that or the beech, I had wondered if I could use a wood dye to darken a solid wood top prior to its first coat of oil.



Make sure you test a piece before dyeing them. I've just fitted oak worktops and they they were very light when they arrived but a lot darker when oiled.

Cheers
Mike


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## János (10 Feb 2011)

Hello,

Either oak or beech is a very suitable wood for a kitchen work-top. But each has its pros and cons... 

Oak will take on a beautiful patina over time, but is prone to iron stains, and will react with discoloration to some cleaning agents. Oak has large ray cells, and layer separation in these cells is quite common in quarter-sawn lumber. These flaws are hard to repair/remedy, and they are "traps" for dirt, kitchen cloths, and human hands. 

Beech is close grained and smooth, and non-steamed lumber takes a golden patina over time. Steamed beech turn into pinkish brown, not really attractive. Beech is not dimensionally stable, and will move a third more than oak with seasonal climatic changes (that should be accounted for in 600 mm wide pieces). And beach is prone to fungal attack in wet, badly ventilated environs, like the inside of cabinets holding basins etc.

Oil or wax is the best finish for kitchen work-tops; beautiful and easy to refresh/repair. Forget coloring; stained or dyed wood is prone to damage from light, scratches, cleaners, and liquids (water, wine etc.), and very hard to repair well. Varnishes or lacquers will not protect the surface much better or longer, but will deprive the wood from that tactile feel... A few coats of tung oil would be the best finish for a solid wood work-top, I think.

Best wishes, 

János


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## No skills (10 Feb 2011)

Well folks I'd like to say thanks for your input on this ! 

As much as I like oak (in general not just worktops) I have been leaning towards the beech tops for a little while now, having a closer grained wood for a work surface seems to make more sense to me. The beech tops are slightly cheaper than the oak which is also a bonus, and the final nail in the oak coffin today (so to speak  ) was me finding enough 28mm beech worktop offcuts to make some nice end panels for the units - result!

Cheers all!


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