Guide

Choosing Timber for a Worktop

A solid wood worktop is warm, repairable and lasts a lifetime — but which timber is right for yours? Here's the plain-English rundown from a working joinery.

What makes a good worktop timber?

Three things matter: hardness (it'll take knocks and knife marks), stability (it shouldn't move too much with kitchen humidity), and looks. A worktop is also edge-glued from staves into a panel, so the timber needs to machine and glue cleanly. All of ours do.

The main options

Oak	The classic. Hard, characterful, golden tones. Brilliant all-rounder and great value.
Walnut	Premium, rich chocolate-brown. Softer than oak but stunning — the luxury choice.
Beech	Pale, clean, very hard and uniform. A favourite for a contemporary look.
Ash	Pale and bold-grained, tough and shock-resistant. A lighter alternative to oak.
Sapele	Reddish-brown with a striking ribbon figure. Hard, stable and a bit different.

For a kitchen, near water

Any solid timber worktop needs oiling and basic care, especially around sinks and hobs. Denser species like oak, beech and sapele cope best with kitchen life. Keep it oiled, wipe up spills, and it'll last decades — and unlike laminate, it can always be sanded back and re-oiled to look new.

How thick? How wide?

Standard worktops are 27–40mm thick. A single board only goes so wide, so a worktop is edge-glued from several boards into a panel. Order your boards (up to 200mm wide) cut to your exact sizes and join them up — or get in touch to discuss a larger bespoke size.