Wood Countertops

Add elegance to the kitchens with wood countertops

Kitchen is considered as the most important room in many homes. The most important and the focal point of the entire kitchen is the countertop. There are plenty of varieties of countertops that are easily available in the market with varying prices depending on the material used, the size and shape of the countertop as well as the various attachments that come with it. The most common among the countertops are the granite, stainless steel, marble, tile and wood. Wood countertops were used in kitchens as countertops many decades ago. Then it slowly started to loose its popularity due to the emergence of natural stone countertops like marble and granite that are easy to maintain when compared to using wood as a countertop. But, nowadays wood countertops are regaining its popularity and more and more people are going for wood countertops to enhance the beauty and to bring a more contemporary and aesthetic look to their modern kitchen.

The solid wood is now slowly becoming the most sought after material for modern kitchen countertops and it has lot of inbuilt qualities that most of the other countertops do not have. These qualities are:

• The wooden countertop imparts a warm, relaxing and country feeling not only to the modern kitchen but also to the entire house. Since most kitchen cabinets and floorings are made of hardwood, a wooden countertop will be providing a genuine sense of balance to the kitchen space.

•  The hardwood countertops are very easy to cut and also easy to install. It is also extremely safe to keep food products on top of it as it has the least chemical components and is natural. Also if a minor scratch is seen on the wooden countertop, it can be easily removed using a sand paper and slowly sanding the scratched area which will not be the case in other countertops.

• Proper sealing and installation of the wooden countertop will make it last a lifetime. Also the wooden countertops have the ability to absorb greater shock when compared to marble, granite or tile countertops.

• The wooden countertops have been found to be the most hygienic among the type of available modern day countertops and it has been proved that it has the best antibacterial properties and further on researched and proved that the bacterial populations on  the surface of the wood disappears faster without any external intervention. Hence, we see a lot of health conscious homeowners choosing wood countertops as their first choice for their kitchens.

• Hardwood countertops are slightly costlier, but not as expensive as stone, granite, tile or steel countertops. 

Normally, wooden countertops do not come as a single plank or a huge piece of hardwood. But there are some people who are little exotic go all out for a single piece of tea trunk that are cut as per their liking to have a wonderfully looking and properly grained kitchen countertop. But in most homes we see that wooden countertops are made from wooden segments that are properly glued together and planned to get a smooth surface. The wooden segments will be arranged in such a way that the wood grain will be clearly visible and that the wooden countertop as a whole will not look like disjoint pieces of wood.

Homeowners, these days, give detailed thoughts even to the type of grains on their wooden countertops which they feel that would enhance the beauty and the look of the kitchen. The first type of grain is the face grain that runs on the surface width of the board. Then, there is the edge grain type that is visible in the edges of the wooden planks. The end grain type is one wherein blocks of woods are arranged with the ends pointing upwards so as to reveal the growth rings. The most common and popular wood that is used in making wooden countertops is the hard maple with its tight grains. Nowadays, we see a change in this trend and more and more people are going for kitchen countertops made from richly grained red oak. Some homeowners also go in for mixing and matching of different woods for their kitchen countertops. Bamboo countertops also have been seen to be gaining popularity in recent times.

The maintenance of the hardwood countertops is slightly on the expensive type when compared to other natural stone and man made countertops. Generally, wood oxidizes over a period of time and will also tend to change its color a bit on regular use. Also, wood has a tendency to absorb or loose moisture depending on the environment. Hence, a proper and a good wood sealer have to be applied regularly to preserve its luster as well as to maintain its new and refreshing look. The sealant has to be selected depending on the use of the countertop as well as the texture that one needs on his or her wooden countertop. Hardwood countertops also tend to attract scratches easily and are found to be non heat resistant. So, care must be taken not to keep any hot pans or vessels on the surface of the countertops. But the burn marks, scratches and stains that may appear on regular use can be easily sanded out.