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Finishing butcher block counters

offgridbuilder | Posted in General Discussion on April 14, 2014 12:25pm

Hi guys. I’m close to finishing our super-insulated off-grid home here in the central interior of British Columbia.  This is the part I enjoy: the fine details. The local mill is making us some nice 2 inch Douglas fir butcher block countertops for the kitchen. Now, I know ‘butcher block’  is not really the right term. I’m not looking at end grain so ‘laminated 7/8″ strip slab’ might be better.

Anyways, I need to finish these surfaces. I was going to apply several coats of an oil, say linseed, walnut, mineral, tung……. The guy at the mill, a very knowledgeable German craftsman, says an oil finish will never stand up or protect the wood in a kitchen actually used as a kitchen (ie actually used to cook in, not just dish up fast food). He recommends Bona Traffic, a tough polyurethane floor finish. He used it with great success in his home. However, I have gone to great lengths to keep nasty off-gassing products out of this new home, and it hasn’t been easy, believe me. Formaldehyde, isocyanates, ketones etc seem to be in most building products today. I will be having the air quality tested when finished the house and don’t want to fail!

So…….will an oil finish be suitable for my kitchen, in your experience? Or is it better to grit my teeth, use a polyurethane like Bona or even Varathane Diamond Finish, then air the house for a month? We’ll never use the counters as cutting surfaces, but stain resistance, ease of cleaning and general long-term good looks are my focus here. Thanks for any and all opinions!    Paul

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  1. calvin | Apr 14, 2014 04:05pm | #1

    offgrid

    I'd be wary of anything other than mineral oil which we used to use on a hunk of bowling alley in our kitchen.  Sanded down a couple times in 23 yrs and more often-mineral oil applications.

    However, I refinished a full counter for a customer (premade butcherblock maple on edge) and got what they supply, and you can take a look here to see if it passes your muster.

    http://www.butcherblock.com/

    I've used it on ours now a couple times. 

    DF is rather soft so I'd expect for maybe better protection-a floor finish might be better-but if you don't want the chemicals.............maybe more upkeep is the cost.

  2. User avater
    Mike_Mahan | Apr 14, 2014 07:28pm | #2

    Oil finish.

    I've used mineral oil on cutting  boards that get cut on, washed in hot water with detergent, and otherwise abused. Seems to work fine. It needs to be mineral oil from a drug store meant to be taken internally, so it is not toxic. I've heard that walnut oil will work. It does polymerize but it can get rancid. If you chose an oil finish, keep it oiled. I have an oak bar top that was finished with Watco oil. I wasn't concerned about food contact, but it gets wiped down frequently with a damp cloth or sponge. 30+ years it is still in great shape.

  3. User avater
    Mongo | Apr 14, 2014 07:48pm | #3

    Wood here too

    Same, I have wood countertops as well, quite a lengthy run of edge-glued plank countertops, plus a roughly 4' square of end grain blutcher block. They are teak.

    We don't let knife edges contact the plank countertops, but the end-grain does see a lot of knife prep work.

    All they get is mineral oil. Easy to renew. Food safe.

    Your most susceptible area for damage from regular use will be if you have exposed end grain with an undermount sink for example. Hot water. Soap. Wet-dry-wet-dry. Teak can handle that. But perhaps a softer wood, a no kidding film finish would offer more protection. But film finishes do have their drawbacks too.

    With this being your house and your kitchen, I'd recommend starting with something friendly like mineral oil. If it's not working out, you can refinish with something more bulletproof.

  4. gfretwell | Apr 14, 2014 08:43pm | #4

    If this is actually a cutting board, you need a food safe oilk but if this is just a counter top, go with the polyurethane. Mine are 10 years old and the poly is still holding up well. These are used regulkarly for everything you do on a great room counter, from food serving to general life stuff.

    I have two, One was laid up maple strips, the one in this picture is a Grainger work bench top.

    http://gfretwell.com/ftp/counter.jpg

  5. DanH | Apr 14, 2014 09:24pm | #5

    Keep in mind that tung and linseed oils are toxic to a degree (tung probably more than linseed).  (Dunno about walnut.)  The toxicity is probably not enough to really harm anyone, but it's enough to tilt things more in favor of mineral oil or some such, for food-contact surfaces.  (Olive and vegetable oils would work but can become rancid.)

    Of course, if these will not be used for food contact then probably a poly varnish would be better.

    (Unless someone in the family has a mitochondrial gene defect your concern about volatiles is perhaps a bit over the top.)

  6. Jock | Apr 15, 2014 10:26am | #6

    Offgridbuilder

    I've been selling #7 NSF white mineral oil to a local nationally known butcher block and high end table and counter top firm for a number of years.  It also makes a good shoe oil (look on the ingredient label on a can of 'neatsfoot' oil), and if you were to add some talc odorent to it would pass as Johnson's Baby Oil. No, baby oil isn't made from babies.

  7. offgridbuilder | Apr 15, 2014 12:40pm | #7

    Oil vs polyurethane

    Hmmm.....gotta go with one or the other, don't I? I see the merits of traditional mineral oil, but the looks and low-maintenance of poly tempt me. Here's something I didn't think of till now: any chance repeat applications of oil could cause eventual delamination? I asked the shop to use PVA, not a formaldehyde glue (they said that PVA was their first choice anyways).

    1. User avater
      spclark | Apr 15, 2014 02:02pm | #8

      Doubtful...

      ... in fact repeat applications at regular intervals may well inhibit delaminating effects of water exposure & thermal cycling.

      Properly KD'd DF's pretty stable stuff in most interior environments so glued-up laminations not starved for glue by over-clamping ought to perform well. Keeping them well-oiled will inhibit moisture-content changes which then reduce tendency for wood-to-glue joint breakdown.

      1. calvin | Apr 15, 2014 05:06pm | #9

        spc

        What do you think-

        Oil up the underside b/4 install? 

        1. User avater
          Mongo | Apr 16, 2014 12:26pm | #10

          definitely...

          Definitely do all sides and the bottom if using a film finish.

          With an mineral oil finish that's permeable, I do the bottom anyway. But it's probably not doing much good long term. But ole habits, you know? However, if you were to oil the top in the shop and it sat for a bit before being installed, then the nekked bottom could cause the countertop to cup.

          FWIW, I attach wood countertops from below. Oversize holes in the cabinet tops, fender washers or equivalent as needed. One run of fasteners just snug. All other fasters just a tad less than snug so if the top needs to move, it can. If there's a backsplash, I'll usually snug the back row so any movelement will occur at the front. Movement at the back could affectt eh countertop/backsplash joint.

          Total tangent for Big Cal:

          Hey, a quoits pit is going in the yard this year next to the horseshoe pit. Don't ask, don't tell. I'm still sctratching my head over it. I never even heard of quoits until two days ago. Family request.

          1. calvin | Apr 16, 2014 01:30pm | #11

            total tangent response

            Quoits?  No kidding?

            Quoits are hard to contain-make the pit big and strong enough.  Might run the fence a bit higher than you think and turn the barb wire IN.

            Those quotes will find a way out if you give it to 'em.

            Fest outside Boston-you going?

          2. User avater
            Mongo | Apr 16, 2014 02:28pm | #12

            "Fest outside Boston-you going?"

            Good lord, I hope so. Can't believe I didn't make last year. August is usually our "run far far far away" month, but with the kids out of the house we hang locally now, at a minimum we get together with extended family for a bit up in Maine to hang at the beach house. Even if we're up in Maine, I can swing down for a drive-by.

            So I hope so. But I've said that in the past. Sheesh.

            Just had Chuck B over the house last week, he's one of the FHB editors. Don't know if you've ever worked with him or if he was at the fest last year. Good guy.

          3. calvin | Apr 16, 2014 08:00pm | #13

            Jim

            Bickford?   probably met him-I believe he's one that got an email invite-so the host Steven must know him..........of course, all those hooligans are invited after the fine show they put on last yr.

            Check in the Fest thread and plan on the weekend of the 7th in Aug.  We'll be motoring in Joyces new playhouse.

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