Having had a reasonable trawl through the archives I can't find any
real concensus on kitchen worktops. I have been thinking about getting
solid wood worktops (prob. from Ikea, and prob. oak/poss. beech) but
have heard that:

a. Wood worktops stain very easily and soon look rough
b. They mark if you put a hot pan on them
c. They're hard work to fit (esp. corners due to different expansion
rates along and across the grain)
d. They have terrible water resistance (often causing problems around
sinks)
e. They require lots of regular maintenance (oiling is required at
intervals between 1 week and 6 months depending on whom you believe.)

Our kitchen is going to be used for 'proper' cooking most days - it
isn't for decoration, but I do intend to chop/prepare food on a board
rather than directly on the surface. I'm quite happy for the worktops
to look used, but don't want them to look completely trashed after a
short time. Structural damage due to water would not be acceptable.
In this respect, I'd be particularly concerned about the narrow area of
worktop between the sink and the wall (sink will be inset, *not*
undermounted, but has no upstand etc at the back). I can imagine odd
occasions when this area might not get wiped down after use by SWMBO.

Has anyone got any comments on this? One compounding factor is that
one of the corners of the kitchen is not square, which may necessitate
some creative joinery.

Any advice/direction to other resources gratefully received.

Thanks,
Jon.

'from' address is a spamcatcher. I can be contacted via user13954 at
yahoo dot co dot uk.