How to cover the wood countertop in the kitchen? There are some interesting ideas!
The smell of strong morning coffee fills the cozy kitchen. Here you want to be all the time, inhale the aromas of freshly prepared food - fried meat, mushroom soup, sweet freshly baked muffin. Here you want to meet in the evening, for leisurely conversations after the working day, to spend the weekend in the pre-dinner troubles for the family, or just sit down when the family has fallen asleep with a cup of herbal tea. Yes, right here, behind this wooden kitchen table top - warm, cozy, hospitable ... and, it seems, eternal.
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Practicality or durability?
How to make the countertop practical and durable? Both of these qualities are laid initially, at the stage of choosing a wooden surface.
What to look for when choosing a kitchen surface made of wood?
- Do not use veneer, MDF, chipboard, you can only natural wood.
- Has the meaning:
- wood age;
- the cutting area;
- storage conditions.
- Products from glued wood are more flexible and resilient than analogs from wood massif.
- Properly selected coating will protect the tree in harsh environments in the kitchen. Before you cover the wooden countertop with oil or another suitable composition, it is worth exploring the existing range of coatings, their properties, features. Even better, test the chosen tool on a small piece of wood.
- You must clearly define the methods of care for the surface, the possibility of recovery in case of damage.
Wooden tabletop should be smooth, durable, resistant to moisture, temperature, cuts. A product from harder breeds will last longer. Classic versions of kitchen countertops - oak or beech. More democratic tabletops made of ash, pine, walnut, birch.
Larch is well suited. Its dense wood is resistant to mechanical destruction, deformation. Gum in larch wood prevents fungal reproduction and decay, such properties are ideal for difficult kitchen conditions. Larch has an important property of giving away or absorbing moisture when humidity conditions change.
Advantages of wooden surfaces over other types:
- environmental friendliness;
- beautiful texture;
- variety of colors, shades;
- ease of processing, unlimited possibilities in creating different forms, neat edge with the possibility of various milling;
- easy upgrade and repair.
Do not forget about the shortcomings:
- more care is required than for other types of surfaces
- periodic restoration is necessary;
- high cost of material, costly work on its processing.
In a situation with a tree, you need to remember that all the difficulties in its selection, maintenance, repair will more than pay off with comfort, beauty and extraordinary sensations of comfort in the kitchen.
Oil, wax or varnish?
High-quality coating with good compositions will give the wooden tabletop a beautiful look, protect it from moisture and aggressive detergents.
How to cover a tabletop made of wood so that it serves as long as possible and at the same time remains beautiful?
- Oil, wax.
- Alkyd Coatings.
- Water dispersion compositions.
Ideal impregnation with oil, oil-wax. Oil, saturating the wood structure, gives it water-repellent properties. With high-quality processing of good oil with wax tabletop becomes resistant to household chemicals, detergents, which are often used for washing kitchen utensils.
Special oil intended for impregnation of wood, which is in contact with food, will ensure environmentally friendly processing.
You can apply colored azure, stain, other water-dispersion coatings, followed by varnishing. The properties of the applied varnish, its resistance to moisture, the multi-layer coating are important.
High-quality coating is performed in several layers - in two or three, - regardless of the paint and varnish composition. Do not mix coatings alkyd and acrylic. Before covering the countertop with basic composition, it is important to select the appropriate primer.
Tip!
For maximum resistance, you need to update the coating a year after its application. Means for "getting used" to the surface takes time at different temperatures. When exposed to external conditions, microcracks appear on the surface of coatings, which are visually indistinguishable. Therefore, it will be useful to slightly sand the upper layer and apply a new layer with the same composition.
The quality of the coating can be tested in the following way: apply a few drops of water on the countertop and observe how quickly they are absorbed. Good coating has excellent water repellency.
It is important to take into account the drying time of the compositions; it can vary from several hours to several days.Natural oils, acrylic blends have a long drying period or accumulate strength gradually over time, so it is important to limit the operation of the table top during the drying period.
It is impossible to protect a tree from scratches, mechanical effects with paint or oil formulations, therefore there is only one way out - to treat wooden tabletops with the utmost care.
Light negligence of a wooden surface will give the kitchen ... humanity. Isn't that what we value most? Humanity ... Kitchen? Why not?
Video: Oil for working surfaces on larch