Building a house

Bambamski · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 6:45 am Post subject:

Don't do the wood countertops.

Friends moved out to an acreage and they did the rustic / modern kind of look to their place. They spent some serious dough on their place and my buddy was totally against the wood countertops but caved cause the wife wanted them. They're terrible. They look great when they're new and in the show room. Look great in the pictures in houzz. Core you hit the nail on the head. Tough to keep sanitary. They dent so easily. They stain even more easily. If you don't use a coaster you get rings everywhere of grape juice and wine stains. You name it, it probably will stain them. If you set anything hot on them you'll get burn marks. They were ripped out and replaced by granite about 18 months later. Unfortunately my buddy can't play the I told you card as he still enjoys sex... Very Happy

I'd seriously do your research on them.

ohsix · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 7:35 am Post subject:

My business partner is currently doing an island in his kitchen with a butcher block top. I can tell you how it looks in a few months which should be before you put counter tops in.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Bambamski, where did they put the wood counter tops?

ohsix, any additional feedback would be great. My parents have a butcher block topped island in their house that I grew up in and it has done well, but that doesn't mean they all do. What type of wood is he planning?

ohsix · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 8:47 am Post subject:

ohsix, any additional feedback would be great. My parents have a butcher block topped island in their house that I grew up in and it has done well, but that doesn't mean they all do. What type of wood is he planning?[/quote]

I'm not sure on the wood. I'll find out.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

Don't you have to sand the bb counters and re oil every few years? They sound great and definitely look nice but id think if you slack on the maintenance they will go downhill quickly.

Broccoli B · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 11:26 am Post subject:

I have butcher block counters in my laundry room. We decided to put clear poly on them and they have been maintenance free.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

^doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose? Confused

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Bambamski · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 1:54 pm Post subject:

I'm probably getting this wrong. Their whole island was wood, the breakfast bar on the island was a wood block as well. It was a big heavy looking block of wood as well, looked great. They had wood counter tops next to the sink in front of the window(they were super shiny looking and repelled water), but next to the stove on either side was a granite looking surface but it wasn't granite. I think it was a smooth finished cement?

Okie we used to have Slate countertops in our house that we would oil quite regularly. They were a black brazillion slate, so smooth, and they looked dead sexy after they were oiled. A day later when you actually used the kitchen you could see the scratch marks, the odd chip ect ect. Slate is such a soft stone if you dragged a plate across them they'd scratch the surface. My buddy found the same thing with the wood. If you're looking for more of a worn in butcher kitchen look then I guess they'd be ok. My buddies wife wanted it to look like you could take a picture of the kitchen any time which just isn't the case. Just think of your mom's butcher block she used to cut everything on. Blood stained, knife marks, that's of what it's going to look like over time.

I'm just saying do your research. It didn't work out very well for my buddy Laughing

eeven73 · Posted: Jan 06, 2015 2:38 pm Post subject:

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Anyone have experience with spray foam on the underside of the roof?

I'm already considering the foam in the walls, but a subcontractor we work with, for work, told me about a friend that had the inside of the roof foamed, with no insulation in the ceiling. It was a retrofit job along with changing his ducting system from the floor (which was rotted out) to the attic. They foamed the underside of the roof, and removed the standard attic insulation. I'm not sure what they did as far as venting is concerned, but it sounded like it is working well. He mentioned that the attic temperature was in the 80 degree range on a 100 degree day, versus it being 120 on 100 degree day. Interesting thought and I could see how it might be a feasible idea.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Bambamski, I hear ya. I can see wood counter tops in the kitchen being an issue because of water and dishes. The point about butcher block showing wear and scars is a very good one that I'm sure most people don't consider. To us, butcher block should look that way and it is part of the charm...we actually want that. We would likely just do it on the island, which would be a very utilitarian part of the kitchen. Something like this...

wakeboarderdave1 · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 11:09 am Post subject:

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

My parents mostly heat their house with the wood stove, but do run the heater every now and again. Where they're at in CA they spend $200-300 a cord and usually get 2-3 cords of wood each year. For them, it is a bit less expensive to heat with the wood than with gas. I think the expense has a lot to do with prices of wood versus other energy sources for heat. Like I said earlier, this isn't so much for me about cost, although many people around here spend less heating with wood than they did heating with other sources.

Broccoli B · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 11:52 am Post subject:

Wood heating is fairly popular in Michigan. I have a wood stove in my living room that can heat the entire house (2700 sq ft) I'm not sure if it is any cheaper than gas but i think it is more fun. We can buy split seasoned hardwood by the cord delivered for ~$150 around here. I have a free supply of wood, but you still have to factor in gas for the saw/splitter, and time. Usually 3 to 4 full days of work will get me 2 to 3 cords of split and stacked wood ready to burn. That is enough wood to heat my house 3 to 4 days a week all season long, so it cuts the gas bill in half.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Broccoli B, what brand and model stove do you have?

Tracktor · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 11:58 am Post subject:

I made a butcher block island a couple of years ago our of a huge laminated top I had laying around. Only issue is small delamination spots but that is from it being improperly stored for years. Other than that it has held up great with just oiling every once in awhile. That make a special oil for it.

We heat with wood solely( have a heat pump but hasn't been on in years). We have bought log truck loads & also pull wood from property. Use an insert since the fireplace is actually a huge stone wall between two rooms and would be a pain to remove but a stove would be more efficient. 2800 SQ ft 2-story house built in the '80's with not great insulation(upgrading) usually stays in the '70's until temps drop into the teens & twentys. Then it gets more zonal due to layout. Blow a fan TOWARDS the stove at floor level helps disperse heat. For us it's way cheaper than the alternative but more work. With two boys it's to have work for them, though..........

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

What type of wood is your butcher block?

ohsix · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 12:07 pm Post subject:

Tracktor · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 12:40 pm Post subject:

Broccoli B · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 12:48 pm Post subject:

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

I'll check out both of those brands. I've seen some good reviews for Quadrafire as well.

jjaszkow · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 1:59 pm Post subject:

jjaszkow · Posted: Jan 07, 2015 2:09 pm Post subject:

Bambamski · Posted: Jan 08, 2015 7:43 am Post subject:

Like I said if that's the look you're going for that's great. The picture shown above looks quite nice, the issue I have is you never see a "butcher bock island" after 5 years of use. The pictures are always taken after it's been first built.

After owning the slate countertops, and the maintenance you have to do on them, I so much prefer the granite. Don't have to worry about anything really. just wipe em down when they're dirty

Broccoli B · Posted: Jan 08, 2015 7:56 am Post subject:

Granite/Marble need to be sealed once a year. If you want maintenance free I think you have to go Quartz or synthetic.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

Maybe. I guess. Not really.

We've "sealed" our granite 2 times in 3 years. The product we use is a spray on and leave liquid from DuPont. It's pretty easy. Doesn't seem like I have to do it even that often.

I'm sure my kitchen reno is somewhere on here, but our granite is mostly white.

Marble is even more porous than granite, but I don't have any experiences with it in a kitchen setting.

Quartz is totally maintenance free. My mom went with it. I'm not a fan of her color choice, but it's been great for her.

Broccoli B · Posted: Jan 08, 2015 11:06 am Post subject:

It's probably not a must do, my folks have been in their new house for 8 years and I can all but guarantee the granite hasn't been sealed since the installer did it.

nmballa · Posted: Jan 08, 2015 8:29 pm Post subject:

I don't have much experience with butcher block other than seeing old free standing butcher blocks and thinking the wear looks pretty cool. But have you considered concrete? I did my counter tops in concrete and other than a wax every few months they look great. They tend to take on a patina of their own which just keeps giving them more character. That and you can do some cool built in features.

nmballa · Posted: Jan 08, 2015 8:30 pm Post subject:

Also, my counter have been in for about 5 or 6 years now and still look fantastic.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Concrete is something my wife and I have talked about a little bit. I hadn't mentioned it on here, but it is being considered a bit. From what I can see they are a little less expensive than natural stone, is that right? One concern is whether it would be too much concrete with floors and counter tops.

ohsix · Posted: Jan 09, 2015 5:45 am Post subject:

I lived in my last house a little over 6 years and had the granite counter tops resealed once. I couldn't tell any difference before or after sealing.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

Has anyone had experience with soapstone counters tops?