Warm and accommodating, butcher block is an affordable countertop cloth with a lot going for it. To be retained regularly and butcher block countertops will honor you by aging gracefully. But without suitable upkeep, they can dull and rift. Are butcher block countertops the freedom substance for you and your kitchen? Read our butcher block bar primer to find out.
Above: Good fairly for a chef: a butcher-block countertop in the Manhattan kitchen of cook David Tanis; accompany A Chef’s Low-Tech, Economical, and Beautifully Soulful Kitchen in the East Village. Photograph by Heidi’s Bridge. What is butcher block?
Butcher block is made from straight-shooting cuts of wood glued together into thick-witted slabs that provision a particularly sturdy and stable project surface in a kitchen, whether as a cutting board, tabletop, or counter.
Above: A butcher block countertop in a British Standard Cupboard Kitchen by Plain English. Are there different types of butcher block?
There are three basic construction wordings of butcher board: boundary particle, face particle, and death grain.
Above: Butcher board bars are a durable alternative for a mobile, outdoor kitchen; participate Stockpot and Two Smoking Barrels: A Rustic Kitchen in a Shepherd’s Hut in England. Photograph by Emma Lewis. Periphery Grain 
Above: Edge grain is the one most commonly used for counters because it’s strong, stable, and less expensive than the others. It’s made by placing long boards on their slopes and joining them so that their long narrow-minded fringes form the surface. The cards is likely to be continuous periods of timber with no seams, or random-length boards that are finger-jointed( as indicated above ). Face Grain 
Above: Face-grain butcher block is framed from councils that are laid flat, their full widths organizing a surface with a streamlined seek. Prone to observes when used for chopping and cutting, face grain is less suitable for working kitchen bars than the others. Aspiration Grain 
Above: End-grain construction is made from big rectangular blocks agreed so that the ends( with growing reverberates presenting) are visible on the surface. The strongest and most expensive type of butcher block, it’s huge for surfaces dedicated to cutting, because it camouflages bayonet distinguishes and is soothing on blade margins( they slip into the grain rather than against it ). What types of wood are used for butcher block?
Butcher block can be made from nearly any wood. Maple is one of the best and most popular for butcher block bars because it’s hard-bitten and has a clear grain. Cherry and red oak give rich pigment. Butcher board are also welcome to crafted from bamboo( it is most effective with end-grain construction) and sustainably raised exotics such as wenge, zebrawood, and iroko.
Above: In a London kitchen by deVol, the designers paired iroko wood with marble countertops. Time butcher block countertops need to be sealed?
For kitchen counter employments, it’s important to use unsealed, oil-finished wood. Sealed countertops are not meant to be used as food-prep work surfaces-they’re not food or knife friendly. Mark Squire of Quality Kitchen Closet in San Francisco asks: “Using closed timber defeats the purpose of butcher block, because it floods up the natural heated surface with plastic.” Sealed butcher block does render gleam and can work well as a drive desk or saloon top in a kitchen that doesn’t involve food.( And when needed for food prep, pair it with a cutting board .) Note that unsealed butcher block is not recommended immediately around a settle: Over day it will probably discolor and rot.
Above: Designer Athena Calderone modernized the brown laminate countertops in her rental kitchen with Karlby birch countertops from Ikea. Photograph by Sarah Elliot, courtesy of Athena Calderone. How do you best maintain butcher block countertops?
At a minimum, butcher block countertops require oiling every six months to keep the wood protected. Different lumbers come with different finishing lubricant recommendations and it’s best to follow the instructions of your installer. Depending on statu of use, butcher block countertops may also require more frequent oiling and necessity to prevent the lumber from cracking and searching monotonou. N.B .: Avoid using fix oil to treat butcher block; it can damage the grove. Because butcher block is soft, it mars more than other information, guiding some people to use it for certain surfaces exclusively, such as work islands. Time before oiling, you can softly remove scrapings, burns, and other surface mars with fine sandpaper, and your countertop will look like new.
Above: Christine missed a warm material for her open kitchen, so she adopted edge-grain countertops of solid oak dealt with in various coatings of Danish oil for a hardwearing finish. For the full fib, identify Rehab Diary: Sleuthing for Space in My Kitchen. Photograph by Kristin Perers for Remodelista. Can butcher block be used as a trimming surface?
Yes, unsealed butcher block works well as a large stationary work surface and has been used this path for centuries( after all, it comes by its epithet candidly ). That said, it’s not as easy as it looks to clean a butcher block counter as it is a movable cutting board, which explains why many proprietors use cutting boards on top of butcher board. And, as mentioned, chipping on butcher block over age buds commemorates and scratches–character-defining to some, best eschewed to others.
Above: In this kitchen by Melbourne interior building firm Hearth Studio, a kitchen island is segmented into American oak and Carrara marble for a office surface. What do butcher block countertops expenditure?
Prices vary depending on the type of wood, the speck interpretation, and the thickness. In general, custom-made quality butcher block countertops scope from $75 to $150 per square paw. In other words, good butcher block is more expensive than mid-range granite but less expensive than top-of-the-line natural stone.
The good report is that several manufacturers offer off-the-shelf butcher block worktops in standard counter-depth sizes with variable spans. If your setup accepts, this is the inexpensive highway to go. And the DIY-inclined can trim butcher block slabs to fit around gadgets, corners, and other obstacles–not something you can pull off on your own with stone.
Above: In her compartment kitchen, Sarah Samuel of Smitten Studio lay Ikea’s affordable edge-grain, oiled-beech Numerar Wood Countertop( now discontinued ). Ikea now offers a similar[ concoction id= “6 15288 “] Hammarp Oak Countertop [/ make ], which comes in precut spans. Photograph courtesy of Smitten Studio. 
Above: San Francisco designer Mark Reilly employed end-grain butcher block countertops in a kitchen in a turn-of-the-century house in Palo Alto, California. “The countertop was originally Formica, but the client required a material that didn’t clink when glass or performing wares were placed on it, ” Reilly says. “After exploring various options, we decided on end-grain butcher block because of its kindnes, soft feel, and vintage-inspired look.” Photograph by Mark Reilly. N.B. See how the designer made an open kitchen in a Victorian house in Remodelista Best Design Professional Space Winner: Mark Reilly. Killer Block Pros and Cons Pros Butcher board bars compute warmth and natural emblazon. It’s a soft textile that’s easy on glassware and dishes: No rattle when you putting in place a load of layers. Grove concoctions well with many other countertop cloths, specially marble. If maintained properly, it’s a long lasting and durable choice. Unlike laminate or solid-surface bars, timber countertops are repairable: Gouges and burns is likely to be delicately sanded and the surface reoiled. It develops a lovely patina over epoch. Wood has natural antibacterial and antimicrobial belongings.
Cons
Wood counters are not heat or stain resistant. Hot washes can’t be set down on the bar without a pad or trivet. Wood can swell and shrivel in conditions of extreme dryness or humidity, which may cause cracking. Unwarranted wetness reaches the lumber suggestible to decompose and blemish. It develops a patina over season( a item that likewise precipitates in the Pros category; it’s a matter of savor ). Butcher block requires some maintenance.
Above: Italian kitchen decorators Schiffini squander end-grain butcher block at the end of a kitchen island.
Researching brand-new countertops? For more on the subject, accompany our Remodeling 101 Guide to Kitchen Countertops, plus our recent poles on the subject 😛 TAGEND
Remodeling 101: A Primer on Kitchen Countertops Remodeling 101: A Low-Maintenance Guide to Maintaining Soapstone Counters Remodeling 101: The Difference Between Carrara, Calacatta, and Statuary Marble
Finally, get more suggestions on how to evaluate and choose your kitchen countertop in our Remodeling 101 Guide: Kitchen Countertops.
N.B .: This announce is an update. It primarily extended on November 19, 2013.
Read more: remodelista.com
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