Oak worktop splitting

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by Handmade, Jan 10, 2023.

  1. Handmade

    Handmade New Member

    Hello, looking for a kitchen fitter/ carpenter view on this please. Kitchen fitted 1 month ago from a well known shed, shed supplied fitters. The work top is splitting. the shed have said, rub down mix pva and sawdust, fill the splits, re oil.
    I do not know what way to go. do i insist on replacements, or fill, would filling invalidate the 25 year guarantee ?
    Stuck a cocktail stick in it, for depth measurement at least half a centimetre deep.
    What would you guys suggest ?
     

    Attached Files:

  2. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    My opposite numbers may possibly disagree with me on this one but I think I would have rejected that worktop rather than fit it. I would be asking the supplier to replace it as unacceptable if I were you.
     
  3. I-Man

    I-Man Screwfix Select

    was any finish applied to protect the worktop? Also looks like the joint is raising at at the top of the 2nd photo
     
    Kitfit likes this.
  4. Truckcab79

    Truckcab79 Screwfix Select

    Cheap timber manufacturers will use timber that better would reject and will fill the imperfections as you can see they already have on that knot. See it a lot in cheap flooring too.

    Filling it and refinishing would be acceptable but if it were me I’d tell them in writing that I wanted new worktops but would be happy to let them take this more cost effective approach first and taken a view on whether the result is acceptable.
     
  5. ginger tuffs

    ginger tuffs Screwfix Select

    As worktop been fitted can you turn worktop over
     
  6. dubsie

    dubsie Active Member

    Looks like it's not been finished to me, section lifting is a clear sign of water damage.
     
    I-Man likes this.
  7. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    There is a top and bottom surface to wooden worktops usually and IME this looks reasonable for the underside of a cheap to medium priced product. Sometimes they have a stamped underside. Sometimes you have to pick the best side...... and front edge

    @Handmade ......... you can name the 'shed' if you like ????

    Interesting to know the cost of the worktops, ie each piece and lengths / widths?
    And assuming the worktops were supplied by same place.

    I would always recommend folk go to a specialist worktop supplier, especially for wood tops if they can afford to, and buy the best.

    We used to sell quality 4200 x 600 x 40mm (may have been slightly wider) for £120 each, but this was almost 20 years ago, Lol.
     
  8. Handmade

    Handmade New Member


    https://www.diy.com/departments/goo...kitchen-worktop-l-3000mm/3663602635437_BQ.prd
     
  9. big all

    big all Screwfix Select

    do not under any circumstances do a repair yourself even under instructions, once you do that you are entering the legal minefield where you have interfered and it can be a negative as in you are responsible fully or partly for the problem so muddy the waters
     
  10. Kitfit

    Kitfit Member

    Has it actually been oiled ?
     
  11. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    As has already been mentioned, it's my view that the worktops have been fitted "wrong side up".
    Not only that, they havn't been oiled and because they havn't been oiled they have suffered water damage.
    The worktops need to be replaced, simple as that.
     
  12. Handmade

    Handmade New Member

    To answer yes it was oiled, when it was fitted by the fitter.
     
  13. Handmade

    Handmade New Member

    Gas hob and sink have been installed and silicone sealed.
     
  14. Handmade

    Handmade New Member

    How can you tell by the pictures ? I Have my suspicion that the tops are also back to front, one side is postformed, this side to me, should be the front. I did mention this to a different B & Q Store member, replied first to go back to store that organised fitting and sold the kitchen, she said the top can be either way square edge/ postformed at front. Went to store, to complain// show pictures, to be rang later from the manager to just fill in with glue/ sawdust mix. I did say yes ok to this, as i could sense that were being fobbed off. Is why I have come here for views/ opinions.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    I can tell from your first pics because i have probably fitted more worktops than you could even imagine. They are not "back to front", what they are is upside down. In other words, the underside of the worktop has been fitted facing upwards.
    This is a complete failure to not only fit the worktops "the right side up". But also a failure to sand them when fitted and then a failure to oil them not only before fitting but also after fitting.
     
    ginger tuffs, Rosso, Kitfit and 2 others like this.
  16. Alan22

    Alan22 Screwfix Select

    That's not a split, it's a natural defect, shake or pitch pocket type thing, as a former French polisher I personally hate filling gaps with sawdust and glue, the proper way is clean out the dark bit(if you want it invisbile) with a razor blade, vertical sides, then tap in a bit of similar veneer dipped in pva, two bits if wide, flush it with a block plane, gone.

    Some would call it 'character'.
     
  17. Muzungu

    Muzungu Screwfix Select

    That's what I thought to be honest, a defect that has been in the particular section of wood before the thing was felled and has not been picked up in the subsequent manufacturing processes, it should have been.

    I don't think @Handmade should be touching this and it should be sorted by B and Q on the basis that the supplied worktop was faulty, can't see either B and Q or the fitters having the necessary skills to rectify it in place; if they can then fine, but it's up to them not @Handmade.

    For a certain type of kitchen, a bit of a rustic vibe perhaps, it may suit the overall character but otherwise it needs to be swapped out.
     
    Handmade likes this.
  18. Handmade

    Handmade New Member

    Will contact b&q again. thanks for taking the time to reply
     
  19. rogerk101

    rogerk101 Screwfix Select

    I recently bought an oak worktop, and had to move upmarket because too many of the budget priced ones had so many disclaimers about quality and about wood being a natural product. Basically they worded their disclaimers in such a way that they could squirm their way out of any claims against them.
    I eventually found a really upmarket piece that was being sold for a really budget price on eBay by someone who had cocked up his measurements, so couldn't use it. It was brand new, but suited my measurements perfectly.
     
    Astramax likes this.
  20. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    Postforming, relates to a process of bending Laminate ........

    You cannot 'postform' solid wood worktops .... so 'she' doesn't know what she is talking about if that ^^^ is what 'she' said....


    The worktops are not necessarily upside down ......... but they do usually have one side better than the other, and it is sometimes the fitters decision to pick the best side as the underside is not always printed on / indicated.

    I suspect with cheap 'shed' bought worktops, that this is the case. Just poor quality in general.
     

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