best ideas (price) for a kitchen work top

[lord mud of the flyes]

I ordered one of the special 3 meter long offers from Wicks for 16 quid the other day. And it turned up and turned out to be 70mm wide not 70cm😡

So I am now in need of something ells. The width and length is 2 domestic fridges and 2 sinks inside them so about 55cm wide and about 2 meters long I guess

Edited Thursday at 21:46 by lord mud of the flyes

[Mike]

52 minutes ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

it turned up and turned out to be 70mm wide not 70cm

 

Reminds me of when I one ordered these mini adhesive pads from a well-known online bay. One single pad arrived stapled to a piece of paper.

 

 

[Crofter]

Or when my mate saw a great deal on an Islay whisky on Amazon. The bottle that turned up was a miniature.

[lord mud of the flyes]

17 hours ago, Crofter said:

Or when my mate saw a great deal on an Islay whisky on Amazon. The bottle that turned up was a miniature.

Amazon yes; Wicks No!

[lord mud of the flyes]

So I want a sheet of wood i can cut 2 holes in for the sinks, and i want the sheet of wood to look good and shinny as for food prep. or even a sheet of stainless steel

[ProDave]

Solid Oak worktop from Howdens:

 

[Crofter]

It's hard to beat a basic laminate worktop. Much cheaper than any other sensible option, very hard-wearing. I looked at some fancier options and couldn't justify the extra expense.

Bear in mind I was building a holiday house so it needed to be pretty bombproof.

 

For a house used just by ourselves, I would seriously consider real wood, and put up with the extra care needed not to cut or scorch it.

[lord mud of the flyes]

2 hours ago, Crofter said:

 

 

For a house used just by ourselves, I would seriously consider real wood, and put up with the extra care needed not to cut or scorch it.

What do you mean by real wood?

[lord mud of the flyes]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

Solid Oak worktop from Howdens:

 

did you fit that?

[lord mud of the flyes]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

Solid Oak worktop from Howdens:

 

 

I have looked at there web site

Investor Relations | Howden Joinery Group Plc

and i can not see any products for sale though is it trade only?

[Crofter]

2 hours ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

What do you mean by real wood?

Literally, any product made with a real wood final surface. Usually beech, oak, maple, or other hardwood. 

To save a bit of money you can get worktops which have a composite core and a thinner layer of wood on the top and the front edge.

The alternative is laminate which has that composite core and a very thin layer of rigid plastic (usually called High Pressure Laminate, Formica, or Melamine). The plastic can be imprinted with a wood effect, or it can make to look like marble, granite, etc. 

 

(By 'composite' I'm meaning it's made if chopped up wood fibres mashed together with a binder. The end result looks a bit like Weetabix)

[Crofter]

2 hours ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

I have looked at there web site

Investor Relations | Howden Joinery Group Plc

and i can not see any products for sale though is it trade only?

They are technically trade only, some branches are pretty relaxed about letting you open an account. You'll probably have to phone for prices. You may have to ask around and use a mate's account. 

Alternatively you can go to any kitchen retailer like B&Q, IKEA, or one of the online specialists.

[lord mud of the flyes]

19 hours ago, Crofter said:

Literally, any product made with a real wood final surface. Usually beech, oak, maple, or other hardwood. 

To save a bit of money you can get worktops which have a composite core and a thinner layer of wood on the top and the front edge.

do you have n example please?

 

 

 

[lord mud of the flyes]

19 hours ago, Crofter said:

They are technically trade only, some branches are pretty relaxed about letting you open an account. You'll probably have to phone for prices. You may have to ask around and use a mate's account. 

Alternatively you can go to any kitchen retailer like B&Q, IKEA, or one of the online specialists.

This is the cheapest one that i saw

MÖCKLERYD worktop, white/laminate, 123x2.2 cm - IKEA UK

[Crofter]

6 minutes ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

do you have n example please?

 

 

 

IKEA do worktops with a thin layer of real wood over fibreboard:

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/vrena-worktop-oak-veneer-00437167/

[JohnMo]

Just get yourself to any major DIY outlet store and get some laminate. Normally have different lengths, damaged stuff etc.

On 11/09/2025 at 22:43, lord mud of the flyes said:

ordered one of the special 3 meter long offers from Wicks for 16 quid the other day.

What else did you expect, a full 3m worktop for £16, dream on.

[Kelvin]

We got a 4m extra wide solid oak worktop from DiY online kitchens for not a lot of money. But we bought it with a kitchen so not sure if they’d sell you one separately. I also noticed solid wood worktops in in B&Q on sale recently for reasonable money. 

[torre]

It's worth checking Facebook marketplace and Gumtree for people selling offcuts and worktops they're replacing if you're not after anything particular

[lord mud of the flyes]

On 13/09/2025 at 19:26, Crofter said:

IKEA do worktops with a thin layer of real wood over fibreboard:

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/vrena-worktop-oak-veneer-00437167/

to much money!

[lord mud of the flyes]

What about MDF. What thickness would i need in the board to be as strong enough as kitchen work tops are? As the kitchen tops are made of junk wood and glue; is MDF stronger and therefor a thinner sheet needed to be as strong? My kitchen top is about 1" thick

 

Hear are some for sale with wicks

MDF Board | MDF Sheets | MDF Panels | Wickes

[JohnMo]

12 minutes ago, lord mud of the flyes said:

MDF stronger

Not water proof or water resistant. External ply would be better.

 

Or don't bother use and old door or old table, get inventive.

[-rick-]

If you are really short on cash, maybe look on gumtree/fb marketplace for someone wanting rid of one (free if you collect). Plenty of people replace perfectly good surfaces and if you find a big damaged one might still be able to cut it down to a smaller size to fit your space. Look for something based on wood/laminate if you want to be able to adjust it to fit your space as that's the one that can be altered with simple tools.

[Crofter]

10 minutes ago, -rick- said:

If you are really short on cash, maybe look on gumtree/fb marketplace for someone wanting rid of one (free if you collect). Plenty of people replace perfectly good surfaces and if you find a big damaged one might still be able to cut it down to a smaller size to fit your space. Look for something based on wood/laminate if you want to be able to adjust it to fit your space as that's the one that can be altered with simple tools.

This is the way to go. 

I've thrown out perfectly good sections of worktop when replacing a kitchen. Can't even give them away.