Worktop Express Information Guides

‘What is the lead time on your fabricated kitchen worktops?’

Our final ‘Question of the Week’ this January was sent in by Nigel from Thornbury, who is in the process of designing a bespoke fabricated worktop that he would like to order from us. He wants to know what the expected lead time is on fabricated kitchen worktops.

Hi Nigel,

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch regarding your fabricated wooden worktops. We offer one of the fastest bespoke worktop services available, with a wide range of fabrication services offered as standard.

Our lead time for all standard fabrication services (listed on our Bespoke Cutting Service page) is between 3 – 5 working days, depending how busy our fabrication team are. We calculate lead time from the moment that we receive approval of your confirmed fabrication diagram.

If you happen to have a particular bespoke requirement, it may mean that fabrication takes a little longer, based upon the difficulty of the work required. If this is the case, our fabrication team will advise accordingly and keep you updated every step of the way.

Once your worktop is complete, our standard delivery time is 2 – 5 working days for the majority of England & Wales, and between 3 – 10 working days for Cornwall, North & West Wales and Scotland.

If you require your kitchen worktops to be completed and delivered more urgently – and live within one of our next day delivery regions – then we can offer a priority express service (work load permitting). This service shortens the lead time to just 4 – 5 working days from confirmation of diagram, to delivery of your worktops. If you would like to take advantage of this service, then notify our advisors at the point of placing your order, and a 10% surcharge of the order value will be applied.

If you have any other queries regarding fabrication, we have a huge range of fabrication information guides. For any further queries, feel free to get in touch again.

All the best,

Ben @ Worktop Express

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‘Are your timber worktops kiln dried?’

January’s fourth ‘Question of the Week’ was sent in by Martin from Carmarthen, who wants to know exactly how our timber worktops are dried and whether they are naturally or kiln dried.

Hi Martin,

Thanks for taking the time to get in touch with us, you are right to be concerned about the drying techniques used for any wooden product, as if they are dried using the wrong techniques, it can have a drastic effect on the quality.

All the staves used to construct our worktops are kiln dried, which we believe is best for the worktops as it enhances the durability and protects against decay, fungal infections or other infestations that can affect naturally-dried wood. When wood is dried naturally, it can sometimes dry unevenly or insufficiently which is what leads to shrinking, cracks and warping.

The kilns used to dry our timber are linked to sensors which shuts the kiln down once the timber has reached its optimum moisture level.

As the solid wood used to construct our worktops is a natural product, if the correct maintenance/installation procedures are not followed, there is a slim chance that bowing can occur (due to the natural contraction and expansion that occurs due to a changes in humidity in the local environment). Fortunately this is a rare occurrence, and we provide a wealth of information on installation and maintenance to help you care for your worktops correctly. Please take a look at our installation and Aftercare page for more insight.

For further details of the kiln drying process our timber undergoes, please read our ‘Why is Kiln Dried Wood Best for Worktops?’ information guide.

We recommend that you use Rustins Danish Oil to regularly maintain and protect a worktop, whilst providing a hard-wearing finish. For further information on oiling in particular, please read our Oiling Worktops Nutshell Guide.

All of our worktops come with a 6 month guarantee, but if you have any issues during this period, we ask that you contact our customer support team directly for further assistance.

I hope this allays any concerns you may have about properly dried timber. If you do have any further questions however, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

All the best,

Ben @ Worktop Express

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‘Do you sell 60mm thick wood worktops?’

Our latest ‘Question of the Week’ this January comes from Andrew in Taunton, who is looking for extra-thick wood worktops measuring 60mm rather than the standard 40mm. Whilst these aren’t in our standard range, we were still able to provide him with a helpful response.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for getting in touch, we think you are definitely making the right choice in deciding upon wooden worktops for your kitchen.

Whilst worktops tend to be around 40mm as standard from most suppliers, we do have 60mm thick options available on request. Unfortunately, due to the limited nature of their demand, we cannot keep them as a stock item, but have a good selection available should you wish to order them.

With a lead time of approximately 4 – 6 weeks, we have the following 40mm stave worktops available in lengths up to 6000mm and 1200mm wide and up to 60mm thickness:

Oak (standard and prime)

Beech (standard and prime)

Iroko

European walnut

American walnut

Wenge

Zebrano

Cherry

Maple

To purchase one of these worktops, you will need to contact us with your requirements, and a member of our fabrication team will be in touch. Of course we are also able to offer any of our fabrication services on these extra-thick worktops, including edge profiling, bespoke cuts and many other specialist alterations.

We hope this provides you with enough information to be able to place an order. If you do happen to have any further questions though, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

All the best,

Ben @ Worktop Express

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‘What is finger jointing?’

Our second ‘Question of the Week’ this January is from Jane in Felixstowe, who whilst researching her new worktops has come across the phrase ‘finger jointing’ on our website, and would like to know what exactly it means.

Hi Jane,

I’m glad to hear you are considering one of our timber worktops – they’re a great choice for a kitchen counter and many other surfaces.

Apart from our full stave worktops, all the wooden worktops on our website are created by joining a number of timber segments together; these separate pieces of solid wood are known as staves.

To join these staves together in a fashion that is both aesthetically pleasing and resilient to the stresses and strains that may be placed upon the surface, we choose a finger joint. This type of joint gets its name from two interlocking hands, (which it resembles) and relies partially on frictional force to hold the staves together, along with a small amount of glue.

There are a number of different types of finger joint: square finger joints can often be seen at the corner of boxes and drawers, whilst a stepped finger joint uses smaller rectangular ‘fingers’ for a more intricate look and stronger hold.

Our joint of choice is known as a ‘feather’ finger joint, which uses triangular fingers that are cut using an electric router. These fingers form the strongest possible join whilst looking by far the most attractive of any type of joint.

Hopefully this answers your query, but if you have any further queries about the construction of our worktop, or any other aspect of our products, feel free to get in touch.

All the best,

Ben @ Worktop Express

Do you have a question that you would like us to answer? Ask us now on , or send us a message.