Kitchen Worktops Jargon Buster

Here at Worktop Express we use a lot of worktop-related jargon that is straightforward to our knowledgeable team, but which can seem a little daunting to anyone who is less familiar.

We have put together this little guide to help you understand some of the more unique words and phrases you may come across on our website when shopping for wood kitchen worktops.

Staves

If you have browsed our website already, it is very likely that you have seen us use the term ‘staves’ regularly. This word refers to the individual wooden planks that are joined together to make up each worktop, and are either 40mm wide (as in our standard worktops), or up to 90mm wide for our Deluxe and full stave worktops.

You can read more about staves in our ‘Construction Types Explained’ information guide.

Finger-Jointing

Once you understand what staves are, you will want to know how they are joined together to create the worktops in our collection. Each standard/Deluxe worktop features a number of staves that are jointed end-to-end using a ‘finger joint’, which creates a strong connection that is also aesthetically pleasing. It is called a finger joint as it looks like interlocked fingers, and combines inherent friction with a small amount of glue to create a long-lasting and incredibly tough join.

We gave a more detailed explanation in one of our ‘Question of the Week’ answers from January 2015.

Edge-Gluing

Though staves in our standard and Deluxe worktops are joined end-to-end using finger joints, each row of staves is then edge glued together on their sides using incredibly strong wood glue; this formulation creates sturdy worktops that are supplied ‘off the shelf’ in widths of up to 960mm. Sometimes our bespoke team create even larger worktops (up to 1200mm wide) and for this they may also use ‘biscuit’ joints, which add extra rigidity between the rows of staves.

Grain & Figure

When talking about the character of wood, you may hear the terms ‘grain’ or ‘figure’. The figure is the overall appearance of the wood, and refers to the overall look of the wood, including its grain and other innate properties of the timber.

The term grain relates to the patterns exhibited on the timber’s surface; a formation that is made up by the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibres and cells. Some timbers (like oak) have a very pronounced, recognisable grain pattern. Other timbers (such as beech or maple) have grain that is less distinctive and possess a more delicate appearance.

Fabrication/Bespoke

Are you considering ordering customised worktops from us? If so you will have undoubtedly come across the terms ‘fabrication’ or ‘bespoke’ on our website. This term refers to the manufacture unique worktops our team can produce. We can offer a wide variety of custom options through our Online Bespoke Worktop Tool, or with the help of our fabrication team if your design is more unusual.

If you aren’t sure whether to take advantage of our service, why not read our ‘7 Reasons to Choose our Fabrication Service’ guide.

Pronunciation

Finally, you may have come across some rather exotic worktop choices on our website; as such you may be unsure as to their pronunciation. Rest assured that our friendly sales team should know exactly which worktops you are referring to, should you need to pronounce the name over the phone or in person; but if you want to ensure you are pronouncing the worktop name correctly, then follow this pronunciation guide for the two most commonly mispronounced worktops:

Wenge: “wɛnɡeɪ” or “ven gee”

Iroko: “ɪˈrəʊkəʊ” or “ih row co”