We have a bought a new build house and thinking about what worktops to put into the kitchen. I like the look of granite but am I right in thinking in that natural wood worktops are generally cheaper than granite?
Only have wood if you are prepared to nurse it along, make sure you wipe up spills immediately, oil it regularly etc. (Speaking as someone who has had wooden surfaces for the past 12 years.)
Granite is far easier in those terms - requires no maintenance, just a wipe with an e-cloth. But it is £££.
We had a new kitchen 12 months ago with oak worktops and the area around the taps has become discoloured by water. Basically the problem is, every time you turn off the tap you leave a few drops of water, you have to either dry it with a cloth or leave it to go black.
We are looking in to changing our worktops to granite.
Granite every time. Easier to keep clean and good looking, more hygienic, less work and it doesn't matter if your family forget to use a cutting board.
"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do" Benjamin Franklin "Some cause happiness wherever they go - others whenever they go" Oscar Wilde
The blackening (and eventual rotting) round the sink/taps thing is the main problem with wooden worktops. I had beech last time, which I am now told is particularly prone to this (although the blackening took a couple of years to appear - are you conscientiously oiling the worktops BB?) and oak doesn't seem much better. We are redoing the kitchen in a few weeks and are considering Iroko which is supposedly more naturally oily and hardwearing. However it depends how you use the kitchen: if you are a readymeal queen, or eat out a lot, or have a dishwasher, it will matter a lot less.
My problem with granite is that I don't like the most easily available colours - i.e. black and grey. Funereal. And compared with wood it is very expensive. Re hygiene, granite is much easier to swab down but wood is still a very hygienic surface.
I love wood surfaces, but this is my last attempt with them. If it goes pearshaped, I will change them to funereal granite.
Hi thanks for everyone's help. I actually like the look of granite but we've been quoted £4K for that as a worktop in our new house. Figure wood nothing like that and it also looks good. We will have a dishwasher and have explained to husband that we cant have water spillages on it. I think i might be going off the idea of wood slightly as I imagine it could look really rubbish in a few years time?!? totally confused.....!
If you like the look of granite, and can afford it - have it. It will last indefinitely and is more or less maintenance-free. Wood will almost certainly look manky in a few years, exactly how soon will depend on how diligently you look after it. It isn't just a question of avoiding major spillages, you do have to be very careful, even an innocent looking tin or a hot cup of tea can leave a mark.
If you can't afford granite - the decision is made for you.
There is another possibility, I’ve found some very nice black laminate. You have to look very closely to know its not granite and it only costs £100 a length.
We have got a dark grey speckled laminate work top; it looks good and is easy to keep clean. I have two allotments and bring home lots of dirty vegs. Granite, wood etc. would not be able to stand up to heavy daily use.
Wasn't dissing laminate, was dissing things pretending to be something they are not Laminate is easycare and good value for money but the OP only asked about wood and granite. I was surprised BB was thinking of it though.
Composites like quartz are a similar price to granite (was considering quartz at one point, it is very pretty), and Corian is also pretty £££.
Continental - you would have to go some to wreck a granite worktop, they are very hardwearing (believe me I have tried )
You could try bamboo. There are some great ones available, and they have all the warmth of wood. They do need oiling, and the care that is similar to wood, however, I find it fine, with no hint of dis-colouring.
Having had both cherry and bamboo workstops, I think that bamboo is more resillient.
I really wanted composite in my kitchen but at £900 per meter plus cutting and fitting I really couldn't afford it so I went for the granite style laminate and it looks fine. I compensated by splashing out on really nice tiles instead.
If you can't afford it, you can't afford it and that's that!
We went back and forth between laminate and granite but in the end the wife won and we went with the 'Star Galaxy' granite. It looks sooo amazing and cleans beautifully!
I think all these things have their pros and cons.
As you say, wood tends to go a bit dodgy round the sink unless you're very conscientious on the oiling. But tougher than I would have thought (we have it in our rental flat)
A very nice guy in a kitchen showroom warned me off having glass for the actual worktops (said it was great for a breakfast bar, though).
I thought laminate would be pretty tough, but after a couple of years, ours has started to peel off slightly at the join where Mr Hatster always leaves the wet rubber gloves.
And I've been told / shown that granite can also get stained.
I too was told granite can stain particularly with acids like lemon juice. We currently have half granite half oak in our L shaped kitchen (the oak is only about four years old but looks pants). Since I know the granite is going shortly I have been very careless with it but it still looks like new.
I'm having walnut for the new surfaces, they had better behave themselves
Laminate is easycare and good value for money but the OP only asked about wood and granite. I was surprised BB was thinking of it though. 
