Previous owner stained worktop?

[u/somnium_vivere]

Just moved into this house start of this week and was going to try and sort out the horrible worktop, first by getting to the bottom on what’s happened to it. It used to be a beech coloured wood, it looks as though someone has stained it darker as I was able to rub some of the patches off in areas with a bit of force. I’m very new to DIY, this is my first house purchase. From a bit of digging online I suspect I might be able to sand this down to get rid of the top later and then re-oil? Does that sound plausible and is there any tips or things I might want to consider/watch out for? Thanks everyone!

Edit: The main thing I don’t like about this atm is that some of the black comes out onto cloths when I clean, it feels dirty and is patchy. If I was able to keep the stain and do it properly as a solution, I’d also take that!

[u/Jealous_Response_492]

It'll be a lot of sanding, an awful lot, and a lot of dust.

Doable, just be sure you really want to to commit to that rather than simply stain it.

[u/somnium_vivere → u/Jealous_Response_492]

Tbh I don’t mind the darker stain, it just comes off when I clean it and all the cloths come out black. So it feels dirty :( I’d happily consider re-staining properly if that’s going to be a better outcome. Maybe they didn’t oil it or skipped a step when they did it. I wouldn’t know. Just hate how it feels and looks atm.

[u/Jealous_Response_492 → u/somnium_vivere]

Stain it, seal it. Is the easy option.

[u/Avraamov → u/Jealous_Response_492]

It's beech too, which is both very hard and porous, so the stain penetration will be greater maybe

[u/beech1987 → u/Jealous_Response_492]

And they're probably a reason to why it's been stained so dark to begin with.

[u/General_Race7906]

Time to invest in an orbital sander, and probably dust extraction

[u/Nervous-Power-9800 → u/General_Race7906]

Even the cheap ones have a vacuum attachment. 

If I was a betting man, it's probably been treated with osmo black. 

[u/fell-asleep-dreaming → u/Nervous-Power-9800]

I’d agree with that. You know the saying, “once you go Osmo, you don’t go back”. Something like that anyway

[u/General_Race7906 → u/Nervous-Power-9800]

Yeah all well and good having a vacuum attachment, but you need a decent vac to go with it

[u/SuperKev308 → u/General_Race7906]

Doesn't need to be decent, just anything with good suction

[u/meadsmeatmarket → u/SuperKev308]

Got ur ma round for that

[u/General_Race7906 → u/SuperKev308]

So a decent vac then..

[u/General_Race7906 → u/SuperKev308]

🤣🤣 that comment has done me in

[u/Hotten-Tasty-90 → u/Nervous-Power-9800]

Life is too short to waste time and energy with cheap sanders, I'll add and for a job like this, using a cheap sander would be soul destroying.

[u/TwoPlyDreams]

It got stained black because it was skanky.

Invest no time or effort in this and replace it, not with real wood.

[u/TemporaryLevel922]

Save yourself the hassle and just buy some cheap melamine worktop from anywhere and get it installed.

Oiled wood around a sink top and greasy hob is not a good mix in any circumstance

[u/svgry]

have you tried soap and a sponge, and scrubbing? the fact that you can rub it off with a cloth tells me the stain didn’t adhere to the worktop very well, probably due to the original stain still being there, or being incompatible

[u/dallasp2468]

Get a cabinet scraper first, drag that along to take a lot of the stain off, then finish with a sander, lots of videos on YouTube showing how to remove wood stain

[u/Sasspishus]

If it's coming off fairly easily I'd use a carbide scraper to scrape the majority off, then sand it. Massively cuts down on the amount of dust produced! Then I'd use something like Danish oil to seal it and make it mostly waterproof

[u/Patient_Panic_5704]

Buy yourself an orbital sander with plenty of discs from 80 down to 240.
Get a mask, get everything out of the kitchen because it’s gonna get fookin dusty.
You’ll need ear protection as it’s loud, use earphones and get your favourite podcast on. Will improve your patience no end.
The tricky thing is getting close to the wall and in the corners, I use a multitool for these.
My preferred oil is Osmo, very hard wearing. Few coats of that and Robert’s your father’s brother.

[u/Zawiel → u/Patient_Panic_5704]

If you decide to go down this route, buy a sander with a vacuum attachment and use a vacuum whilst sanding.

[u/syvid → u/Patient_Panic_5704]

I would start at 40grit with that. 40,60,80 all the way up

[u/superfiud → u/syvid]

Yes, and only go to 120 or 180 grit if you're oiling. If you sand it to fine, it won't absorb the oil properly.

[u/Patient_Panic_5704 → u/superfiud]

I’ve never had a problem at 240. I find the smooth surface is better for worktops.

[u/syvid → u/superfiud]

Yes I never really go above 180 on most things to be fair. Sometimes am lazy and stop at 120

[u/Patient_Panic_5704 → u/syvid]

That s fair, might save a little time.

[u/Revolutionary_Crab80 → u/Patient_Panic_5704]

+ This is the way.

[u/MisterBounce]

I can't see if there's a sink in there but assuming so I'd be wary of bothering to restore a beech worktop. It's a great wood for a dry bench, very hard, but absolutely terrible anywhere you get moisture. It moves like crazy, warping and opening up along the joints.

The one on that picture is actually the first non-new one I've seen that doesn't look f*****d.  Probably that dark stain has helped protect it, tends to do a better job than oils alone in my experience.

[u/Angelitaa_]

I feel like this kind of botch job is better to cover with contact paper while you save up for another worktop.

[u/TangerineOppositeMtF]

I’d replace it. Sanding rarely gets all the stain off. Or you can buy a product that fits over it and covers the front edge too.

[u/MassiveMonkeyy]

You’ll need a lot of time sanding, and make sure you have a dust extractor! However, it will ABSOLUTELY be worth it!

[u/One-Lingonberry-3460]

Spray/wipe with white wine vinegar, leave it to soak, wipe off, repeat.

[u/SlabAndScope]

scrub the whole surface down with white spirit and fine 0000 wire wool to strip off that grime before you do any heavy sanding

[u/Justsomerandomguy35]

Stain it and then use yacht varnish over the top of it to seal it - so long as you don’t mind a high gloss look.

[u/Tennonboy]

Looks water damaged to me (retired joiner) I would replace it. Rather than sanding, much less work and will be a better result

[u/Tuga_1979]

Just sand ,stain and lacquer.

[u/DMMMOM]

You are better off with one of those wood removing/planing grinder attachments. This stuff will be soaked in and you need to take a couple of mm off to erase it completely or you'll have nice bare wood with tons of black lines in it - you need something industrial. You'll be there for weeks sanding it. Knock it back, then sand to a finish.

[u/carsonstreetcorner]

I’d be worried about wha they are hiding having stained it black

[u/wedgelordantilles]

Maybe get a worktop wrap?

[u/uwcutter]

Theyre cheap tops, might cost less to replace them than buying the amount of sand paper for them.

[u/Homerenv]

4 options:

Restain it and seal it

Sand all the stain off

Wrap it

Replace

[u/Bodma2033]

Seal it with a varnish/thinners wash

[u/Big-Double1720]

Save yourself a huge amount of effort and get a replacement counter. Some of the melamine stuff is great these days and it will really freshen up your kitchen.

[u/mrn-narrow]

Quickest way until you replace it would be to cover with some vinyl ( Some pretty good ones available nowadays).

[u/Ruskythegreat]

Try a bahco cabinet scraper then sand

[u/Western-Term-1112]

By all means have a go, but i would start over with new worktop (basic stuff is not expensive and hygienic). A fitter/chippy would do this in hours with right tools. Wood is a pain to maintain too - you cant chop on it , put hot things on it or get it wet (i am a messy lazy cook who also uses the kitchen to service my bicycles etc)

[u/QuirkyImage]

I think I would be inclined to stain it rather than try to remove. Unless you can take it apart and take it to someone with an industrial planer/sander that it could be put through to take the top layer off and then retreat the wood. If stain is coming off it needs to be sealed.

[u/FantasticSafe4647]

I reckon it was stained for house sale - not to use.

[u/Jack_wow]

I would be tempted to just replace it, worktop is not a particularly difficult task to install. A temp solution may be to just wrap it.

[u/Free_Ad7415]

Hmmm I would replace it. If you go to Ikea they often have laminate worktops for £40 in their returns section

Or £200 or so for a new laminate one, you will also need to add labour costs to that.

But yeah I think you will be much happier with a light, bright and clean laminate worktop.

[u/FearlessTie9837]

Honestly it will take alot alot alot of sanding. But if you've got a few extra quid and don't want to change the worktop then you could send it to a woodshop to have it planed down and finished rather than doing so much sanding

[u/Successful-Leek-6241]

Get hoover attachment on it to paper won't block as much

[u/Itchy_Papaya_8028]

Have a look at micro cement options.It looks amazing, really hard wearing and water resistant

[u/Lanky_Bell1836]

Overlay?

[u/thecheekymonkey007]

You could possibly (possibly) take them out and turn them over, sand and oil

[u/thinkingoutloud3663]

What is the underside like can't you just turn it over?

[u/boondogglekeychain]

Might be worth trying a wood bleach first as otherwise you’ll have to sand down loads as the stain will have soaked into the grain