Storage

• If you are not ready to install your worktops, then take care when storing them to ensure that they do not warp.
• Choose a storage location in an indoor area with stable humidity and temperature, where the worktops can be stored flat; separate multiple worktops using battens to allow the air to circulate around them.
• Never store the worktops upright or leant against a wall, as this can cause cracking or warping whilst they acclimatise to the surrounding conditions.

Cutting

• Unless your kitchen happens to be the most perfectly shaped rectangle, it is likely that you will need to cut your new wooden worktops down to size.
• With the right equipment, cutting worktops is relatively straightforward. Because of the density of hardwood timber, we recommend using a circular saw or router rather than a jigsaw, either of which can be hired or purchased relatively cheaply.
• Our sister site, www.worktop-express.co.uk provides a bespoke worktop cutting service. Please contact us if you would like to utilise this.

Oiling

• Protecting a wooden worktop is very important both before and after installation. We recommend using Rustins Danish Oil to provide a food-safe, low-lustre finish.
• Ensure that you treat your worktop with 3 coats of oil on the main surfaces (and 6 coats on the end grain) prior to installation. Once installed the worktop should be oiled regularly during the first few weeks to maintain a hard-wearing finish.
• You can read more in our Oiling Wood Worktops guide.

Fitting

• To attach your worktops to the kitchen base cabinets, we recommend using round-headed screws with slotted right-angle brackets, which are designed to allow the worktop to expand and contract if the bracket is installed with the slot perpendicular with the width of the worktop.
• We advise leaving an expansion gap of approximately 5mm between the worktop and any adjacent walls to allow it to expand and contract as the room temperature changes. To cover these gaps, we sell matching worktop upstands, which should be attached directly to the wall.
• To assist with fitting a worktop, our Worktop Installation Kit is just £15, and includes all the accessories required.

Joining

• If joining two or more worktops, we recommend butt jointing the worktops together at right angles using worktop connector bolts, which sit in routed recesses on the underside of the worktop.
• These bolts securely hold the worktops together, whilst allowing small movement as necessary, and also allow the kitchen worktops to be dismantled – should you require.

In our Worktop Installation Accessories category, we sell worktop jigs which make the job of routing worktop connector bolts considerably more straightforward.