Ikea butcher block: Would I use it again?

Lots of countertop options out there in the universe, but for me it was never a choice. I’ve always loved the look of butcher block and, besides a fleeting love affair with Paperstone, we never considered anything else. Still, at the time, I really wondered if we were making a mistake – isn’t butcher block a pain to look after? Won’t water ruin it? Ah! Well! Here’s a year’s experience…

Why Lagan butcher block not Numerar?

Settling on Ikea Lagan after realizing you pay a lot more for Numerar’s extra 3/8th inch thickness, we eventually installed 1 long Lagan and 2 shorter pieces, so just over 16 feet of countertop total for $270 + tax.

This gave us enough extra to refinish our Bekvam kitchen cart, plus a few chunky chopping boards (that we’ll sand and seal “one day”) .

(If we’d wanted our butcher block three-eighths thicker and in a slightly different shade (Lagan’s beech, Numerar is oak) – 16 feet of Numerar would have cost $498 + tax. For the difference we bought a laminate kitchen floor. Which is more useful in our daily lives, and more visible to a buyer?)

Installing Ikea butcher block

Lagan butcher block is ideal for a budget DIY renovation in an apartment:

1. It’s light enough for two people to lug it home themselves.
2. We could install it ourselves (well, us + 2 great friends)

Marble or granite (though out of our budget) would need a more skilled installation than we could provide. Second-place finisher Paperstone is super heavy and needs hired help – as it could crack if installed wrong. Plus it costs way more than I could sell Paolo for. Lagan butcher block isn’t too thick – a Home Depot saw rental (with NEW blades) cut through it. And it took just four of us (friends we owe for life) to lift and hold it in place – no prior experience needed. Although it did fit on the first try – we could have lifted it off and made another cut.

Life with Lagan – Ikea butcher block reviewed

Bad things for butcher block

• Saline solution for contacts. While renovating the bathroom, teeth were brushed and faces washed in the kitchen. The lens solution lived at the far end of the butcher block and some time later we realized it was leaving a light ring in place. There’s probably a dozen of these quarter-sized rings dotted along the counter now. Apartment Therapy says iron them out. I don’t think so.
• Coffee. A ring we didn’t spot in time.

Both of these will need sanding out – a forgiving feature I really like. Were it laminate (same price range as Lagan butcher block) – we’d be dead.

Behold, Behandla – oiling butcher block

The counters are meant to be re-oiled every 3-4 months. The stuff from Ikea, Behandla, stinks and takes up to a full day to sink in. I recommended doing it in the morning and then leaving for the day. It wouldn’t be a problem in a kitchen with windows. Little apartment people – it’s not a nice smell. Done the first time last Christmas, too cold to leave the windows open, I came down with a memorably awful headache – I blame it on Behandla.

* Fun fact * Behandla can spontaneously combust – keep it out of the sun & away from heat!

Once newly oiled, water beads on the counter top and Lagan looks happy and well-fed. Although I have an iCal reminder set to pop up every 3 months, we can now tell when it’s time just by the colour change. Newly oiled it’s a rich orangey colour and when due for more it looks dried out & thirsty.

Cleaning Lagan

Soap in the sink, add some hot water, wipe it down. Rinse with a damp cloth, dry with a tea towel. If one person moves things out of the way while the other cleans – our Pit Crew has the job done in under 2 minutes.

Butcher block vs water

Owning new butcher block is a like having a new baby (so I choose to believe). We started very gently, anything might harm it! We went through a dozen tea towels a day, wiping up every single splash. I wanted it to look brand new in a year’s time, a rich and inviting present for the new owners.

Well… that OCD didn’t last. We now use the tap with gay abandon, and just run a tea towel around the sink area afterwards. No problem. We’re careful, without anal compulsion. Kids + Kool Aid might be bad news but it handles our coffee addiction just fine.

Improving with age

As it ages, the areas we use most are smoothing and the patina is developing. I’ll let you know how much sanding is needed to get out the few rings and stains. Saline aside, I think it looks even better than when new.

Loving Lagan in all shades

Unlike a Poang chair or Expedit – this is one Ikea product that no one suspects. In a dark kitchen with no natural light – it’s ever so warm and cozy. Chuck anything on it – fresh vegetables or a newly iced cake – and it couldn’t look more like home. Here’s an average week for Lagan.

I’m a butcher block banana bread machine. Others have stained Lagan different colours with great results but, straight out of the box, it looks great with white cabinets.

Ikea’s butcher block verdict: A+, true love

I completely love Lagan and will definitely, definitely use it again. Every one of my {pausing to count} 40,593 Vancouver rental apartments had the cheapest of cheap laminate counters. It’s definitely the de facto choice for starter rental apartments in this city – and it looked and felt sooooooo cheap. Inevitably it would come with stains, chips, or – worse of all – burn marks.

A year later and with only a ‘normal-level-of-care’, Lagan butcher block looks even better than it did new. For an apartment kitchen – with elevator access, no windows, plus our newbie knowledge and tightie-whitie budget… Lagan is our #1.

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