Giving New Life To Butcher Block

Refurbish Instead of Replace

A very neglected butcher block counter top

For the love of wood, I love the butcher-block counters in my house! The previous owners operated a restaurant and a catering business. The house was designed in a utilitarian manner with the purpose of being able to use it for food production. The floors are slate tile with drains in every room. This allowed them to be able to literally hose down the floors and they would drain out. This also doubles over as a protection system if a water pipe was to ever burst inside during a freeze. The water would run down the drains and limit, if not completely eliminate, water damage to the house.

But back to the counter tops - every surface of the kitchen is maple butcher-block and they are beautiful! But that was not always the case; when we first moved in they had not been maintained and were destroyed! Burn, gouges, stains... you name it and these counters had it. The picture above is just one example of what the entire kitchen surface looked like. The question came down to replacement or refurbishment. I think we all know what route I was going to take. The project was long and hard, but the end result was so worth it. The beauty behind having wooden counter tops is that they can be made to look new again.

To start the process I had to take a straightedge and laboriously scrape thick layers of wax, grease and who knows what else off of all the counter tops. The first time I tried to put a sander on it, the sandpaper filled up with wax in seconds and became unusable. After getting as much of the wax etc. off as I could by hand, I then loaded the belt sander with 80 paper. This allowed me to strip down the wood deeper than the stains and burns had leeched. 80 grit sand paper leaves a very rough finish, so I then incrementally stepped up to 220 grit. When at 220 I opted for a palm sander. This allowed for more control and I was able to focus on areas that were not as smooth as others.

As a word of caution, be aware that a belt sander removes a lot of wood very quickly. As a result, it is easy to create gouges in the wood, make divots and/or uneven surfaces

When using a belt sander be very cautious to not make divots

After the counter tops were stripped down and smoothed with a 220 grit sand paper, it was time to coat them with butcher block oil. Being as the wood was stripped down bare, the maple was very thirsty. Using a rag and a pair of gloves I had to apply 5 coats of oil to properly seal them. Between each coat, the oil was allowed to dry and then roughed up with 220 sand paper. After the final coat was on I hand buffed each counter top with 400 grit paper. The end product was a beautiful, shinny, smooth surface that is sealed with food grade butcher block oil.

Final product - Ending sandpaper grit of 400

The benefits of having butcher block counter tops it that you have a sanitary surface that is essentially one big wooden cutting board. The butcher block oil prevents bacteria from foods such as raw chicken from infiltrating the wood pours. After using it you can then disinfect it like you would any other cutting surface. Additionally, wood will not dull your knifes as quickly as more common plastic cutting boards. The butcher block also holds up better than other wood cutting boards that tend to dry out, crack and come unlaminated.

Materials needed for this project -

• 80, 120, 220 & 400 grit sandpaper
• Straightedge
• Belt Sander
• Palm Sander
• Cloth
• Food grade butcher block oil

Learn more about me by reading my Introduction Post