Common sense care of your new Oak work surface

When you buy a worktop of this quality you know that it will be a main feature of any room.  To ensure it remains both beautiful and practical it must be properly installed and subsequently maintained with common sense care..

Our worktops are dispatched in the best possible condition. It's your responsibility to continue caring for them in the way we did before they left Hampton Flo. Storage and maintenance are major issues, if done properly you'll have years of pleasure from your worktops, however we cannot be held responsible for their continued condition if our level of care and attention is not maintained.

On receipt of your order please inspect it within 24 hours. After this inspection, please make sure your worktop is re-wrapped and stored as follows:

Storing Oak worktops

The worktops must remain in their original packaging until installation. They need to be on a flat surface and fully supported using bearers if you order more than one worktop please make sure they are stacked separately again with bearers in between. This allows the air to circulate between the worktops and helps to prevent warping and deflation. Never stack worktops on their edges or vertically.

If your worktops are going to be stored for a long period of time you should turn them every other day as this prevents the wood cupping or bowing.

Keep them dry and away from direct sources of heat, such as Agas, radiators, intense direct sunlight, and boilers etc.

Never store worktops in a unheated environment – especially in sheds, garages or outdoors. All wet trades (especially plastering) should be finished and a sufficient period of drying time allowed for natural drying out before storing hardwood worktops in the same room.

Always allow the worktop a day or so to adjust to the temperature and humidity of its new surroundings before installation.

If warping does occur, your worktop can be screwed down to the base units and the wood will correct itself naturally after a short period (1-2 weeks).

Fitting an Oak worktop

Large cut-outs for hobs, sinks etc. should be no less than 150mm from the end of the worktop panel, as this may weaken the worktop.

When cutting the worktop yourself ensure that you leave a small gap around taps, pipes, sinks etc. to allow for movement and expansion of wood.

General care and maintenance

Because our worktops are made from a natural product they need common sense care to keep them in the best condition, looking as fantastic as the day they were installed.

Water spills and other liquids should always be mopped up immediately to prevent stains to the surface – especially during the first few weeks of installation. We advise keeping a tea towel handy solely for this purpose.

Worktops should be cleaned regularly using washing up liquid and warm (not hot) water. Apply the water sparingly and wipe dry afterwards – water should never be left to stand on wooden surfaces for long periods of time.

Your new worktop needs to be treated to protect it as much as possible whilst emphasising the natural beauty of the European Oak. We recommend using Treatex, a product manufactured and processed with the least possible risk to humans and the environment. You can find out more about this excellent wood treatment in our wood treatment section.

EN Standard Compliance

What are EN Standards (Eurocodes)?

They are the basic principles and requirements for safety, serviceability and durability of building materials. They also provide the basis and general principles for the structural design and verification of buildings.

Our oak worktops have been tested and the results showed that the gluing and bonding qualities conform to the following regulations and standards:

  • EN 12775:2001
  • EN 13017-2:2000
  • EN 13353:2003
  • CEN/ZS 13354:2003
  • EN 326-1:1994

ISPM 15 Standard for Wood Packaging Materials

In addition to the worksurfaces themselves, since 2nd of May 2006 the wooden packaging material has also been tested and was found to also conform to ISPM 15 Standards. The packaging is heat-treated (HT) in accordance with the specific time temperature schedule, required to meet the minimum wood-core temperature of 56 ºC for a minimum of 30 minutes.

All the packing material is always debarked also (no bark).

Registered under the number HR – 0060.

FSC Standards

Our supplier has full FSC-certification. Issued on 23rd of February 2004 by Woodmark, United Kingdom, and is registrated as number SA-COC-1334.

During the long wood-processing the wood has always been treated as a high-valuable raw-material.

The wood is always sourced according to strict FSC standards, meaning that it:

  • was not harvested illegally
  • was not harvested from areas where traditional or civil rights are violated
  • was not harvested from genetically modified trees
  • was not harvested from areas which have been converted from natural forest to plantation or non-forest use.

Additionally the our supplier takes great care of their workforce. Ensuring care both their safety and a pleasant working environment, their human rights have been respected at all times.

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