Can I tile a wooden kitchen bench?

[Mattli]

Kia ora,

A few years back we had a kaboodle bamboo kitchen bench installed. After a few months black marks started to appear on it. We did ask the Bunnings team about this- but they were unable to help or to do anything about it. 

A few years later it hasn't really changed (ie it hasn't gotten much worse)- but it still doesn't look very nice.

I am just wondering if we could be able to something else to remedy this- we are not able to replace the who bench top- bust were were wondering if we would be able to either paint over this- or tile the surface. Any advice or recommendations around this would be appreciated.

Cheers

Matt

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Mattli. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about tiling over timber.

Did you ever have a chance to contact Kaboodle directly to check if this issue might have been covered under warranty? It could be worth exploring if you haven’t already.

When it comes to painting the surface, unfortunately, most paint products suitable for timber won’t hold up well on a kitchen benchtop. Unlike laminate, there aren't durable two-part paints specifically designed for heavy use on timber work surfaces. Similarly, tiling over timber could present challenges. Timber is naturally flexible and reacts to moisture by expanding and contracting, which could lead to cracked grout lines and potentially loosened tiles over time.

Would you be able to share some images of these blackened sections? Let me know if you need a hand uploading them. Additionally, could you let us know more about when the marks first appeared, how the benchtop was sealed, and what you’ve tried to remove the stains? Our community members might have suggestions to help you address the issue without replacing the entire benchtop.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell