How (Not) to Stain Butcher Block
Staining My Butcher Block Counters
One of my goals for this blog is to be real - showing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Of course, I wish every project turned out perfectly the first time and that I could walk on water and teleport, but that’s just not how it goes. This is one of those “bad and ugly” posts.
While working on the flip recently we had one of those “oh crap” moments when we realized we ruined the brand new butcher block counters. It would be easy to pretend we didn’t screw anything up and post a perfectly flawless “how-to” post, but where’s the fun in that? So follow along, because in this post I’ll share what went wrong and how we made it right so you can avoid making the same mistakes!
It was actually Lucius’ idea to put butcher block counters on the island of the flip house, so I have to give him credit there because they look really nice… now that we’ve fixed them. But let’s take a step back to see why we had to fix them in the first place.
The flip isn’t a house with a lot of character, so we did our best to add some in ourselves. Adding butcher block was a good way to add character without breaking the bank. We got ours from Lowe’s for around $200 for an 8-foot piece. Since we only used it on the island, 8 feet was plenty. You can see the layout of the kitchen in this post.
While I was working my normal 9-5, Lucius grabbed all the materials to stain and seal the butcher block, including a couple cans of stain in Gunstock, and went to town. Then I got this text:
We were hoping the counters would complement the flooring nicely, but that definitely didn’t end up being the case. When the stain was applied it was much redder than the picture on the can, likely because the type of wood used for butcher block, and clashed terribly with the floors. Long story short, we learned our lesson the hard way: test your stain on some scrap wood before staining your main piece!
If we had more time, we could have sanded down the butcher block to raw wood and started over. However, we were planning on getting the flip on the market in just a few days and due to the time crunch, and the 10,000 other little things to wrap up, we chose to just buy new counters.
On the second go-round we decided not to stain the counters at all but instead to only use an oil and finish product to keep as much as the natural color as possible, and man do they look a heck of a lot better!
This is how they looked while they were still wet.
And here’s the finished product!
As you can see, they’re a much more natural tone now, since we essentially kept them their natural tone by not staining them at all. We also decided to use butcher block as our open shelving above the sink to make that space more functional and tie the butcher block counters into another element in the room.
Now, don’t get me wrong here. I don’t mean to imply that you can’t or shouldn’t stain your butcher block. By all means, go for it! But make sure you have a good idea what it’ll look like by testing your color before you go nuts like we did and end up creating more work for yourself.
If you want to stain your own butcher block, here’s what you’ll need and the steps to make it happen:
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Materials
- Painter’s tape
- Cloths
- Paintbrush meant for staining
- Stain (optional)
- Oil/Finish
- Sandpaper (we used 400 grit)
- Mineral Spirits (optional)
- Tack cloth (optional)
Step 1 - Apply painter’s tape where your cabinets and the butcher block meet - you don’t want to get stain on your pretty cabinets!
Step 2 - Wipe down your butcher block with a microfiber or tack cloth. To get the butcher block super clean, you can wipe it down with mineral spirits.
Step 3 - If you’re using stain, this is where you’ll apply it using the directions on the can. BUT FIRST! Stop what you’re doing, step away from your counters, and apply that stain to a scrap piece of wood.
The stain we used recommended applying it with a cloth, then wiping off any extra and letting it try for at least 6 hours. You could also apply it with a foam brush or paintbrush meant for stain, but you’ll still need cloths handy to wipe off any excess.
Step 4 - Once your first layer of stain is dry, sand your butcher block down with fine sandpaper to knock off any rough bits, wipe off the dust, then apply another layer of stain. Follow these steps until you have your desired look.
Step 5 - Apply your sealer with the same steps you used for the stain, being sure to sand between coats. We used Watco butcher block oil & finish and really like how it turned out.
And there you have it! Staining butcher block doesn’t have to be a scary, daunting task. Just learn from our mistake and don’t do what we did. Plus, take solace in the fact that if you do screw it up you can sand that bad boy down to the bare wood and start all over. Happy staining!