T&G Cladding as a kitchen splashback???

little me

Hi,

I'm about to tackle my kitchen and redecorate. Was thinking about using T&G as along the full wall that my cooker is on. I know it will need repainting quite a bit, which I don't mind doing but does is pose a fire risk?? And is real wood or MDF better suited?
I know most people would use glass, steel or tiles for a splashback, but I really like the look of having the entire wall panelled.

Thanks for your advice!

Little me.

laois hibby

I know you can get varnish which has fire protection. you need to get a certificate from the manufacturer to say so for your insurance company

wayoutwest

Little me - If you don't have any luck finding fireproof varnish - what about using wood floor effect tiles? - not sure of sizes, but I imagine they are in lengths that would span the distance between countertop and wall unit.

mloc123

I don't see how it would pose any more of a fire risk that a wooden worktop or even wooden press doors... all of which would be as close to the hob.

red sean

If it's a gas hob, I'd certainly prefer have a non flammable splashback on account of the naked flame. For electric. I'm not sure.

curiousb

I did exactly this about 2 years ago. I had tiles on the wall , so I pulled the tiles off, along with the plasterboard and replaced it with 12mm (I think) MDF and then T&G cladding. Painted it a colour and then a few coats of varnish and it looks great.

The oven however has a glass hinged lid which acts as a splashback and protects the T&G when cooking. Haven't had to repaint yet!

It looks great and is a nice (and cheap) alternative to the normal tiling solutions.

GS11

CuriousB, could u post a picture, I'd like to see how it looks, I need to do something with the tiling in our kitchen.

curiousb

Sure, here you go (just ignore the mess...).



Bottom half of the kitchen is from Ikea, top units are made by myself with 25mm MDF, painted and varnished.

little me

curiousb wrote: »

Sure, here you go (just ignore the mess...).



Bottom half of the kitchen is from Ikea, top units are made by myself with 25mm MDF, painted and varnished.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

The tongue and groove looks lovely Curiousb. Did you add a matt or gloss varnish, as it looks matt on the picture. I was thinking that if I put 3 coats of good Farrow & Ball eggshell paint, that It will be somewhat wipeable.

curiousb

I've just checked with my wife and, according to her, I haven't finished it yet!

I caulked the T&G joints first and then used BIN as the primer, and then 2 or 3 coats of Farrow & Ball Egg Shell paint.

I stopped then to let the wood settle, as there would be heat and damp from the cooking. The idea was to let the wood expand or contract for a while and then do a final coat of paint and then varnish.

Only I haven't got around to that part yet

So what you are looking at is an egg shell finish (at the moment).

little me

Silly question but what do you mean by caulked the T&G and what would I need to buy to do this??
Thanks.

byrybak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caulking

Markcheese

What's the obbsession with farrow and ball paint ... There's better and cheaper out there....

mloc123

Markcheese wrote: »

What's the obbsession with farrow and ball paint ... There's better and cheaper out there....

Nice colours, nice finish and it goes on well...

wayoutwest

Curiousb - how is the t&g attached to the MDF backing?

- what is stopping any spilt water on the countertop from being
drawn up via the end grain of t&g?

Littleme - If you do use t&g, thenI would strongly advise you to have glass

splashback or, if not,a stainless steel panel [at least the width
of the hob] between hob [gas/electric]and cooker hood.
Fire likes to travel upwards,therefore a countertop [which
shoulbe set lower than top of hob rings] is not going to ignite
that readily. Wood wall units that are near a hob are set at
around 450mm above countertop [check..it might be 460mm , in order to distance flammable surfaces from point of ignition.
My gut feeling is, that although the t&g looks really good -
it will be prone to movement[heat/moisture], be harder to
clean, have to be maintained [future painting], and be a
reason for my insurance company not to pay out in the event
of fire caused by monster fry-up.

curiousb

little me wrote: »

Silly question but what do you mean by caulked the T&G and what would I need to buy to do this??
Thanks.

Caulk is a flexible filler and is great for filling in gaps between skirting and walls for example. When you are putting up the t&g, there are always very small gaps between the planks as the wood is never perfectly straight. Running a thin bead of caulk in the grooves covers these gaps and makes for a much nicer finish.

Markcheese wrote: »

What's the obbsession with farrow and ball paint ... There's better and cheaper out there....

There's certainly cheaper out there, but I haven't found better for me. The f&b paint gives me much better coverage than others I have tried, and I can definitely get a smoother flatter finish with it.

wayoutwest wrote: »

Curiousb - how is the t&g attached to the MDF backing?

I used a nail gun with very small nails and secret nailed it to the MDF, i.e. into the tongues, so the following groove cover the nail head.

what is stopping any spilt water on the countertop from being
drawn up via the end grain of t&g?

The t&g extends down about 24" below the countertop and is painted down to that level also. End grain not painted, but unlikely to get wet that far down (I hope!).

Littleme - If you do use t&g, thenI would strongly advise you to have glass splashback or, if not,a stainless steel panel [at least the width
of the hob] between hob [gas/electric]and cooker hood.
Fire likes to travel upwards,therefore a countertop [which
shoulbe set lower than top of hob rings] is not going to ignite
that readily. Wood wall units that are near a hob are set at
around 450mm above countertop [check..it might be 460mm , in order to distance flammable surfaces from point of ignition.
My gut feeling is, that although the t&g looks really good -
it will be prone to movement[heat/moisture], be harder to
clean, have to be maintained [future painting], and be a
reason for my insurance company not to pay out in the event
of fire caused by monster fry-up.

Good points. Our cooker has a glass lid which is up against the t&g when we are cooking, so it acts as a splashback. I think a glass panel is a good idea.

With regard to movement, ours has definitely settled after initial contraction/expansion and I feel it is stable now, so I should really do a final touch-up.

It will need more maintenance than tiles or glass, but to us it's worth it for the look we have achieved.

However to be honest, I hadn't thought of the insurance aspect, so I will check that out.

wayoutwest

You could silicone a length of small quadrant where the countertop meets t&g. In the case of major spillages this would insure no water gets behind the back of Ikea units [exposed and uncoated chipboard/hardboard] thus preventing carcass damage and mould formation.

little me

Well thanks everyone for your helpful advice.

I've decided i'm still going to use t&g along the entire wall, but i'll put a blackboard splashback behind the gas cooker.
Something like in the attachment.

Anyone know if the blackboard paint is any good or would I be better just using an actual blackboard??

mloc123

little me wrote: »

Well thanks everyone for your helpful advice.

I've decided i'm still going to use t&g along the entire wall, but i'll put a blackboard splashback behind the gas cooker.
Something like in the attachment.

Anyone know if the blackboard paint is any good or would I be better just using an actual blackboard??

Blackboard paint works well painted onto hardboard anyway.

wayoutwest

I don't think that hardboard or any type of wood sheet, whether painted or varnished, should not be used as a splashback behind hob for fire safety reasons

Little me - I think the blackboard splashback [shown in your photo] may well be a slab of thick slate,thin stone,or at least cement based......can;t imagine that it's just a woodboard painted black.
Also the hob area is subjected to constant cleaning [with cleaning chemicals] - thats why impervious and hardwearing materials are used in this area, such as are glass/stainless steel/tiles.
Glass and steel are the best because you don't have to be scrubbing the grease out of the grouted, tile joins [and regrouting down the line].

red sean

^^I'd imagine that's slate alright.
Hardboard will protect against splashes alright, but it's not heat resistant, and that's what you should be most concerned about.

wayoutwest

........I would also be concerned that it [hardboard] might end up looking like something out of a 1970's bedsit kitchen:)

little me

For safety reasons, is there anything stopping me from buying the steel splashback for the stove and just painting it over with the chalk paint??

wayoutwest

Check out technical infomation on brand of blackboard paint that you want to use, and find out if the product is flammable or whether it releases toxic fumes when subjected to heat. Iv'e got a feeling that it is not that flammable but it would release toxic gas if heated
If you use a stainless steel panel, then you will have to lightly sand the surface first, to create a 'key' for the paint to adhere to.. The panels are quite expensive...so if you are painting it you could use a square of ordinary steel sheet [much cheaper].