Kitchen worktops in Freezywater

Yes. Semis on generous plots near Bullsmoor Lane, most with a utility or a lean-to off the back of the kitchen, so the main run stays short and the messy stuff moves next door. Typical spec is a 3m run plus a separate 1.5m utility top in the same material. Gravel and block paving both look like hard standing and neither takes a loaded trolley, so the run from tail lift to door gets boarded. A replacement is a two-way job, with old tops going out and new stone coming in, so the van needs to stay put across the whole day. Old tops out and new stone in, both through the same gap.

1930s semi, post-war semi and 1980s cul-de-sac house. There is usually a shared rear alley, and whether the gate onto it is unlocked decides whether long pieces come in from the back. What catches people out is the junction between the old floor and the extension floor, which is rarely at the same level, so a run carrying across it needs the units packed before stone goes on. What is under the old top is the real question.

Straightforward - driveways, dropped kerbs and low front walls. The A10 and Bullsmoor Lane are fast roads with no stopping, so approach from the residential side. Even an easy kerbside carry wants the pavement clear at the tail lift, because a three-metre piece on edge has a swing radius nobody expects until it is swinging. With no room to turn, the old top gets cut up in the kitchen instead, which is dusty work and needs the room emptied first. The strip-out is planned around it.

Worktop replacement, worktop templating and worktop installation, in that order. Extension kitchens are usually specified long before they are buildable, so the run lengths on the drawing and the run lengths in the room are different numbers. The units stay and only the surface changes, so the whole job is one day rather than a kitchen refit. Sound carcasses or it does not go ahead. Utility tops here almost always need a cut-out for a plumbed-in washer and a butler sink at a different height to the main kitchen - confirm the two heights separately at template.

A galley puts the sink on one side and the hob on the other, which spreads the cut-outs across two pieces instead of weakening one. A layout that has been packed and levelled run by run instead of to one datum shows as a step where two pieces meet. The join is the last thing finished. A run can measure dead right at both ends and still belly out in the middle, which only appears once the laser plots the intermediate points. On the day it means dry-laying, marking, and cutting the scribe on site before anything is bonded. It is the slow part of the day and it should be. Material runs from £110 per square metre supply only, and templating, fabrication and fitting are quoted on their own lines rather than rolled into one figure.

Where someone is living in the house through the work, the strip-out and the fit are planned so the kitchen is out of use for a day and not a week. A replacement keeps the units and changes the surface, which is the least disruptive way to do this in an occupied property. Plumber either side of us. Tell us the building when you book and the lift, the stair turn and any freeholder notice get built into the day rather than found on it.