Kitchen worktops in Plashet

Yes. The larger houses on the park side have generous rear kitchens of 3m to 3.5m with a separate utility in the old scullery, and the smaller terraces keep a conventional galley. A lot of homes here run big weekly cooking loads, so a durable surface and a deep sink matter more than a delicate finish. Without a bay the van ends up on a single yellow with a crew member watching it, which takes a pair of hands off the carry. We stage the strip-out so the old tops leave in one trip rather than trickling out across the afternoon. Old tops out and new stone in, both through the same gap.

Edwardian terrace, large bay-fronted Victorian house and converted flat. A villa cut into flats leaves kitchens in rooms that were never kitchens, with services run to wherever they could physically be made to reach. The day is planned backwards from the hall. That is the shape of the day.

Streets are permit-controlled with heavy residential parking pressure, and the school run times create genuine congestion on the through roads, so a mid-morning slot is best. Front paths are short and level, hallways are wide enough on the larger houses to bring in a 3m piece on edge. Everything comes through the front door and down the hall, so the tightest point on the route is usually the newel post at the foot of the stairs. We walk the route with a tape and protect it end to end before the first piece is lifted. None of it is worked out on the doorstep.

Worktop installation, worktop replacement and worktop templating, in that order. Party-wall and lease conditions in a converted building set when noisy work can happen, which shapes the fitting day more than the kitchen does. Old tops out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon. A day, not a project. Utility rooms carved out of old sculleries usually need a second smaller top, and it is worth cutting it from the same slab for a match.

The catch with a galley is that both runs are seen end-on from the doorway, so any difference in overhang between the two reads immediately. Joins are pulled with suction clamps and finished flush, then colour-matched, which is the last thing done rather than the first. Nothing is bonded until the whole run sits flat. Where a corner is a couple of degrees off, a mitre cut to a theoretical ninety degrees opens on the wall side and there is no closing it afterwards. The old top has been hiding it, so the first honest look at it happens when the laminate comes off. It is the usual surprise, and it is a known one. 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.

Mixed ownership means the decision-maker is not always the person who lets us in, so it is worth being clear early about who signs the quote off. A plumber disconnects before we arrive and reconnects after we leave, and that is worth booking early. 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.