Kitchen worktops in Strand-on-the-Green

Yes. Small, low-ceilinged kitchens in cottages with thick walls and deep window sills. Single runs of 2m to 2.5m, no island, appliances undercounter, and the sink almost always under the river-facing window. Off-street parking means the van stays put all day, so tools, packers and the offcut we would rather have than not are all within reach. The fitting slot is set around it, which is why we ask about it when the date is booked and not before we leave the yard. We would rather ask than guess.

18th century riverside cottage, Georgian terrace and Victorian infill. Floors are suspended timber over a shallow void and have moved, so the units are packed and levelled before anything is set on them. The laser plots the bow along the back of the run, which is why a tape reading taken beforehand never matches. Two to three hours, once the units are in.

The hardest access in the borough. Frontages face a towpath with no vehicle route to the door, so everything is carried from the nearest road, and high tides put flood boards across the way in. A short hard approach with no steps means a full-length piece can be walked in flat by two people rather than turned up on edge. Door widths, turn diagonals and any change of level are recorded on the drawing alongside the run dimensions. The laser records it along with everything else.

Worktop templating, worktop installation and worktop fabrication, 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. Pieces are dry-assembled and checked on the bench before anything is loaded. Proven on the bench before dispatch. Because every piece is hand-carried along the towpath, slabs get broken into shorter sections than you would normally accept and the joints get planned around the carry, not the layout.

Two parallel runs with a walkway between them is the most efficient shape there is on a slab, because both pieces nest as straight lengths with almost no waste. On the day that means dry-laying the whole layout first and only then pulling and bonding the joins. Dry-lay first, always. Sill height gets settled with the template on site, because it is one of the few dimensions nobody has measured before we arrive. The laser plots it as it is, at the exact height the worktop will sit, and the drawing carries that through. Plotted, not estimated. 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 ownership is split across a building, the common parts belong to someone else and the carry route is negotiated rather than assumed. Sink and hob are dry-fitted on the bench before dispatch, whoever supplied them. The approved drawing is the instruction. 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.