Kitchen worktops in West Ham

Yes. Terraces have the classic back-addition kitchen of 2.4m to 3m, and the interwar semis nearer the park have a squarer kitchen that takes a U-shape with a window over the sink. Extensions are becoming common on the semis, producing a kitchen-diner with a 1.8m island. Enforcement zones rarely accept a trade van unloading stone as an exemption, so this gets sorted before the date is confirmed rather than argued about afterwards. A templater circling for a space arrives late into a slot that was already tight, and the drawing is what suffers. Two hours is the realistic figure.

late-Victorian terrace, interwar semi and post-war estate block. The rear wall is usually a single brick thick and has been rendered, patched and re-rendered, so it bows in and out along the length of the run. The day is planned backwards from the hall, and the scribing takes longer than the carry. Walked, measured, protected, then lifted.

Residential roads are permit-controlled with a mix of parallel bays and a few driveways on the semis, which makes the semis a much easier unload than the terraces. Rail and tube lines cut through the area, so several streets are dead ends against embankments and need approaching from a specific direction. A side gate and a back door mean the stone never goes through the house at all, which keeps the dust and most of the risk outside. The fitting day is planned backwards from that point, before anything comes off the van. That is what the morning is planned around.

Worktop installation, worktop templating and worktop replacement, in that order. A new extension slab is not automatically level, and that wants checking before templating rather than after the stone is cut. No stone is ever cut from a plan, which is inconvenient exactly when a programme is tight. Units fitted, fixed and level first. The interwar semis have side access down the alley, so a long piece can go straight to the back door without touching the hallway.

Three runs means two internal corners, and each corner is a decision about mitre or butt joint before anything is nested. Going from a 38mm laminate to 20mm or 30mm stone drops the surface, which shows against tiles, a window board and any freestanding appliance. Carcasses have to be sound first. 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. Rushing that is what leaves a gap you look at every morning for fifteen years. 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 ownership is split across a building, the common parts belong to someone else and the carry route is negotiated rather than assumed. The fitting day is arranged with whoever can actually give us access for the whole slot. Protection goes down first. 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.