Merton · SW19
Worktop replacement in Wimbledon
Taking out a tired laminate worktop and fitting stone on the units you already have, in a single day.
Wimbledon kitchens
What the kitchens here are actually like
Lath and plaster, a settled floor and a hall with a turn in it are the three things that decide how this job runs. Old top out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon, with a plumber either side of us. A single day, planned properly.
Around the Broadway and the streets running up towards the Ridgway you get Victorian and Edwardian houses where the original back addition has been opened into the rear reception, so the kitchen ends up L-shaped with a run down the flank wall and a peninsula where the old wall stood.
The town centre one-way system and the bus lanes on the Broadway leave almost no legal standing time, and the residential streets either side are permit-only with short single-yellow windows. Newer apartment blocks above the town centre are mostly straight galley runs with a breakfast bar returning off the end.
A bay-fronted terrace has a long hall running past the stairs to the kitchen, so the hall turn caps the piece length before the run length does. What the old top has been hiding is usually a floor that settled towards the back and units that were never fixed back to the wall. What is under the old top is the real question.
The stock behind these kitchens runs to Late Victorian terrace, Edwardian semi, 1930s mansion block and 2000s town-centre apartment. A quote that ignores which one you have is guessing.
True everywhere
Worktop replacement, in short
- The units stay. Only the surface changes.
- Old tops come out in the morning, new stone is down and sealed the same day.
- A plumber disconnects the tap and waste before we arrive and reconnects at the end of the day.
- The carcasses have to be sound: stone is far heavier than laminate.
Covered from the New Malden patch. Fitted 3–7 working days from template.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
The building, and what it does to the job
The knock-through peninsula is where the money and the risk sit — you are butting new stone against a wall the builder made good after removing a chimney breast, so template after plastering, never before.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
Getting stone into the room
Anything going into a flat above the shops is a stair-only carry from a shared street door.
Communal stairs get boarded and the handrail padded, and we walk the route with a tape before the first piece leaves the van. We plan the strip-out and the carry as one movement so the kitchen is only out of use for a single day. It sets what the day actually looks like.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
What gets asked for here
The research on this patch puts this at the top of the list, above worktop templating and worktop installation.
Access
Getting stone into a Wimbledon kitchen
The town centre one-way system and the bus lanes on the Broadway leave almost no legal standing time, and the residential streets either side are permit-only with short single-yellow windows. Anything going into a flat above the shops is a stair-only carry from a shared street door.
Tell us what the approach looks like when you book the template and it gets built into the day rather than discovered on it. Where the route is genuinely tight, it changes how the pieces are cut, which is a fabrication decision rather than a delivery one.
3–7 working days
From template to fitted, working days from template. The same on this patch as every other.
New Malden patch
Wimbledon is worked from our New Malden run, covering South West London & Surrey.
We come to you
Templated in your kitchen, cut in our workshop, fitted by our own installers.
Access told straight
If the route forces an extra join, you hear that at quote stage, not on the day.
Questions
Worktop replacement in Wimbledon
If yours is not here, ring and ask. You get a straight answer rather than a call-back from a salesperson.
Do you actually work in Wimbledon, or just list it?
Yes. Wimbledon is on the patch, and the postcodes we work here are SW19. It is run from the New Malden side, covering South West London & Surrey. Where the frontage is a clearway the unload happens away from the door and the carry gets longer, which is a crew and time question rather than a stone one. Waste is the part people forget: the old laminate or tired granite has to be walked back to the van and it does not get lighter. Old tops out and new stone in, both through the same gap. We template in your kitchen and fit in your kitchen, so there is nothing to visit and nothing to collect.
What is different about worktop replacement in Wimbledon?
Deep original skirting is often left in behind the units, standing them off the wall, so the back edge of the stone is plotted where the carcasses actually sit. Lath-and-plaster and bowed brickwork mean we template for scribes rather than straight cuts, and each piece is offered up and eased in rather than dropped straight down. What is under the old top is the real question. The knock-through peninsula is where the money and the risk sit — you are butting new stone against a wall the builder made good after removing a chimney breast, so template after plastering, never before.
Is access a problem in Wimbledon?
The town centre one-way system and the bus lanes on the Broadway leave almost no legal standing time, and the residential streets either side are permit-only with short single-yellow windows. Anything going into a flat above the shops is a stair-only carry from a shared street door. A walk-up with winders at every half-landing means the piece is rested and re-gripped on the way, so the crew size goes up before the piece size comes down. Worth remembering that the old tops have to come out the way the new ones come in, and a laminate run is easier to remove in one length than to carry in one. The strip-out is planned around it. Tell us what the approach looks like when you book the template and it gets built into the day rather than discovered on it.
Is Wimbledon mostly worktop replacement work for you?
Yes. On the research for this patch it is the first of the three jobs listed, ahead of worktop templating and worktop installation. 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. Old tops out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon. A plumber either side of us. 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. Old tops out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon. Sound carcasses or it does not go ahead.
What decides the price of a worktop in Wimbledon?
A peninsula is an island with one end tied to a run, which means the join between them has to be planned rather than allowed to happen. Going from a 38mm laminate to 20mm or 30mm stone drops the surface, which shows against tiles, a window board and any freestanding appliance. The units stay, the surface changes. Material is £110-£550 per square metre supply only, and templating, fabrication and fitting are quoted on their own lines.
What do I need to sort out first?
A chimney breast left in place splits a wall into two alcoves, and the two are rarely the same width and rarely parallel to each other. This is the commonest reason a replacement turns out to need more than a straight swap. It is the usual surprise, and it is a known one. Have a plumber booked to disconnect the sink, tap and waste first thing and reconnect after we have gone, and clear the hallway and stairs completely so we can carry slabs through the house. 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. If the carcasses are tired the honest answer is that stone will find that out, and it is better said before than after. Plumber either side of us.
Related
More around Wimbledon
Other work we do in Wimbledon
Next step
Worktop replacement in Wimbledon, priced properly
Plans, a sketch or photographs with rough run lengths is enough to start. You get an itemised written quote and the template dates we can offer on this patch.
25-year material warranty and a 5-year workmanship guarantee, both stated on your quote.