Kitchen worktops in Aldgate

Yes. Newer towers on the eastern edge give standard developer kitchens - a 3-3.4m run against the riser plus an island of about 2m, with an induction hob and a recirculating extract that fixes the hob position. Many of these are being upgraded from original laminate or composite to quartz within a few years of completion, so the job is a straight swap onto existing carcases. Where the bay sits some distance from the core, the carry across the car park is the longest leg of the day and gets boarded and lit. 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. It is a full day at the kerb, not a delivery.

modern residential tower, office to residential conversion, 1980s-90s apartment block and mixed-use development over retail. Dot-and-dab plasterboard bellies at a taped internal angle, so the run picks up a few millimetres over the last 300mm and a plan-angle mitre will not close. The template records that corner as it is, so the mitre closes tight instead of being cut to a theoretical 90 degrees. No stone is ever cut from a plan.

The Aldgate gyratory and its approaches are red route with no stopping, so everything goes through a basement service yard with a height barrier or a booked bay at the building entrance. Tower blocks run full contractor control - induction, insurance, permit to work, booked goods lift and a lift protection kit fitted before the first piece moves. A car that takes 2.4m on the diagonal will not take a three-metre worktop however it is stood, and there is no trimming it on the landing. A template taken without walking the route produces a drawing that cuts beautifully and will not go in. The laser records it along with everything else.

Worktop replacement, worktop installation and worktop templating, in that order. Housings and integrated appliances are set out for a 38mm laminate top, so dropping to 20mm or 30mm stone changes the clearances and needs checking before anything is cut. The template visit is booked once the units are genuinely in, not when they are nearly in. The room as it is, not as it was drawn. Straight swaps onto existing carcases still need the carcase levels checked, because developer units settle and a 3m top will rock on units that were only shimmed once.

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. Dry-lay first, always. Anything that has to stay accessible, a stopcock, a gas meter, a riser panel, is marked on the template so the stone is cut around it instead of over it. The back edge is eased in progressively rather than offered up once and forced. 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.

A street with houses in single occupation next to the same houses cut into flats produces two completely different jobs from the same elevation. The templater needs the sink, tap and hob on site, and a Belfast sink installed at its final height. No stone is cut from a plan. 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.