Kitchen worktops in Beddington Corner

Yes. A small pocket of older cottage terraces close to the Wandle and the industrial edge, with very compact kitchens of 2.2-2.6m and low ceilings. Some converted industrial buildings nearby have open-plan kitchens with exposed services above the run. Gravel and block paving both look like hard standing and neither takes a loaded trolley, so the run from tail lift to door gets boarded. Panels come off the van in one trip where possible, since a tall piece handled repeatedly is a piece asking to be chipped. Handling is where these pieces get damaged.

Victorian cottage terrace, inter-war terrace, post-war infill and converted industrial building. Cottage terraces have no hall to speak of and the front door opens almost straight into the room, which makes the carry easier and the protection harder. A 100mm upstand bedded on silicone is the honest answer where the plaster bows, because it rides what a tall panel exposes. Decided before fabrication starts.

Industrial traffic on the approach roads, narrow terraced streets with no off-street parking, and low railway and river bridges that dictate the route in. Door width, hall width and the diagonal at the turn are three separate measurements, and it is the diagonal that catches people out. Where the route is tight we break a long splashback at a natural vertical joint instead of forcing one panel through. Joint positions follow from that.

Worktop replacement, worktop templating and worktop splashbacks & upstands, in that order. Rear and side-return extensions are where the islands appear, and an island is the piece that decides whether one slab does the kitchen or two. Two to three hours on site, with the sink, tap and hob physically present. The room as it is, not as it was drawn. Exposed services above the run in the converted buildings mean the upstand height has to be checked against the lowest pipe, not assumed at a standard 100mm.

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. Old laminate has often been holding a run square for years, and taking it off shows what the units were really doing. Height change is checked before we cut. Sill height gets settled with the template on site, because it is one of the few dimensions nobody has measured before we arrive. It is usually what pushes a job towards a 100mm upstand instead of a full-height panel, because an upstand rides what a panel exposes. An upstand rides what a panel exposes. 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. A template booked hopefully around another trade is the commonest cause of a wasted visit. 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.