Kitchen worktops in Coombe (Croydon)

Yes. A small pocket of large houses on wooded plots near Lloyd Park, where kitchens tend to be architect-specified rather than off-the-shelf: full-height cabinetry, a large island with a waterfall end, and a dedicated utility and laundry behind. 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. Tell us at enquiry stage and it is priced properly, because a crew stood waiting is the most expensive thing on any job. It is one line among the others, and it is honest.

large detached, Edwardian house on wooded plot, gated modern development and converted lodge. Estate roads are narrow with parking courts behind the blocks, so the carry crosses open ground rather than a pavement. This is usually the cheapest stock we fit: the room is square, walls are plumb, the lift works and the corridors are clear, so fitting time is predictable and we rarely add a join for access. That is what the itemised lines are for.

Private drives shared between a few houses, mature trees close to the drive edge and gated entrances that need a code and a swing radius a long van will not make. The barrier, the entry code and the estate rules decide when a van can get near the door, and none of that is negotiable on the day. We price the carry from what you tell us about the route, so photographs of the approach are worth more to us than a floor plan. It appears as its own line rather than buried in a rate.

Worktop design & quotation, worktop fabrication and worktop installation, in that order. Handover-spec kitchens are square, plumb and predictable, which means the join count is honest and driven by run length rather than by the building. One visit, with the sink and hob seated and sealed before we leave. The prep list is not optional. Gated entrances with a tight radius are the deciding factor, so we confirm the gate opening width before the slab is even cut to length.

If the island is a few hundred millimetres longer than the usable length of a slab, a second slab gets bought to gain that overhang, and the whole slab is paid for rather than the part used. Pieces are dry-assembled on the bench before dispatch so the corners are known to close before they leave the workshop. That is nested before any glass goes on the saw. Where a partition has been built off the floor screed rather than off the slab, it moves, and a mitre bonded across that corner is the first thing to open. Internal corners are machined with a radius and polished, and kept well clear of any join or cut-out. Machined to the real line. 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. Floors and units are protected before anything comes through the door, communal or otherwise. One visit, our own installers. 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.