Kitchen worktops in East Village

Yes. Every flat came with the same developer kitchen: a single-wall run of roughly 2.7m to 3.2m in an open living space, wall units to one side and a tall appliance stack, with no island. Almost all work here is replacing the original top like for like in a fully fitted kitchen, so cabinets stay and the stone has to match the existing sink and hob positions. Bay bookings are usually an hour or two, which is fine for unloading and no use at all as a place to leave the van for a day. It is noted on the job sheet at template so the fitting crew inherit the answer rather than rediscovering it. The templater needs a proper stop, not a pause.

2012 athletes' village apartment and post-2015 infill apartment block. Boxed soil stacks and ventilation ducts run behind the units, and the boxing depth changes between floor level and worktop height. Every socket, switch and any USB point has to be cut out of the stone to the actual measured position, so the template has to be taken with the faceplates off and the back boxes visible. Cut from the same slab run as the tops.

The estate is car-free in the residential courtyards with a private management company controlling access, so vehicles use designated service bays and the last stretch is a trolley run across podium paving. Deliveries and lift use must be booked with the estate management team, usually with a fixed window and a lift protection requirement. The lift has to be booked and blanketed before anything moves, and that booking needs to cover the old tops coming out as well as the new stone going in. Where the route is tight we break a long splashback at a natural vertical joint instead of forcing one panel through. That is agreed at template, not on fitting day.

Worktop replacement, worktop templating and worktop splashbacks & upstands, 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. The units stay and only the surface changes, so the whole job is one day rather than a kitchen refit. A plumber either side of us. Because the kitchens are identical across blocks, the layouts repeat, but the estate access rules mean the booking has to be made before the template is even scheduled.

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. Upstands follow the run exactly, so every internal and external corner is a separate mitred or butted piece. The joint to the worktop is siliconed, never grouted. Boxing is rarely the same depth at worktop height as it is at floor level, so measuring it low down is the usual reason a top will not sit back. 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. Make the wall good first, or accept the detail. 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.

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. A plumber disconnects before we arrive and reconnects after we leave, and that is worth booking early. Plumber either side of us. 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.