Kitchen worktops in Imperial Wharf

Yes. Entirely purpose-built apartment stock with kitchens planned as part of the living space, generally a 3-3.4m run against the service wall plus an island or peninsula of 2-2.4m, sitting over a fixed riser. The frequent job now is replacing the original 2000s granite or composite with lighter large-format quartz or sintered stone, matching existing cut-outs so the plumbing does not move. 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. The fitting slot is set around it, which is why we ask about it when the date is booked and not before we leave the yard. It is why the arrival time is what it is.

2000s riverside apartment tower, podium-deck apartment block, modern townhouse and mixed-use block over a landscaped estate. A riverside block is a managed building with a booked goods lift, a loading bay and a concierge, and all three have to line up on the same day. Piece size is set by the lift car, not by the slab. Settled on the drawing, cut once.

Gated estate with a security barrier, contractor registration, a designated loading bay and a goods lift that must be booked and lined before use, plus estate rules on working hours. From the lift lobby the route to the flat is a long carpeted corridor across a podium, so floor protection is mandatory and the trolley run is significant. Estate roads are often too tight for a long-wheelbase van to turn, so the carry starts a good deal further from the door than a map suggests. Getting that wrong leaves a finished, machined piece that cannot reach the room, which is a remake rather than a trim. The drawing carries that decision through to the saw.

Worktop replacement, worktop installation and worktop fabrication, 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 fitting day is scheduled to suit that rather than to suit the diary. One visit, done properly. Sintered stone and thin porcelain are the usual upgrade here, and those need a rigid transport frame and a full set of suction lifters - they do not forgive being flexed on a long corridor carry.

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. The existing layout is being kept, so the question is whether the old carcasses will take stone in that shape without more support. The units stay, the surface changes. 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. The old top has been hiding it, so the first honest look at it happens when the laminate comes off. The laminate has been covering it up. 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.

The same building type can arrive as a careful one-off kitchen or as a fast turnaround, and the honest answer is that they are priced differently. The fitting day is arranged with whoever can actually give us access for the whole slot. Protection goes down first. 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.