Kitchen worktops in Lots Road

Yes. Converted industrial shells give open-plan kitchens with long uninterrupted island runs of 3-4m and exposed structure overhead, and the specification usually runs to thin 12-20mm porcelain on a mitred build-up so the top reads slim against the brick. The surviving cottage terraces behind are the reverse - single-storey rear kitchens at 2.4m with low ceilings and a stable door out to a yard. The practical answer is to check the fixture list before the date is offered, because a template slot lost to a road closure cannot be recovered that week. The templating visit needs somewhere to stop for two or three hours, which is a different problem from unloading for twenty minutes. It goes on the job sheet for the fitting crew.

former power station and industrial conversion, Victorian artisan cottage terrace, riverside new-build apartment and warehouse loft. Steel columns and downstands land where the frame put them, which is frequently in the middle of what would otherwise be a clean run. Access is by goods lift or a shared stair with a hard turn onto the landing, and both cap the piece length, so the nesting is done to the measured car or turn rather than to the slab. The bench proves it before the van moves.

This is a working riverside corner with the creek, boatyards and ongoing construction traffic, so road closures and contractor gate control are routine and worth checking the morning of. New riverside blocks want a booked goods lift and a delivery slot, while the loft conversions often have a wide freight lift left over from the industrial use, which is the easiest access in the whole borough when it is available. 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. So the nesting is worked to the measured route first and to the slab second. It is settled on the bench, not on site.

Worktop fabrication, worktop installation and worktop templating, 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. The fitting day is scheduled to suit that rather than to suit the diary. One visit, done properly. If the building kept its old goods lift, use it and stop worrying about piece size - that is rare enough in SW10 to be worth planning the job around.

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. The nest is laid out around that, with joins placed over cabinet gables and kept clear of every cut-out. That is nested before any glass goes on the saw. Window boards and cills stand proud of the plaster, so the back edge of the top has to be plotted to where the units actually sit rather than to the wall. Cut it square where it should be radiused and the piece will fail on the lift, not in the kitchen. Radiused, polished, and clear of the joins. 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 let property is specified for durability and for a fixed window, and both of those are legitimate reasons to choose differently. The fitting day is arranged with whoever can actually give us access for the whole slot. Access for the whole slot, or a different day. 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.