Croydon · SW16
Worktop replacement in Norbury
Taking out a tired laminate worktop and fitting stone on the units you already have, in a single day.
Norbury kitchens
What the kitchens here are actually like
Lath and plaster, a settled floor and a hall with a turn in it are the three things that decide how this job runs. Old top out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon, with a plumber either side of us. A single day, planned properly.
Shop-top flats have minimal kitchens of 2m or less along one wall. Edwardian terraces near the station with rear-addition kitchens, and 1930s semis climbing the hill towards Norbury Park with larger square kitchens that take a proper island. London Road has red route restrictions through the day, so timing matters; the residential roads climbing east are steep with parking on both sides and short driveways. Anything on the London Road frontage has to be unloaded outside restricted hours, so we book those fits first thing rather than mid-morning.
The back addition is a narrow two-storey outrigger with a single external wall, and the kitchen galley runs the length of it. Lath-and-plaster and bowed brickwork mean we template for scribes rather than straight cuts, and each piece is offered up and eased in rather than dropped straight down. Units kept, surface changed, one day.
The stock behind these kitchens runs to Edwardian terrace, 1930s semi, flats above London Road shops and 1960s block. Which of those you have decides most of what follows.
True everywhere
Worktop replacement, in short
- The units stay. Only the surface changes.
- Old tops come out in the morning, new stone is down and sealed the same day.
- A plumber disconnects the tap and waste before we arrive and reconnects at the end of the day.
- The carcasses have to be sound: stone is far heavier than laminate.
Covered from the New Malden patch. Fitted 3–7 working days from template.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
The building, and what it does to the job
Floors and walls that have settled towards the back addition, so the existing run is out of level and the stone will show it the moment it is set and levelled properly.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
The shape of the run
A galley puts the sink on one side and the hob on the other, which spreads the cut-outs across two pieces instead of weakening one. Going from a 38mm laminate to 20mm or 30mm stone drops the surface, which shows against tiles, a window board and any freestanding appliance. Height change is checked before we cut.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
What gets asked for here
The research on this patch puts this at the top of the list, above worktop splashbacks & upstands and worktop installation.
Access
Getting stone into a Norbury kitchen
London Road has red route restrictions through the day, so timing matters; the residential roads climbing east are steep with parking on both sides and short driveways.
Tell us what the approach looks like when you book the template and it gets built into the day rather than discovered on it. Where the route is genuinely tight, it changes how the pieces are cut, which is a fabrication decision rather than a delivery one.
3–7 working days
From template to fitted, working days from template. The same on this patch as every other.
New Malden patch
Norbury is worked from our New Malden run, covering South West London & Surrey.
We come to you
Templated in your kitchen, cut in our workshop, fitted by our own installers.
Access told straight
If the route forces an extra join, you hear that at quote stage, not on the day.
Questions
Worktop replacement in Norbury
If yours is not here, ring and ask. You get a straight answer rather than a call-back from a salesperson.
Do you actually work in Norbury, or just list it?
Yes. Norbury is on the patch, and the postcodes we work here are SW16. It is run from the New Malden side, covering South West London & Surrey. A front drive is the best thing that can happen to a fitting day, because the tail lift comes down within a few metres of the door and nothing is on a clock. A replacement is a two-way job, with old tops going out and new stone coming in, so the van needs to stay put across the whole day. It is a full day at the kerb, not a delivery. We template in your kitchen and fit in your kitchen, so there is nothing to visit and nothing to collect.
What is different about worktop replacement in Norbury?
Where the side return has been filled in, the old external wall is now an internal one and still carries its render, its gutter line and its old fixings. Lath-and-plaster and bowed brickwork mean we template for scribes rather than straight cuts, and each piece is offered up and eased in rather than dropped straight down. Sound carcasses are the one condition. Anything on the London Road frontage has to be unloaded outside restricted hours, so we book those fits first thing rather than mid-morning.
Is access a problem in Norbury?
London Road has red route restrictions through the day, so timing matters; the residential roads climbing east are steep with parking on both sides and short driveways. Even an easy kerbside carry wants the pavement clear at the tail lift, because a three-metre piece on edge has a swing radius nobody expects until it is swinging. We plan the strip-out and the carry as one movement so the kitchen is only out of use for a single day. It sets what the day actually looks like. Tell us what the approach looks like when you book the template and it gets built into the day rather than discovered on it.
Is Norbury mostly worktop replacement work for you?
Yes. On the research for this patch it is the first of the three jobs listed, ahead of worktop splashbacks & upstands and worktop installation. Extension kitchens are usually specified long before they are buildable, so the run lengths on the drawing and the run lengths in the room are different numbers. Old tops out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon. A day, not a project. Extension kitchens are usually specified long before they are buildable, so the run lengths on the drawing and the run lengths in the room are different numbers. The units stay and only the surface changes, so the whole job is one day rather than a kitchen refit. Sound carcasses or it does not go ahead.
What decides the price of a worktop in Norbury?
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. Going from a 38mm laminate to 20mm or 30mm stone drops the surface, which shows against tiles, a window board and any freestanding appliance. Carcasses have to be sound first. Material is £110-£550 per square metre supply only, and templating, fabrication and fitting are quoted on their own lines.
What do I need to sort out first?
The stone carries the scribe because the wall cannot be persuaded, so back edges are cut oversize and eased in rather than dropped straight down. The old top has been hiding it, so the first honest look at it happens when the laminate comes off. Found at template, not on fit day. Have a plumber booked to disconnect the sink, tap and waste first thing and reconnect after we have gone, and clear the hallway and stairs completely so we can carry slabs through the house. 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. A plumber disconnects before we arrive and reconnects after we leave, and that is worth booking early. Units kept, surface changed.
Related
More around Norbury
Other work we do in Norbury
Next step
Worktop replacement in Norbury, priced properly
Plans, a sketch or photographs with rough run lengths is enough to start. You get an itemised written quote and the template dates we can offer on this patch.
25-year material warranty and a 5-year workmanship guarantee, both stated on your quote.