Kitchen worktops in North Cheam

Yes. Bay-fronted inter-war semis on grid streets off the main road, with rear kitchens of about 3m that are frequently opened into the dining room for a longer L. The flats above the shopping parade have minimal galley kitchens with no natural light. Where the van can pull up level with the gate the pieces are handled the fewest times, which is what actually protects them. We stage the strip-out so the old tops leave in one trip rather than trickling out across the afternoon. It is a full day at the kerb, not a delivery.

1930s semi, 1930s terrace, flats above parade shops and post-war infill. The chimney breast in the corner has usually been left in place, so the run gains a return and two scribed ends. The junction between the old floor and the extension floor is where a run crossing it needs packing before stone goes on. Sound carcasses are the one condition.

The A24 and A2043 carry heavy traffic with no stopping outside the parade, so shop-top flats are worked from a side road; the residential grid behind has driveways and easy parking. Stone goes up on edge, and it is the half-landing turn rather than the flight itself that sets the maximum piece. With no room to turn, the old top gets cut up in the kitchen instead, which is dusty work and needs the room emptied first. It sets what the day actually looks like.

Worktop replacement, worktop installation and worktop splashbacks & upstands, in that order. A new extension slab is not automatically level, and that wants checking before templating rather than after the stone is cut. One visit, with the sink and hob seated and sealed before we leave. One visit, done properly. Shop-top flats here are reached by a single straight stair from the street with a low soffit at the top, so we measure the headroom as well as the tread width before sizing pieces.

Galley runs are usually short enough to come out of a single slab, so the material band you choose does more to the total than the room shape does. 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. Where a breast interrupts a long wall the join can often go there, so it reads as a natural break rather than a line in the middle of a worktop. On the day it means dry-laying, marking, and cutting the scribe on site before anything is bonded. It is the slow part of the day and it should be. 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 householder is normally on site at template, and that is the right time to settle sink position, tap centres and overhang rather than agree them by email. Floors and units are protected before anything comes through the door, communal or otherwise. 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.