Kitchen worktops in North Kensington

Yes. A high proportion of the stock is flats formed out of Victorian terraces or purpose-built estate blocks, so the typical job is a single-run replacement of 2.2-3.0m with a small return, keeping the existing sink and hob positions. Where whole houses survive intact the kitchen sits in a back addition with a step down into it, which puts a level change right where the worktop meets the wall. A controlled parking zone means either a visitor permit sorted in advance or a suspended bay, and a suspension is applied for days ahead rather than on the morning. 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.

Victorian terrace in multiple occupation, postwar council estate, 1960s slab block and recent housing association infill. A long piece has to come through the front door, down the hall, round the newel post and through a doorway with a step down into the addition. We measure the front door, the hall width and the turn into the kitchen before anything comes off the van, because a 3m piece has to swing through that corner on edge and stone does not bend to help you. That is the shape of the day.

Estate deliveries need the block entry code and often a lift key from the caretaker, and several blocks have a stepped podium between the parking and the entrance door. On the terraced streets the bays are resident-permit with short loading tolerance, so plan a two-vehicle approach: van in, unload, van out. Piece length is set by the internal diagonal of the lift car, not by the length of the slab. Finding it out on the morning costs the whole slot, because there is no second route to fall back on. It gets checked before the first piece is lifted.

Worktop replacement, worktop installation and worktop splashbacks & upstands, in that order. Small kitchens in a shared house are all short runs and tight cut-out spacing, which is more bench work per square metre than one large kitchen would be. The fitting day is scheduled to suit that rather than to suit the diary. One visit, done properly. Levels are the recurring problem in the back additions - the floor drops away from the house so the base units are packed and the worktop is the only thing hiding it.

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. The existing layout is being kept, so the question is whether the old carcasses will take stone in that shape without more support. Carcasses have to be sound first. Level has to hold across the whole room rather than along one wall, or a floor that falls end to end shows as a step where two pieces meet. 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.

Where ownership is split across a building, the common parts belong to someone else and the carry route is negotiated rather than assumed. 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.