Worktop installation in Park Royal

Yes. Park Royal is on the patch, and the postcodes we work here are NW10, W3. It is worked on our north west London run, along with the rest of Brent. With no scheme to work with there is nothing to book and nobody to ring, so the only levers left are an early arrival and a word with the neighbours. A van that has to move mid-fit costs the best part of an hour and takes a man off the tools to do it. A spotter on the van is a man off the tools. There is nothing to drive to and nothing to pick up, because both visits are to the property itself.

Ceilings are high and there are usually no wall units, so a splashback runs to whatever height is decided rather than to a cupboard. The goods lift is often industrial and generous, but the flat entrance and any internal turn into a mezzanine or split level can be tighter than anything in the building, so we walk the full route with a tape before unloading. The slow parts are slow for a reason. Where the structure cannot be cut into, the stone is relieved instead, and a relief that deep changes both the yield off the slab and how the piece is handled. On the day it means dry-laying, marking, and cutting the scribe on site before anything is bonded. Offered up twice, bonded once.

The van gets close to the door and the stone comes off the tail lift onto a trolley, which is about the shortest carry we ever get. The fitting day is planned backwards from that point, before anything comes off the van. Banisters and door frames are padded before anything moves. Unrestricted kerbside is straightforward as long as the space in front of the property is actually clear when the van arrives. We aim for the first slot of the day where parking is tight, because that is when the street is emptiest. Camera enforcement does not take an explanation.

Yes, one of the three we see most, with worktop fabrication ahead of it. Same visit to template, same workshop, same installers on the day. Studio and one-bed conversions put the whole kitchen against a single wall, so the job is one run and everything depends on that one length. The fitting day is scheduled to suit that rather than to suit the diary. The void ends whether we have finished or not. A kitchen carved out of a larger room sits under whatever the original plan left behind, so the run frequently ends at a blocked doorway or a boxed-in service. Where the window is fixed there is no second day to fall back on, so the prep list matters more than usual. Tenants are still in the building, so the stairs stay clear.

A doorway partway along one wall breaks that side into two separate pieces, and two short pieces cost more between them than the single long one they replace. On the day that means dry-laying the whole layout first and only then pulling and bonding the joins. One datum for every run in the room. Expect £110 to £550 per square metre for material supply only, with templating, fabrication and fitting on their own lines.

An intruding steel column, a brick pier or a downstand breaks a run that would otherwise have been one clean piece. Rushing that is what leaves a gap you look at every morning for fifteen years. Sealant seals. It does not fit. Confirm loading bay access and lift booking with the building's management, and clear any furniture from the mezzanine stairs or split-level approach. The person choosing the surface is not the person who will cook on it, which argues for a finish that absorbs ordinary wear rather than one that rewards careful housekeeping. The fitting day is arranged with whoever can actually give us access for the whole slot. A rolling programme loses a flat to one missing key.

Variation past what packing can take up has to be corrected in the carcasses before we cut, because the template records the units as they stand. Level is checked at the template, which is the point of measuring in the room rather than off a drawing. Where a column lands in the run the template plots its actual outline so the stone is cut to fit around it rather than stopped short and filled. The back edge is eased in progressively rather than offered up once and forced. The awkward metre takes the longest.

Upkeep is settled when the slab is chosen, since it belongs to the material rather than the fabrication. Day to day all three want soap and water; abrasive creams and scouring pads are what dull a polished surface. Windows are large industrial openings with deep sills, and a run finishing at one meets a reveal a full brick deep. These read as easy from outside and rarely are, because the flat entrance is tighter than the goods lift. Levelled first, then set, then sealed.

Stone cut to somebody else’s drawing cannot usefully be re-cut to yours. Order is what matters: a slab is templated before it is cut, so an uncut slab is straightforward and one already machined for another kitchen is not. Conversions put kitchens where the services could be made to reach rather than where they belong, so runs are short and interrupted. One visit, with the sink and hob seated and sealed before we leave. A shared house stays occupied while we work in it.

Socket and switch positions have to be final before templating, because the openings are machined rather than chopped out on the wall. An upstand covers the gap where the worktop meets a wall that is not flat, which is its real job. Services run on the surface in these buildings, so conduit and pipework cross the wall behind the units and stand proud of it. The full route is walked with a tape before anything is unloaded, including the turn at the flat door. Carried once, and carried properly.