Worktop replacement in Queenhithe

Yes. Queenhithe is on the patch, and the postcodes we work here are EC4V, EC4R. It is worked on our the City run, along with the rest of the Square Mile. The realistic answer on a main road is an early slot, a spotter on the van and pieces staged in one movement rather than several trips. We stage the strip-out so the old tops leave in one trip rather than trickling out across the afternoon. The waste run is planned, not improvised. We template in your kitchen and fit in your kitchen, so there is nothing to visit and nothing to collect.

These buildings have firm rules about what can be propped open, left in a lobby or carried through the residents entrance. The work is all in the building, not the kitchen. What is under the old top is the real question. Old inset hob and sink cut-outs never match modern appliance dimensions, so confirm the new appliances before templating or you will be cutting an oversized hole to hide an old one.

Upper Thames Street runs below and alongside as a fast dual carriageway with no stopping whatsoever, so access is via the raised riverside walk and a building's own service entrance off a side street. The walk from the nearest permitted stopping point to the flat door can be long and partly on a raised deck with steps, so a route survey matters more than the lift dimensions. Piece length is set by the internal diagonal of the lift car, not by the length of the slab. We plan the strip-out and the carry as one movement so the kitchen is only out of use for a single day. The strip-out is planned around it.

Yes. On the research for this patch it is the first of the three jobs listed, ahead of worktop templating and worktop installation. Handover-spec kitchens are square, plumb and predictable, which means the join count is honest and driven by run length rather than by the building. Old tops out in the morning, new stone down and sealed the same afternoon. A day, not a project. Developer-fitted kitchens come with thin cam-lock carcasses, which are fine under laminate and want bracing before stone goes on them. The units stay and only the surface changes, so the whole job is one day rather than a kitchen refit. A day, not a project.

The free end is what needs deciding early: square edge, mitred apron down the end, or a full waterfall to the floor, and a waterfall is cut in sequence off the same part of the slab. 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. Material is £110-£550 per square metre supply only, and templating, fabrication and fitting are quoted on their own lines.

Alcove pieces get cut oversize on both scribe edges, with the true wall angles carried on the template drawing rather than assumed. 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. Book the service lift, loading bay and concierge access for the full day, and confirm the building's permitted working hours in writing. Mixed ownership means the decision-maker is not always the person who lets us in, so it is worth being clear early about who signs the quote off. If the carcasses are tired the honest answer is that stone will find that out, and it is better said before than after. Sound carcasses are the condition.