Kitchen worktops in Rainham

Yes. Three layers in one place: a small historic village centre where kitchens are constrained and period-sensitive, inter-war and post-war family housing where the job is opening the kitchen into the dining room, and new riverside developments where compact open-plan kitchens get an early upgrade from the developer's laminate. Run lengths in the new-build flats are short, typically 2.4-3m in an L. Gravel and block paving both look like hard standing and neither takes a loaded trolley, so the run from tail lift to door gets boarded. 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.

Georgian and older village core, 1930s semi, post-war council house and 2010s-2020s riverside new-build. Lime plaster over rubble moves in and out enough that a single long panel will show a gap somewhere along its length. Any island overhang past about 300mm will not carry weight on the carcass alone, so flat steel bar or brackets have to be let into the units first, and that is agreed at template stage, not on fit day. Units kept, surface changed, one day.

The older village streets are narrow with limited parking, while the new developments have allocated bays, controlled access and sometimes barriers that need a code arranged in advance. Estate roads are often too tight for a long-wheelbase van to turn, so the carry starts a good deal further from the door than a map suggests. Worth remembering that the old tops have to come out the way the new ones come in, and a laminate run is easier to remove in one length than to carry in one. The strip-out is planned around it.

Worktop replacement, worktop templating and worktop installation, in that order. The junction between the original room and the extension is the point to watch, because the two floors rarely sit at the same height. 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. On the new riverside schemes the units are already fitted and level, so a replacement top is quick, the delay is always getting through the estate access control.

Where the return runs into a wall that is out of square, the corner is templated as the angle it really is rather than as ninety degrees. On the day that means dry-laying the whole layout first and only then pulling and bonding the joins. Dry-lay first, always. 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. 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.

A street with houses in single occupation next to the same houses cut into flats produces two completely different jobs from the same elevation. A replacement keeps the units and changes the surface, which is the least disruptive way to do this in an occupied property. Units kept, surface changed. 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.