Kitchen worktops in Totteridge

Yes. The biggest kitchens anywhere in the three boroughs: islands of 3.5m or more, twin runs on opposing walls, butler's pantries and back kitchens, and often a separate catering or staff kitchen that is fitted to the same standard. Book-matched slabs, waterfall ends and full-height stone splashbacks are the norm rather than an upgrade. Off-street parking means the van stays put all day, so tools, packers and the offcut we would rather have than not are all within reach. It rarely changes what we cut, but it does change how the pieces are stacked and strapped for the run out. It is decided in the yard, not at the kerb.

large detached on green belt frontage, gated modern mansion and period village houses. Doorways are low and narrow, which is a genuine constraint on piece length before anything else is considered. If the island top is a few hundred millimetres longer than the usable length of a slab, you buy a second slab to gain that overhang, the whole slab, not the part you use, and that is a material decision worth more than any other line on the quote. Priced from the building, not from a rate card.

Long private driveways, electric gates and gravel that a loaded trolley sinks into, so the last stretch is usually a straight carry. Access has to be arranged with security or a house manager rather than by knocking on the day. Where the parking court sits behind the block the carry crosses open ground and gets boarded, because loaded trolleys and block paving do not agree. That is why the fitting line on a quote reflects manpower and time rather than square metres. Nothing about it gets estimated after the fact.

Worktop design & quotation, worktop fabrication and worktop installation, in that order. Extension kitchens are usually specified long before they are buildable, so the run lengths on the drawing and the run lengths in the room are different numbers. Comparing quotes only works when they itemise the same things, and this is where the differences usually hide. Itemised, so it can be compared honestly. Book-matched pieces have to be dry-laid and viewed by the client before final fixing, so build an extra visit into the programme instead of expecting sign-off on the day.

If the island is a few hundred millimetres longer than the usable length of a slab, a second slab gets bought to gain that overhang, and the whole slab is paid for rather than the part used. A layout that has been packed and levelled run by run instead of to one datum shows as a step where two pieces meet. Dry-lay first, always. The returns into a breast recess are the tightest scribes in the room, and they are eased in rather than forced. On the day it means dry-laying, marking, and cutting the scribe on site before anything is bonded. Eased in, never forced. 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 someone is living in the house through the work, the strip-out and the fit are planned so the kitchen is out of use for a day and not a week. 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.