Kitchen worktops in Turnpike Lane

Yes. Terraced houses split into flats plus a lot of accommodation above the shops on the High Road, so kitchens are small, awkwardly shaped, and often lit only by a rooflight or a light well. A 2.2m run with a slimline dishwasher is a common brief. A red route means no stopping, and no stopping means exactly that, so the stone comes in from a side street or from a bay behind the property. We stage the strip-out so the old tops leave in one trip rather than trickling out across the afternoon. It is a full day at the kerb, not a delivery.

Victorian terrace, flat above shop and 1930s purpose-built flat. Cornice, picture rails and deep skirting survive in converted rooms, so the run stands off the wall and the back edge follows the units rather than the plaster. The day is planned backwards from the hall. That is the shape of the day.

The High Road has bus lanes, a station entrance and permanent loading pressure - realistically you are working before 9am or unloading in a side street. Flats over shops mean a street door between two shopfronts and a steep straight stair with no half-landing. Communal stairs get boarded and the handrail padded, and we walk the route with a tape before the first piece leaves the van. 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 templating, in that order. In a converted house the flat entrance and the internal doorway are usually tighter than the communal stairs, and that is easy to overlook. Two to three hours on site, with the sink, tap and hob physically present. Units fitted, fixed and level first. Straight steep stairs with no landing are the constraint - a 3m slab cannot be tilted on the way up, so plan for two shorter pieces jointed in the kitchen.

The catch with a galley is that both runs are seen end-on from the doorway, so any difference in overhang between the two reads immediately. 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. Sill height gets settled with the template on site, because it is one of the few dimensions nobody has measured before we arrive. We would rather find it at template than on the morning, which is why the templater looks behind the units. 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.

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. 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.