Kitchen worktops in Upney

Yes. Inter-war semis and terraces on the edge of the Becontree layout, where kitchens are small but the plots are deep enough for a shallow rear extension, and most jobs end with an L-shape of about 3m by 1.8m plus a utility by the back door. Units are commonly replaced at the same time as the tops because the originals are past saving. 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 is noted on the job sheet at template so the fitting crew inherit the answer rather than rediscovering it. It goes on the job sheet for the fitting crew.

1930s semi, inter-war terrace and post-war infill. The classic arrangement is the original back room with a later extension bolted onto it, so the kitchen is two ages of building in one room. The kitchen is normally the original back room with a later side-return or rear extension bolted on, and that helps us: most pieces can go down the side alley and in through the back door in one length, so we can avoid joins that a front-door route would force. Units kept, surface changed, one day.

Regular suburban streets with a mix of dropped kerbs and kerbside parking, and a side alley between most pairs of semis giving a route to the back garden. The side passage is the measurement that matters, because a piece has to be carried flat down it and then turned in at the back door, and the turn is always tighter than the passage. 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 installation, worktop replacement and worktop templating, 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 carcasses have to be sound, because stone is several times the weight of what is coming off. A plumber either side of us. Deep plots mean the kitchen is a long way from the van, so we plan the carry and clear the side alley of bins before the slab comes off the vehicle.

The return piece is the awkward one on a slab: short, full depth, and rarely nesting neatly against the long lengths, so yield rather than area is what moves the material figure. On the day that means dry-laying the whole layout first and only then pulling and bonding the joins. 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. The old top has been hiding it, so the first honest look at it happens when the laminate comes off. The laminate has been covering it up. 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.

An owner living in the house makes the decisions and lives with them, so the specification tends to go towards the material rather than towards the lowest total. A plumber disconnects before we arrive and reconnects after we leave, and that is worth booking early. Plumber either side of us. 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.