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The parts of buying a worktop nobody writes down
What it costs, what fails and who pays when it does, how a slab gets up a Victorian staircase, and what has to be true before anyone can template. Written by the team that does both visits.
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Seven questions, seven places to start
Each of these answers the broad version of a question and then points you at the specific one you actually have.
- 01Cost and valueWhat a stone worktop really costs in LondonNobody can price your kitchen from a postcode. But the arithmetic is not hidden, and once you know your square metres and which extras are charged separately, you can check any quote you are given.
- 02When something goes wrongSomething has gone wrong with your stone worktop: what failed, and who paysThree parties can be liable when a stone worktop fails: the manufacturer, the fabricator-fitter, and you. Almost every real failure lands on the middle one. Here is how to tell which.
- 03Comparing materialsStone versus everything else: an honest map of what we fit and what we refuse toEvery worktop comparison page on the internet is written by someone who sells the winner. This one names the four situations where a material we do not fit beats the ones we do.
- 04London propertiesFitting stone in a London home: access, consent and the six constraints that decide your dateA worktop is the same object everywhere. What changes in London is everything around it. Which of the six access and consent constraints apply to your property, and the order to deal with them in.
- 05Planning and processThe order a kitchen actually goes in, and the two days we are in itPublished kitchen timelines put "fit worktops" on one line. In stone it is two separate visits days apart, and everything either side of them depends on that.
- 06Design and specificationSpecifying a worktop that still looks right in year fiveAlmost nobody regrets the material. They regret the pairing, the finish or the light. Here are the five decisions that decide whether a kitchen still reads well in five years, and where each one is answered properly.
- 07Your rights and choosing a fitterHow to buy a worktop without being stung: the route from first quote to signed-off installationA worktop is bought from a trade with no licensing regime and no compulsory registration. Here are the six points in the process where the law is actually on your side, in the order you will meet them.
Everything else
Latest articles
The specific questions, newest first.
16 published so far, on When something goes wrong, Comparing materials, Design and specification, Planning and process and more. A new one every Tuesday.
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When something goes wrongYour undermount sink is dropping: why re-gluing it will not fix it
Adhesive alone is not a fixing method for an undermount sink. How to look under your own cabinet and see which method you have, and what to do before anyone re-glues it.27 October 2026 · 10 min read -
When something goes wrongThe mark a hot pan leaves on quartz is a burnt resin, not a stain
Quartz surfacing is ground stone held together by a polymer resin. Under a hot pan it is the resin that fails, and that single fact explains why nothing you scrub with will help.20 October 2026 · 9 min read -
Comparing materialsSilica, silicosis and your worktop: an occupational hazard, and whose it actually is
The honest answer to "are quartz worktops dangerous" is that the danger falls on the people cutting them. Here is the regulator’s position, and ours.13 October 2026 · 10 min read -
Design and specificationWhat worktop goes with a green kitchen: sage, olive and forest are three different problems
Green is the second most popular UK cabinet colour, and every page answering this treats it as one colour. It is three. Sage, olive and forest each want a different surface, and the wrong one goes wrong within two years.6 October 2026 · 10 min read -
Planning and processNo worktop, no sink: how to get through the days between template and fitting
Between the template visit and the fitting visit your kitchen has no worktop and no working sink. Here is what that gap is actually for, and the four ways people bridge it.29 September 2026 · 8 min read -
London propertiesWill the slab fit up the stairs? The four measurements that decide, and when a join stops being optional
The measurements a surveyor actually takes on a London stair, the weights two people can and cannot carry, and the honest part: an access joint is a decision your building made, not one you chose.22 September 2026 · 11 min read -
Comparing materialsQuartz or laminate: the cost per year of ownership, and when laminate is the right buy
Divide by the years you will own the kitchen rather than comparing headline prices, and the quartz-versus-laminate question stops being about which material is better.15 September 2026 · 11 min read -
When something goes wrongCracked at the cut-out: why stone fails around sinks and hobs, and whose fault it is
Cut-outs are where stone worktops break, and the crack itself tells you why. How to read its origin and direction, and why the material warranty will not help you here.8 September 2026 · 10 min read -
Cost and valueQuartz worktop cost by kitchen layout, worked all the way through
Every cost page gives you a rate per metre and leaves you to work out how many metres you have. Here are five real layouts, measured, converted and priced to a total.1 September 2026 · 9 min read -
Design and specificationSpecifying a worktop that still looks right in year five
Almost nobody regrets the material. They regret the pairing, the finish or the light. Here are the five decisions that decide whether a kitchen still reads well in five years, and where each one is answered properly.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
Your rights and choosing a fitterHow to buy a worktop without being stung: the route from first quote to signed-off installation
A worktop is bought from a trade with no licensing regime and no compulsory registration. Here are the six points in the process where the law is actually on your side, in the order you will meet them.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
Planning and processThe order a kitchen actually goes in, and the two days we are in it
Published kitchen timelines put "fit worktops" on one line. In stone it is two separate visits days apart, and everything either side of them depends on that.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
London propertiesFitting stone in a London home: access, consent and the six constraints that decide your date
A worktop is the same object everywhere. What changes in London is everything around it. Which of the six access and consent constraints apply to your property, and the order to deal with them in.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
Comparing materialsStone versus everything else: an honest map of what we fit and what we refuse to
Every worktop comparison page on the internet is written by someone who sells the winner. This one names the four situations where a material we do not fit beats the ones we do.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
When something goes wrongSomething has gone wrong with your stone worktop: what failed, and who pays
Three parties can be liable when a stone worktop fails: the manufacturer, the fabricator-fitter, and you. Almost every real failure lands on the middle one. Here is how to tell which.25 August 2026 · 10 min read -
Cost and valueWhat a stone worktop really costs in London
Nobody can price your kitchen from a postcode. But the arithmetic is not hidden, and once you know your square metres and which extras are charged separately, you can check any quote you are given.25 August 2026 · 9 min read
Choosing between materials, edges or thicknesses? The guides are the evergreen buying decisions. All 31 guides
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