Granite worktops, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Drainer grooves, tap holes and socket cut-outs multiply in a large kitchen, and every one is cut into stone that has already been paid for. The count is what moves the number. Sealed on the day it is fitted, and we tell you when it is due again.

Lived in by their owners / 62.4%

A stone chosen to be lived with should be chosen in person. We would rather delay a week than cut from a photograph. The stone decides part of this, and we will show you which part.

The middle half of our granite range runs from £148 to £250 per square metre, across 45 colours. Bigger kitchens are priced by the slab count. The template shows whether the run and an island nest into one slab or need two, and that decides more than the square metres do.

Across Richmond upon Thames's 20 neighbourhoods, owner-occupation runs from 52% in North Sheen to 74% in Petersham, with Hampton Hill (70%) and Strawberry Hill (70%) next. Granite is sealed on installation and topped up over time, a schedule that is easiest to keep where people own the kitchen they cook in.

Across Richmond upon Thames's 20 neighbourhoods, the share of housing standing before 1919 runs from 1% in Heathfield to 69% in St Margarets, with East Sheen (64%) and Kew (63%) next. Walls of that age are rarely straight, so a granite top is scribed to the template rather than to a straight line.

We cannot post granite offcuts, so samples are the Worktop Worx quartz collection only.