Services
Stone bar tops
A bar top takes weight on its front edge all evening, so the overhang and what carries it matter more than the slab does. We settle the support before we talk about colour.
- 5.0from 26 Google reviews
- 25-year material · 5-year workmanship
- Fitted 5-10 working days from template
Every bar top is an overhang problem first
People lean on a bar. They rest their forearms on the front edge, push themselves up off it and sit at it for hours. An unsupported nose that would be perfectly fine on a kitchen island, where nobody applies real force to it, is not fine on something a room full of people pushes against all evening.
So the first conversation is about what sits underneath. Anything past roughly 300mm of unsupported overhang gets steel flat bar or corbels beneath it, let into the carcass rather than screwed onto the face of it. That is a joinery decision as much as a stone one, and it is far cheaper to take before the carcass is built.
The second conversation is about the front edge, because it is the one part of the job everybody in the room touches. It is profiled and polished on every exposed face, including the underside where a knuckle finds it.
At a glance
- The constraint
- Unsupported overhang past about 300mm
- Support
- Steel flat bar or corbels, let into the carcass
- Usual materials
- Quartz indoors, porcelain where citrus is constant
- Levelled to
- Itself, not to the floor
Fitted 5–10 working days from template. Deposit at template, balance before installation.
What is involved
From carcass drawing to a bar you can lean on
The order matters more here than on a kitchen, because the support has to exist before the stone does.
- 01Earliest stage
Agree the overhang before the carcass
Tell us the finished overhang you want and we will tell you what has to carry it. Deciding this after the joinery is built is how people end up with corbels bolted onto a finished panel that was never meant to show them.
- 02Samples free
Choose the material for what gets spilled
Quartz is the usual choice indoors. Where citrus, wine and strong cleaning products are constant, porcelain and sintered stone take it better. That is a difference in behaviour rather than a price tier.
- 03On site
Template the built bar
Taken once the carcass is fixed and any support steel is in, not from the drawing. A bar is usually the only thing in the room that is not against a wall, so its geometry answers to nothing but itself.
- 04Workshop
Cut, mitre and polish
The front edge and both returns are profiled and polished. A mitred edge builds a thicker looking nose out of a thinner slab, which is how most bars get their visual weight without becoming impossible to carry in.
- 05Fitting day
Fit level to itself
The top is set level across its own length rather than parallel to the floor, because floors in older buildings rarely are, and a drink finds the fall long before a spirit level does.
The parts that decide it
What a bar top has to survive
A bar is not a worktop with stools at it. These are the differences that change the specification.
The 300mm rule, and why it is a rule
Past roughly 300mm of unsupported overhang, the stone is a cantilever with people applying force to the end of it. Steel flat bar let into the carcass is the usual answer and corbels are the visible one. Either is cheaper than the piece that fails.
The front edge takes the abuse
Belt buckles, watches, glasses set down hard and elbows, all night. A heavier profile with a proper radius survives that better than a sharp arris, which chips at the first knock and then shows it forever, because it is exactly at eye level.
Acid is the enemy, not heat
Lime, lemon, wine and a good many bar cleaning products are acidic. Quartz copes well in normal use. Porcelain and sintered stone cope better, which is why they are the sensible choice behind a trade bar where nothing gets wiped up quickly.
Two levels, and the return between them
Many bars have a serving level and a lower back counter, or a raised drinking rail behind the working surface. Each is its own piece, and the return that connects them is where the fabrication drawing stops being simple.
Floors in old buildings are not flat
A bar is fitted level to itself. If the floor falls away over three metres, the gap under the bar changes along its length, and that is far better known at template than discovered when the plinth is being cut.
A trade fit is a different conversation
Our 25-year material warranty is written for residential installations. That does not mean we will not fabricate a bar for a commercial room, it means the terms are not the same, and we would rather say so before you order than afterwards.
If the overhang is already built and unsupported
It happens. The joinery goes in, the stone gets measured and the overhang turns out to be 450mm with nothing under it. There are three ways out of that and none of them is free: add corbels, which are visible; let steel into the carcass, which means opening it up again; or reduce the overhang, which changes how the bar is used. We will tell you which we think suits the room. What we will not do is fit an unsupported nose and call it finished, because the piece that cracks is the one somebody leant on.
Before we template
What has to be right, and what is not ours
Most of the left-hand column belongs to the joiner. It is on this page because the stone cannot fix any of it.
Have this in place
- The bar carcass built, fixed and level, with any support steel already in
- The finished overhang agreed, and something under it past about 300mm
- Stool height decided, because it sets the knee clearance under the front edge
- Any sink, drainer or ice well on site as the actual product
- Socket positions and any under-counter fridge or glass washer confirmed
- A clear route in: a bar top is one long piece and it does not bend
What we do not do
- Build or supply the bar carcass, the panelling or the foot rail
- Design or install support steel, though we will say what it has to carry
- Plumb or wire anything: we seat and seal, other trades connect
- Fit stone onto a carcass that is not fixed down
- Apply a residential material warranty to a trade installation
Questions
Bar tops: the questions we get asked
If yours is not here, ring and ask. You will get a straight answer rather than a call-back from a salesperson.
How much overhang can a stone bar top take?
Around 300mm unsupported is the sensible working limit, and less than that on a 20mm slab rather than a 30mm one. Past it the top needs steel or corbels underneath. Nobody enjoys hearing that once the joinery is finished, which is why we ask about the overhang before anything else.
What is the best stone for a bar top?
Quartz for most home bars: hard, no sealing, and the widest colour range. Porcelain or sintered stone where citrus, wine and strong cleaners are constant, which usually means a trade bar. Granite works as well, but it wants sealing, and a bar is not a surface anyone remembers to seal.
Can you match a bar top to my kitchen worktop?
Ordered together, yes, from the same slab run. Ordered later, engineered stone will have changed batch and granite will be a different slab, so expect a close relative rather than a twin. Where the two are in different rooms that is usually fine. Where they touch, it is not.
Do you fabricate bar tops for pubs and restaurants?
Yes. It is the same slab, the same saw and the same fitters as a kitchen. What differs is the sequencing around other trades and the fact that our 25-year material warranty is written for residential installations, so we set out where you stand on a trade fit before you order.
Where this happens
Bar tops in your part of London
Twelve neighbourhoods whose housing stock throws up this job most often. Each page covers what bar tops actually involves in that stock: the access, the era of the building and what that does to the work.
These twelve are a sample, not a coverage boundary. We work in 723 Greater London neighbourhoods and out into Surrey, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Essex.
Reviews
5.0 from 26 Google reviews
Every one of these is on our Google profile under the reviewer’s own name. Nothing here is written by us, and the link goes straight to the source.
Great experience from this company, I am happy with the materials, fitting and the team.
Rrahim Brati
Google review
Absolutely delighted with our new worktop from Worktop WorX. The Capri White finish looks incredible, clean, modern, and really brightens up the whole kitchen while pairing beautifully with the darker cabinetry. The quality of the worktop is outstanding, with a flawless finish and seamless installation that really shows the attention to detail. It’s not only stylish but also feels incredibly durable and practical for everyday use. Cam handled everything from start to finish and made the whole process smooth and stress-free. Professional, reliable, and clearly takes pride in the work. Highly recommend Worktop WorX. We couldn’t be happier with the result!
Dawid Myszor
Google review · Capri White
Excellent service and top quality workmanship. The worktop looks absolutely amazing and the attention to detail is impressive. The team was professional, punctual, and very easy to work with. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a premium kitchen worktop! 👌
Costin Roman
Google review
Next
What usually happens either side of this
Every job runs through more than one of these. Follow the thread rather than guessing which order things go in.
Next step
Send us the kitchen and we will price it properly
Plans, a sketch or photographs with rough run lengths is enough to start. Nothing is payable until we template.