Laminate, solid oak or quartz; quartz templated after the units are in and fitted a week later
Worktops
Laminate that looks like stone for a fraction of it, solid oak oiled on site, or quartz templated with a laser after the units are fitted and installed a week later with the sink undermounted and the edges polished. Worktop-only replacements too, for a kitchen that is sound but tired.
The worktop is the bit you touch every day and the first thing to look tired. Laminate has come a long way: a 38 mm square-edge laminate in a concrete or a marble print fools most people at arm's length, survives anything but a hot pan, and keeps the budget for the doors. Solid oak is warm, mends with sandpaper and needs oiling twice a year. Quartz is hard, cold, stain-proof, and the one people choose when they can.
Laminate and oak are cut and fitted by our teams on the fitting days. Quartz is different: once the units are level and fixed, a templater comes with a laser and draws every edge, every cut-out and every wall that is not straight, and the slabs are cut at a works in Newport and fitted a week later, with the sink undermounted and the hob cut-out polished. For that week you have temporary worktops, so the kitchen still works.
If your kitchen is sound but the worktop is chipped and swollen at the sink, we replace the worktop alone: new laminate in two days, oak in three, quartz in a template visit and a fitting day. We disconnect and reconnect the sink and the hob and leave the rest of the kitchen as it was.
What is included
- Laminate, oak or quartz samples at the design visit
- Quartz templated by laser after the units are fitted
- Undermount sinks, drainer grooves and polished cut-outs
- Temporary worktops while the quartz is made
- Oak oiled on site and the oil left with you
- Worktop-only replacements for sound kitchens
What it costs
Included in every fitted kitchen at the grade you choose; the estimator adds it by the size of the room. A worktop-only replacement in quartz for a medium kitchen is usually £2,800 to £3,600 fitted. Including VAT. The estimator gives the band for your room; the projects page has eight kitchens before and after, with what each cost.
Questions about worktops
Will quartz stain?
Not from wine, coffee or turmeric if you wipe it the same day; it is non-porous. It can scorch under a hot pan straight from the oven, so we fit a trivet rail by the hob if you want one.
Is oak hard to look after?
Oil it twice a year and do not let water sit round the tap. A scratch sands out. Most people grow to like the marks.
Start with the design visit. An hour, and it is free.
Carys comes to your house, measures every wall with a laser, shows you the doors and worktops in your own light, and sends scaled drawings with a fixed quote within a week. The estimator gives you the band before she arrives.