F.A.Q.

The best way to get an estimate is to email us a plan of your kitchen, from this we can then prepare an estimate, or you can give us a call and we can take your details over the phone and we can call you back. A plan of your kitchen tends to lead to a more accurate estimate as it is less open to our interpretation of the information you give us. For an accurate estimate we will require the following information.

• Contact name, address, phone number and email.
• The type of material required
• Sizes of the worktops required.
• Cut outs required, e.g. hob, surface or under mounted sink and drainer grooves.
• Do you require up stands or window sills.

Granite is made from natural stone and is formed over millions of years. It is a mixture of quartz, mica and feldspar, the exact composition of the minerals varies around the world and hence we have a very wide range of colours available to us, there are over 200 varieties of stone available. The only thing harder than granite is diamonds, which is what we have to use to cut the stone!! This makes for an incredibly hard wearing material. Granite has a wide range of applications in the construction industry its uses include blocks for statues, curbs, wall panels and most importantly granite worktops, window sills and floors - all can be done with the granite.

Granite as a material for kitchen worktop has many advantages: it is very difficult to scratch although we do not recommend the use of sharp knives or utensils on the countertop surface, as you will only blunt the items quicker. Granite worktops are resistant to the absorption of stain, high temperature and moisture. A granite kitchen worktops looks very exclusive, is cold to the touch a great plus for cooks who make pastry!! Our worktops can even be fitted to your old cabinets as long as they are structurally sound. The big advantage of the granite countertop is that it can be cut to any shape from your project, it requires very little maintenance, other than a light wipe over with a warm soapy cloth and it looks and feels stunning and lasts for the life of your kitchen. It will be almost guaranteed that the cupboards will look worn out and tired before the worktop does!!

Granite is simply, dug out of the ground, transported around the world and delivered to your kitchen. All that’s happened to it is that it’s been cut into slabs, polished and cut to your requirements Quartz or composite worktops are man made, from a mixture of quartz and mica, with a resin and colorant to give an incredibly strong material, often with mirror added to give that added sparkle or wow factor. They come in a wide range of colours, only limited by your imagination. If you are looking for a plain colour, quartz is the material for you. The main advantage of quartz is its strength, durability, colour range and uniformity. Both granites and quartz are available in a range of textures and finishes. We can offer a honed or unpolished finish for a more natural look, or various textured surfaces, or the standard high polish finish.

Yes! But the care required is minimal and not difficult, unlike wood that needs sanding and varnishing many times every few months. The day to day care, of your worktop is very quick and easy, just wipe the surface with a warm soapy cloth to clean the tops. In areas of hard water we would suggest that the worktops are wiped over to avoid the risk of lime scale build-up. In the long term we would recommend the use of a granite care kit, this contains a stone cleaner, to give a deep clean to the worktops, a can of stain stop, to stop stains appearing particularly around the sink, where there is a lot of water and then finally a tub of polish, to maintain the sheen and natural beauty of the material. Granite is one of the most beautiful and durable materials around and a well looked after worktop will out-live anybody!!

Please note that there are a wide range of harsh cleaning materials on the market, many containing bleach or other chemicals that can have a negative impact on the original surface of calcareous stones (marble, travertine). Before applying them, please check the functioning of the cleaning material on a small stone sample or area that is well hidden.

The template can be booked at any time, but the kitchen or bathroom must be ready for us. The walls need to have been plastered. All the new cabinets need to have been secured to the wall, not just loosely positioned. If you are replacing an old worktop ideally we like the worktops to have been removed for templateing. The client must be on site to confirm all the details and resolve any questions, not just the builder’s lad, who does not know what you really want! Remember you will have to live with any decision for the next twenty or thirty years. There are a lot of questions to be confirmed at templateing

Yes we can template without the appliances being fitted, but you must ensure the correct space has been left to accommodate the various appliances. We will require the sink and hob to be on site, so we can check the cut outs required. If the sink is not available, we can supply the sink and taps from a range of suppliers, or the sink can be delivered to our factory in Mitcham, by you or direct from your supplier.

We will only start cutting the stone once we have received a deposit for 50% of the total money payable. If the stone is in stock we can start cutting immediately and the worktops could be fitted in four to five days. For templateing please allow three hours and for fitting three to four hours, all timings are approximate and will vary depending on the complexity and size of the work to be undertaken.

On installation day please ensure we have clear access to your kitchen as the worktops are very heavy! Please ensure the tops of the cabinets are all clear and the doors removed to avoid scratches when we place the worktops down.

We would recommend leaving the worktops for twelve hours, before letting anybody to close to the worktops. This is to allow time for the silicon mastic we use to completely dry before other tradesmen do their work. The plumber does not need to be there when we fit the worktops, as previously stated we recommend they come in once the silicon has had time to harden, this is particularly important with under mounted sinks that we glue to the surface as we don’t want this important bond weakened by the plumber moving the sink.

We can normally fit a worktop anywhere, although there are certain limitations. We must be able to get the worktop in the lift or up the stairs, if more people or a crane is required to lift the worktop there may be some additional charges.

It may be possible to repair a chip on the worktop, if you have the piece of stone that came out keep it safe, it may be possible to glue it back and then fill the gaps with our special filler. The other option is that we may be able to recut or polish the stone removing the affected area, please call the office for help and advice.

Stone is a natural product, colour variation is part of the natural beauty of the product. We will always produce your worktops from the same batch or block of stone to reduce the risk of colour variation at joints, however on the more patterned material the appearance or greater variation in colur can be become more noticeable, we will get the best possible colour match for you from the stone available. Sometimes the stone has a slightly uneven surface, pit or fissure, this is not a flaw with the stone, but part of its natural beauty. Every piece of stone is unique, with its own natural features. We may be able to cover or hide some of these marks with our special filler kit, but some you will have to live with.

We are always pleased to see clients at our showroom in Mitcham, our address is as follows 57 Willow Lane, Mitcham, CR4 4NB. Tel 0208 648 6261. In fact we encourage clients to visit us, so they can see the type of work we do and the results that can be achieved with stone. Our templator will always be more than happy to bring a long a range of samples when he visits for you to look at, but be warned they are fairly small and a large area can look quite different. A client is more than welcome to check the colour of the slabs being used for their worktops at our factory, we would rather the client check and not be happy at this stage than once we have cut and installed the stone. It should be noted that colour samples are only supplied as a guide, the final colour worktop may vary from the initial sample shown.

We cover the Greater London area,, City of London, Kingston, Kensington, Marylebone, South Kensington, Hampstead, Westminster, Park Royal, Mayfair, Belgravia, Fulham, Kilburn, Islington, Bayswater, Notting Hill, Highgate, Canary Wharf, London Bridge, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Clapham Common, Vauxhall, Earls Court, Wimbledon, Covent Garden, Richmond, Soho, Balham, Brixton, Acton, Chelsea, Hillingdon, Battersea, Kew, Harrow, Barnet, Enfield, and outside London in South East of England including;Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Oxfordshire where we have installed a variety of stone products such as granite kitchen worktops, marble worktops, limestone worktops, kitchen islands, window sills, bathrooms, showers, wet rooms, fireplaces, tables, counter tops, bar tops, breakfast bars.

Honed or light coloured marble and granite worktops are more susceptible to staining and water marks as the surface is more absorbent than a highly polish granite. As a result of this more care and time should be taken when applying Stain stop. Once stain stop is applied the surface should last you for many years.