Kitchen Worktops in Apsley, Hemel Hempstead

New worktops are one of the quickest ways to refresh a kitchen, and in Apsley - with its mix of newer apartments by the canal and older family houses - plenty of kitchens have good units under a worn surface.

Laminate worktops are jointed with a proper mason's mitre, routed with a jig, bolted underneath and sealed, so the joint stays tight and water cannot reach the chipboard core. That joint is where cheap worktop jobs fail first.

Solid wood suits a lot of Apsley kitchens, especially the older houses, but it needs oiling on every face, including under the sink cut-out, and fixing that allows it to move with the seasons.

In the canal-side apartments, the kitchens are often compact, and a well-chosen worktop with a slim profile and a matching upstand makes the room feel bigger.

Cut-outs for sinks and hobs are accurate and sealed, and undermount sinks need a worktop material that supports them - wood, composite or stone rather than standard laminate.

Stone and quartz are templated after the units are in and fitted by specialists, and we arrange it and work around it.

Older Apsley houses near the old paper mill streets often have walls that are well out of square, so the worktop is scribed to the wall rather than left with a gap that gets filled with sealant. A worktop that meets the wall cleanly is easier to keep clean and looks properly fitted, and it means the upstand sits tight along its full length instead of bridging a gap in the plaster. Doors that no longer close square, a worktop lifting at a joint, or water marks under the sink are worth looking at before a new kitchen goes in.