It's improbable that you'll encounter significant issues, but two areas merit attention:

Unit Rot: If there's any rot in the units, it's best to replace them. Installing expensive and heavy granite or quartz worktops on units that need replacing is not a wise investment.

Unit Strength: Some older, budget units may lack strength at the back. Cheaper units often have most of their reinforcement at the front. Strengthening the back of the unit with vertical internal battens or wall-mounted battens will generally help to address this.

Kitchen units often fall out of alignment and become uneven beneath the worktops. This can result from poor initial installation or natural settling over time. These issues become glaringly apparent when templating and installing new worktops.

It's essential that any remedial or levelling work on your kitchen units be carried out by a skilled handyman/ joiner:

Unit Condition: Before templating, the units must be structurally sound, capable of supporting the weight of stone, and properly aligned and levelled.

Height Consistency: Adjacent units should be at the same height, with an overall height variation of no more than 3mm.

Front Edge Alignment: The front edges of the units must form a straight line. If they don't, corrective work is necessary before templating.

If you've chosen Finch’s to manage your worktop exchange, we or our subcontracted tradespeople can handle the removal of the old worktops, disconnection & reconnection of services such as gas & electric hobs. However, Additional Joinery work may be needed depending on the condition of the existing kitchen. Dresser units that sit on top of the worktop may also need to be removed by a professional joiner or kitchen fitter.

Typically, no. The majority of laminate and wood worktops are about 38 or 40mm thick, while our granite and quartz worktops are 20mm or 30mm thick (±2mm).

The difference of about 10mm may not seem significant unless you have a decorative treatment on the back wall that you want to preserve. Tiling can be particularly challenging:

Removing the old worktops without damaging the tiles can be tricky, especially if the tiling has been grouted onto the old worktops. Keep in mind that broken tiles may be difficult or impossible to replace.

Compensating for the lost thickness in the worktops will require filling a gap.

This gap can be filled using one or a combination of the following methods:

Adjustable Legs: Some units have adjustable legs that can be used to gain a few millimeters, which is occasionally an option.

Packing Up the Worktops: MDF can be used to increase the height of the worktops. However, this may not be ideal if there is an open-plan area with seating where the eye-level may be at worktop height. Painting the MDF to match the color tone of the worktop can help blend it in.

Using an Upstand: An upstand can be used to cover the gap. It can be installed over the tiles or under the second row of tiles after removing the first row. The upstand can be cut to size to bridge the gap. However, some customers may feel that having an upstand with the tiling may be too visually busy.

Using Extra Silicone or a Trim Strip: Filling the gap with extra silicone or a trim strip can be surprisingly effective if the filler matches the tiles/grout. The extra 10mm may not look as excessive as one might think, provided the grouting gap was not excessive in the first place.

Although it is preferable to remove existing worktops to create templates for the new ones, this process can cause disruption for the customer, as they would be left without worktops, a sink, and a hob for several days until the new surfaces are installed. While this is typical during a new kitchen installation, we strive to minimize disruption and provide a seamless service.

Typically, our fitting teams can visit the site and take all the necessary measurements with the existing worktops in place. Therefore, the old worktops can be removed the day before we are scheduled to install the new ones. This approach helps to ensure a smooth transition and minimizes the inconvenience to the customer.
In some cases, it may be necessary to remove the worktop to create the templates, but this is a rare occurrence.

If you do ask for us to include these service in your quote, we will arrange for our gas safe & electrical certified plumber to disconnect the services such as sinks, taps, and hob, along with removal of the existing worktops. This is completed on the day of installation of the new tops, including reconnection of services as well, minimizing disruption to the customer to just the one day.

Unless your kitchen worktop quotation explicitly states that we are quoting to manage this, Finch’s does not undertake the removal of worktops, Dresser units, releveling, or other remedial work on kitchen units, nor the disconnection and reconnection of water, gas, or electrical services. These are services that you must choose to include.

Unfortunately, neither our plumbing team nor our worktop fitting team are able to carry out any joinery work that may need to be undertaken

Before beginning, it's essential to disconnect the water, electricity, and gas. This requires care and competence, and a Gas-Safe Registered tradesman must handle the disconnection of a gas hob.

Removing worktops is typically possible with a cross-head screwdriver to unscrew the tops and a 10mm open spanner to remove the bolt holding joined wooden worktops together. If the worktops have been glued down, a flat handsaw and/or a Stanley knife may be necessary. Ensure that you have isolation valves on your taps.

After we have installed your new worktops, you will need to reconnect the services. Flexible hoses can be helpful for the tap aspect. You may need to adjust the plumbing under the sink. Even if you are reusing your existing sink, you may need to alter the waste plumbing, as the bowl will be slightly lower.

If our own recommended tradesmen are used for the removal of existing worktops and plumbing services, there is usually 1 week from the template date to fitting. Remember that the only day you would have disruption is on the day of fitting, where usually all work is completed in that one day.

If you are to use your own plumber/ removal of worktops service or removing the existing worktops yourself, our recommendation is to schedule the replacement top installation well in advance, with the planned removal of the old worktops possibly occurring over the weekend (assuming a DIY removal for a customer who has weekends off work!). We can plan well in advance for our template team to be with you on Monday morning. The old worktops can then be temporarily put back in place (probably without reconnecting the services) until we return to install the new worktops later in the same week. With careful planning, it is possible to reduce the gap between removal and replacement to only three  or four days.