New kitchen and bathroom

Do wood/granite/marble/etc. worktops still come in a range of different thicknesses? If changing from one material to another involves a change of thickness, that could involve hacking off and replacing wall tiling above, and could throw out alignment above worktop socket outlets/control switches for below worktop outlets.You are specifying those in nice centralised, pleasing locations in the tiling grid aren't you? (So they don't have silly thin slivers of cut tiles bordering them).

EDIT: There could also be a problem with change in levels between top of worktop and window cill, if they have been coordinated for the original thickness.

 

Do you mean upstands? The walls in my old house aren't straight enough for them, and a mixture of old and extended new/infilled door openings would be a nightmare fitting long straight lengths of anything unless hacking off and replastering (which caused me a problem levelling wall surfaces as the entire kitchen was cement and sand render coat).

 

Interesting @Loofah. Tiled backsplash or what you call returns, are the still the standard here for anything higher scale than a basic kitchen over here. And they go up from the counter top to the bottom of the cupboards or window behind the sink. I'll watch to see if this trend comes across the pond.

 

Having been an ex kitchen fitter, I'm as useless as the rest!

I would always now go bespoke (designed and built by me).

You always seem to get problems with in store designed, supplied and installed, more trouble than it's worth.

Carol wanted a new kitchen, chose one from wickes and to be fitted by Vince.

It's now installed and looks okay....... but I had to cut down a couple of cabinets to make the kitchen fit despite giving accurate measurements and a kitchen plan on graft paper!!!