Our worktop is old and dull. Replace or restore?

Test before deciding. Original terrazzo and stone tops in these houses are frequently sound with a worn surface, and regrinding and repolishing costs a fraction of replacement. We will tell you honestly which yours is, and the answer is more often restore than clients expect.

Can you match the existing window sills?

We can try, and it is a yard decision rather than a catalogue one. Original sills are often a stone no longer supplied under the same name, so we take a photograph and a measurement to the yard and find the closest available. You should see the candidate slab before we commit.

Plumber in Muthaiga, Nairobi

We cover Muthaiga including Old Muthaiga, Muthaiga North, Thigiri, Muthaiga Golf Club area, Kitisuru Road end. Off Limuru Road and Muthaiga Road. Narrow service entrances mean the delivery route is checked before a slab leaves.

What is different about plumbing in Muthaiga

Old Muthaiga kitchens frequently have original terrazzo or stone tops that are worth regrinding rather than replacing outright.
Muthaiga North houses have deep original stone window sills, and matching a new worktop to them is a selection decision made at the yard.
Period Muthaiga cabinetry sits at heights that differ from modern units, so worktop thickness decides whether existing appliances still fit underneath.

Countertops in Muthaiga

In Muthaiga the first question is not what to install but what is already there: because these houses were built with stone that is no longer routinely supplied.

Regrind before you replace

Original terrazzo and stone worktops in these kitchens are frequently structurally perfect and simply worn. Decades of cleaning products have taken the polish off, and the surface reads as tired rather than damaged.

Regrinding and repolishing brings them back for a fraction of replacement, and it keeps a surface that matches the rest of the building. We test before quoting anything new, and we say so when restoration is the better job.

Matching what exists

Deep original stone sills, thresholds and sometimes a surviving section of worktop set the palette. A new top that ignores them looks inserted.

Matching is a yard exercise: the original stone is often no longer sold under any current name, so we take measurements and photographs and find the closest available piece. You should see it before we cut.

Appliance clearances

Period cabinetry sits at heights that do not match modern units, and worktop thickness eats into the gap. A 30mm top where there was a 20mm one can leave an existing under-counter appliance no longer fitting.

We measure the clearance at survey. It is a small check that avoids a very annoying discovery on installation day.

What we are usually called out for in Muthaiga

Repair, resealing and polishing Chips, etching, dull patches and staining: most of it fixable in place, without replacing the top. Granite countertops Granite templated on site, cut and polished in our workshop, and sealed before handover. Marble countertops Marble for those who want it, with a frank account of etching, staining and where it belongs. Vanity tops Bathroom vanity tops in stone, quartz or terrazzo, with basin cutouts made in the workshop.

Landmarks we work around here: Muthaiga Golf Club, Limuru Road, Muthaiga Country Club, Aga Khan Hospital. See what countertops cost.