Bournville Conservatory Cleaning, From Village Lean-Tos to Sun Rooms
Inside the model village, conservatory work usually means a small lean-to or glazed garden room on a later extension, set against the old brick or render. That follows from the village’s rules: under the Bournville Village Trust’s Scheme of Management, altering the outside of a village house needs the Trust’s consent, so the rear elevations of the village cottages have mostly stayed as they were built.
The conservatories proper are on the interwar and post-war streets around it: the semis towards Mary Vale Road, Griffins Brook Lane, Hay Green Lane and the Stirchley and Cotteridge sides of the postcode, where rear additions went up through the 1990s and 2000s. Many of those roofs are now twenty to thirty years old, under mature trees, and greener every year.
- Service
- Conservatory Cleaning
- Area covered
- Bournville, B30
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- How we do it
- Soft wash on the roof, no pressure on seals or polycarbonate
- From our Selly Oak base
- About 8 minutes
- Price
- Quoted per property before we start (common questions)
- Booking
- Call or WhatsApp 07788 574283
The garden-suburb canopy over B30 rear extensions
What turns a B30 conservatory green is the garden-suburb canopy. The planting the village is known for carries on into the streets around it, so a great many rear extensions sit beneath limes, sycamores and old fruit trees in long back gardens. That gives algae on the panels with a skin of sap and leaf tannin baked over it by summer sun, which takes longer to shift than algae alone. The conservatory gutter, lower than the house run and right under the branches, fills first.
- Street trees and old fruit trees in long B30 back gardens hanging over rear extensions
- Sap and leaf tannin baked over the algae in summer, which needs longer dwell time
- Rear additions from the 1990s and 2000s, now twenty to thirty years old and often never cleaned
- Conservatory guttering sitting low under the branches, so it blocks before the house run
- Village lean-tos set against painted render or original brick, where water must not be forced in
Low-pressure soft-wash that keeps water out of render and brick
Soft-wash at low pressure on polycarbonate and glass alike. The solution goes on, is given time to break down the algae and the tannin skin over it, and is rinsed off with pure water. High pressure scratches polycarbonate, forces water past ageing seals and can crack older glazing bars; on a village lean-to it would also drive water into the render or brick the frame is fixed to, a worse problem than the dirt. Frames, glazing bars and seals are cleaned by hand, and the conservatory gutter is cleared and flushed as part of the job.
- Low-pressure soft-wash with dwell time for the sap and tannin skin
- A second application on a roof green for years, stated in the quote at the outset
- Frames, glazing bars and seals cleaned by hand, with perished seals reported to you
- Conservatory guttering cleared and flushed as standard, since it fills before the house run
More detail on the equipment and the order of work: how we do conservatory cleaning, step by step.
B30 conservatories, street by street
Most of the conservatories in the postcode sit outside the model village: on the semis running towards Mary Vale Road, Griffins Brook Lane and Hay Green Lane, and out towards Stirchley and Cotteridge. Spring is the time to book, so the room is light and usable by summer, and the conservatory gutter is cleared on the same visit. Inside the village the job is more often a lean-to or glazed garden room on a later extension. Anyone planning to add a conservatory to a village house should speak to Bournville Village Trust before speaking to a builder.
What sets the price: roof size and years under a sycamore
Size, roof material and how long it has been left set the price. A regularly cleaned village lean-to is quick. A large conservatory on a Cotteridge semi that has sat under a sycamore for eight years takes far longer and may need two applications, so photographs help us quote properly. On the older polycarbonate roofs, any yellowing is ultraviolet damage in the panel itself, which cleaning does not reverse, and we point it out before starting.
Twice a year under the canopy, once in an open garden
Twice a year for a roof with trees over it, which is common in B30: spring for the light, autumn to clear the leaf and sap load before winter. Once a year is enough for a conservatory in an open garden away from trees. The conservatory gutter benefits from the shorter interval regardless, because it overflows long before the roof looks bad.
Nice man great at what he does
Charles was great. He was very professional and did a great job.
Absolutely brilliant service. Adefem was professional, job well done. Everything was left beautifully clean, and I was genuinely impressed.
Bournville · Conservatory Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
Because adding one changes the outside of the house, and under the Bournville Village Trust’s Scheme of Management that needs the Trust’s consent. The village core has therefore mostly kept its original rear elevations. B30 conservatory work is largely on the interwar semis around it.
Once a year suits most of them, in spring once the winter growth has shown itself, with a second visit in autumn where trees overhang the roof. The roof, the frames and the small gutter along the bottom are all done on the same visit.
A little. Glass takes the same low-pressure soft-wash and pure water rinse, and it comes up clear with no risk of scratching. The care goes into the junction with the old brick or render, where the frame is fixed, so the rinse is kept gentle there and nothing is driven into the wall.
Yes, and that is the reason for using it. Low pressure lifts the algae chemically and rinses away without forcing water into the render or past the seals where the frame meets the wall. High pressure at that junction is how a cleaning job becomes a damp problem.
Yes, as standard. It sits lower than the house guttering and usually right under the branches, so in B30 it fills first and overflows onto the frame. Cleaning the roof and leaving the gutter full would be half a job.
Other cleaning we do in Bournville
Tell us about the job
Send a few details or photos and we’ll come back with a clear price and an estimated time, with no obligation.