Conservatory Cleaning on Erdington’s Interwar Semis
This one suits the area properly. The semis that make up most of Erdington came with real back gardens, and through the 1990s and 2000s a great many of them gained a rear conservatory. Most of those are now twenty-five years old or more, with a polycarbonate or glass roof that has been going green slowly enough that nobody registered it happening.
They sit mostly on the outer residential streets towards Pype Hayes and Brookvale. Erdington conservatory work is booked onto set days, in spring for most roofs and again in autumn where trees overhang.
- Service
- Conservatory Cleaning
- Area covered
- Erdington, B23 and B24
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- How we do it
- Soft wash on the roof, no pressure on seals or polycarbonate
- From our Selly Oak base
- About 30 minutes
- Price
- Quoted per property before we start (what the quote covers)
- Booking
- Call or WhatsApp 07788 574283
A quarter-century-old rear addition, green roof and chalky frames
A twenty-five-year-old rear addition on an Erdington semi is usually in a predictable state. The roof panels carry a decade of algae, the frames have gone chalky, the seals have had a quarter of a century of weather, and the small gutter along the bottom edge has silted up under whatever the main roof slope shed into it. On the Pype Hayes and Brookvale side there is a second layer to deal with, because mature garden trees drop sap and leaf tannin on top of the algae and it sets. The end result is the same: the light stops coming through, the room stops getting used, and it fills up with bicycles and boxes.
- Twenty-five-year-old lean-to additions on the semis, fitted when these back gardens were being built on through the 1990s
- Twin-wall polycarbonate darkened enough that the room beneath it has quietly become bike and box storage
- Sap and leaf tannin from mature garden trees on the Pype Hayes and Brookvale side, setting on top of the algae
- Seals that have taken twenty-five years of weather and will not survive a pressure washer
- The small conservatory gutter blocking below the main house run, which is what soaks the rear wall
Low-pressure soft wash on original 1990s seals
Every conservatory here is soft-washed at low pressure and nothing harsher goes near it. The reason is the age profile of the stock: a roof fitted to an Erdington semi in the late 1990s is still on its original seals and glazing bars, and pressure pushes water past both and scars the panels permanently. Solution goes on and is left to break the growth down while the frames are worked, then everything is rinsed with filtered water so nothing dries back onto the panel. Bars, frames and finials are hand-finished, uPVC and aluminium each on their own terms, and the low gutter along the bottom edge is emptied before we leave.
- Solution left to break the growth down while the frames are being worked, then rinsed with filtered water
- The low gutter along the bottom edge emptied and flushed before we go, not written up afterwards as an extra
- Hand finishing on bars and finials, with uPVC and aluminium treated as the different materials they are
- A straight verdict on the seals, because a roof fitted in the late 1990s is frequently near the end of them
More detail on the equipment and the order of work: the full conservatory cleaning process.
Where the B23 conservatories actually are
Effectively all of this work is on the interwar and post-war semis, out towards Pype Hayes, Brookvale and the Kingstanding and Sutton Coldfield edges. Access is a pleasure compared with the inner areas: these houses have drives, so the van comes onto the property and the equipment does not have to be carried anywhere, though we do need the side gate unlocked to reach the back. Spring is when almost all of it is booked, so the room is clear and usable for the summer.
Roof area, panel material and summers since the last clean
What we quote against is the roof area, what the panels are made of, and how many summers have passed since anyone touched it. Access barely features, because these semis have drives and the kit comes off the van a few steps from the back gate. Two applications are occasionally needed on the park-side gardens where sap has set into the growth. The limit worth knowing before you commit: yellowed polycarbonate is not soiled, it has been broken down by years of sunlight, so there is nothing there for cleaning to act on.
A spring visit, and when Pype Hayes trees justify a second
Spring, once a year, suits most rear additions here, because the point is a room usable from April onwards. Twice is only justified where a garden tree sits over the roof, which is a Pype Hayes and Brookvale situation. Where a roof has been left a decade, budget for a long first visit and a short cheap one every year after it.
Great services delivered by Charles recommend for others
Nice man great at what he does
First time customer. Excellent service and great job. Will definitely be using them again in the future.
Erdington · Conservatory Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
No, that colour is in the panel itself. Twin-wall sheet fitted to these semis a quarter of a century ago has taken that many summers of sunlight, which breaks the plastic down, so there is nothing sitting on the surface for us to take away. What we can promise is the green: algae and the black film wash off entirely and the daylight through the roof changes noticeably. Yellow panels only alter when a glazier swaps them, and that is neither work we do nor work we sell.
No, not on a roof of this vintage. The additions on these streets went up in the 1990s and are still on their original seals, and a lance forces water past them and leaves marks in the polycarbonate that never come out. That is a common way for an old conservatory to start leaking. Low pressure and the right chemistry reach the same finish with nothing left to repair.
Yes, same visit, same price. It sits below the main house run, takes everything washing down the slope above it, and when it overflows the water goes straight down the back wall of the house. Clearing the panels and leaving that packed solid would simply hand you the problem again next winter.
Yes, and it is the one part of Erdington where twice a year is a fair recommendation. Sap and leaf tannin land on top of the algae and bake on through the summer into a stickier film that needs longer dwell time to shift. Away from the park edge the gardens are open enough that a single spring visit keeps a roof clear.
Yes, almost always. A decade of growth comes off, light returns through the panels and the room stops being somewhere to keep the bikes. Set your expectations on the frames: uPVC that has gone chalky cleans up well without going back to white, and you should know that before the van arrives.
Other cleaning we do in Erdington
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