Stirchley Lean-to and Conservatory Cleaning in Canal-side Yards
Glazing at the back of a Stirchley terrace takes a particular shape because of the housing. A two up two down has a rear addition and then a yard, so glazed lean-tos, canopies and rooflights are the usual job and full conservatories sit on the larger plots. The new apartment blocks on the redeveloped plots have balconies in place of glazed rooms. Where a full conservatory has been built on a Stirchley plot, it gets exactly the same method as the smaller glazing described here, just across a bigger roof.
What there is to clean is the smaller relatives: glazed lean-tos where a yard was partly built over, rear extensions with lantern rooflights on the larger houses towards Hazelwell, and polycarbonate canopies over back doors and side entries. They are modest jobs, but they sit in the dampest position on the property, and because we are seven minutes away we are happy to take one on its own.
- Service
- Conservatory Cleaning
- Area covered
- Stirchley, 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 7 minutes
- Price
- Quoted per property before we start (what the quote covers)
- Booking
- Call or WhatsApp 07788 574283
Glazing boxed in by brick behind a Stirchley terrace
Anything glazed at the back of a Stirchley terrace is in the worst possible spot for staying clean. It is boxed in by brick on three sides, it gets very little direct sun, and it sits in the damp corridor running along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, so algae colonises the panels and stays. A lean-to or canopy roof also collects whatever comes off the main roof above it, which on these houses means moss shedding from old clay tiles landing in a shallow pitch that barely sheds anything. Its own guttering is short, low and easily overwhelmed, and when it overflows it discharges into a yard that cannot drain.
- Glazed lean-tos and canopies sitting in the enclosed, low-sun rear yard where algae simply persists
- Canal corridor damp along the streets running down from the Pershore Road, which slows any drying
- Moss shedding off old clay main roofs onto a shallow lean-to pitch below it
- Short low-level guttering on lean-tos and canopies, overwhelmed quickly and draining into a yard that cannot cope
- Lantern rooflights on the larger rear extensions towards Hazelwell, which are the nearest thing to conservatory work here
Chemistry and dwell time on lean-tos and canopies
Low pressure and chemistry do the work, on polycarbonate and glass equally. We wet the panels with a solution, leave it long enough to break the growth down, then rinse with pure water. A pressure washer would be the wrong tool three times over here: it marks polycarbonate, it pushes water past seals that are already tired, and where a lean-to is bolted to Victorian brickwork it sends water into soft brick and lime joints. Framework, bars and seals are wiped down by hand, and the little gutter along the front edge is emptied and run through before we leave.
- Low-pressure soft-wash on both glass and polycarbonate, with dwell time doing the work
- No pressure near the junction where a lean-to meets old brick and lime mortar
- Framework, bars and seals wiped by hand, with a perished seal pointed out, never quietly cleaned over
- The short front gutter emptied and run through on the same visit, since it tips into the yard
More detail on the equipment and the order of work: our conservatory cleaning method.
Lean-tos, canopies and rooflights in Stirchley yards
In Stirchley itself the work is lean-tos, back door canopies and side entry roofs on the terraced streets off the Pershore Road and running down towards the canal, plus the occasional lantern rooflight on a larger rear extension towards Hazelwell. The yards are boxed in, so access is through the shared entry or through the house, and it helps to say which when you book. We work from the ground with a pole, so what we need in the yard is somewhere to stand, not a clear run for a ladder. A canopy over a shared entry catches moss and grit off both roofs either side of it, so it is worth agreeing with next door before we come. The job pairs naturally with a yard clean or a gutter clear on the same visit, given how small each piece of glazing is.
Canopy, lean-to or years of green: what sets the price
These are small jobs and they are priced that way. A back door canopy or a short side entry roof is quick. A glazed lean-to over part of a yard takes longer mostly because of the frames and the junction with the house wall, both of which are hand work. What adds cost is neglect: panels left green for years may need a second application, and we would rather say that when we quote than after one pass has disappointed you. On the older plastic canopies over back doors we also look for sheets the sun has discoloured, since that is in the plastic itself and no wash touches it.
Each spring, or twice where moss sheds off the main roof
Yearly does for most of the glazing we handle here, ideally in spring so the light is back for summer. Consider two visits for anything sitting directly beneath a main roof that sheds a lot of moss, or on the rear elevations nearest the canal where drying is slowest. The little gutter wants doing more often than the panels do, because it fills up long before the roof begins to look bad from below.
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Stirchley · Conservatory Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
Rarely. The terraced stock has a rear addition and then a small yard, so there is seldom the ground to build one on, and the new apartment blocks have balconies instead. What you mostly find here is glazed lean-tos, back door canopies and lantern rooflights, and those are what this service covers. If you do have a full conservatory, the method and the pricing basis are the same, just on a larger roof.
Yes, and we are happy to take it on its own because we are only seven minutes away. It is a small job, so it often makes sense to pair it with the yard clean or the gutter clear. We do the panels, the frame and the little gutter along the front edge.
Yes, and it is exactly why we will not bring a pressure washer here. A lean-to bolted to Victorian brick with lime joints has a vulnerable seam running all along the wall, and forcing water into it buys you a damp room rather than a clean roof. Working at low pressure lets the solution break the growth down, and it then rinses off harmlessly.
Worth a look first. The green growth comes off entirely with a soft wash. If the sheets themselves have discoloured or gone brittle under ultraviolet light, that damage is inside the plastic, and on a small canopy fresh sheets are rarely a big expense. A photograph before you book tells us which you have.
Yes, as standard. It is short, low and sits under whatever the main roof sheds, so it fills far sooner than the house guttering does and then tips straight into an enclosed yard that already drains slowly. Cleaning the panels and leaving that gutter would be half a job.
Other cleaning we do in Stirchley
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