Yardley Wood Conservatory Cleaning for Shaded Rear Roofs
Conservatories in Yardley Wood are nearly all rear additions on interwar and post-war semis, raised through the 1990s and into the 2000s, so most are now a quarter of a century old. That puts them on precisely the elevation that struggles in this area: facing the canal cutting, in shade and still air for most of the day. A roof in that position greens over quickly, and it does it quietly while the front of the house still looks perfectly respectable.
Where the plot steps down, the conservatory usually sits at the bottom of the fall, and that adds two things. Rainwater coming off the house run arrives at it and does not drain away from it, and the conservatory gutter, already the lowest on the property, blocks first and then stays wet longest. We clear that as part of the job at no extra cost, because cleaning a roof here and leaving a full gutter under it would be doing half the work and charging for all of it.
- Service
- Conservatory Cleaning
- Area covered
- Yardley Wood, B14 and B28
- Local authority
- Birmingham
- How we do it
- Soft wash on the roof, no pressure on seals or polycarbonate
- From our Selly Oak base
- About 22 minutes
- Price
- Quoted per property before we start (quoting and booking questions)
- Booking
- Call or WhatsApp 07788 574283
Shade, still air and algae on a rear roof near the cutting
Shade is the whole story. Algae wants damp and low light, and the back of a Yardley Wood house near the cutting supplies both from October through to March, so panels green over in a couple of seasons, not a decade. On polycarbonate the growth also gets into the flutes at the open ends of the sheets, which is why a roof can still look green from underneath after the top surface has been washed. Add the leaf load off the tree lines along the canal, and the conservatory gutter is full well before the house guttering has begun to notice.
- Rear roofs facing the cutting, sitting in shade and still air most of the day
- Algae in the flutes at the open ends of polycarbonate sheets, still visible from underneath after a surface wash
- Conservatories at the bottom of a stepped plot, taking the water that arrives from everything above them
- Conservatory guttering blocking well before the house run does, then staying wet once it has
- Frames and glazing bars set against render or pebbledash, where pressure is emphatically the wrong tool
Solution, dwell time and pure water, never force
Low pressure throughout, with glass and polycarbonate treated exactly the same way. Solution is applied, left to break the algae down on its own, then taken off with pure water. Force is the wrong tool on this elevation: it scores polycarbonate, pushes water past tired seals, splits older glazing bars, and where a frame meets pebbledash it sends water in behind the render coat. Frames, bars and seals get hand attention. Before the kit goes back in the van, the conservatory gutter is emptied and water is run down it. If a roof has been green for several winters, we say at the quote that it wants a second application.
- Low pressure and dwell time on both glass and polycarbonate, with no force used anywhere on the roof
- The conservatory gutter emptied and run through within the visit, never priced as an addition to it
- Frames, bars and seals done by hand, with anything perished reported to you instead of covered over
- A second application named at the quote where a shaded roof has been green for several winters running
More detail on the equipment and the order of work: how we do conservatory cleaning, step by step.
Rear conservatories on the shaded side
This work sits on the rear elevations of the semis and terraces either side of School Road and along the roads dropping to the canal, plus the B28 side across the railway. Spring is the natural time, to have the room light before the summer, and at roughly 22 minutes from Selly Oak a slot within the week is usually possible. On a stepped plot we look at where water travels before starting, since the conservatory tends to be the lowest structure on the site and everything above it drains that way.
Winters left green decide the work on a Yardley Wood roof
Size, roof material and the number of seasons since anybody last touched it decide the figure. Something done a year ago goes quickly. A roof on the cutting side left green for six or seven winters is a far bigger piece of work and will very likely want two applications, so photographs help us more than a description does. One limit to know about: on older polycarbonate, any yellowing is UV damage within the sheet, so the green lifts away and the tone underneath stays. We identify which of the two you have at the quote.
Spring and autumn for roofs facing the cutting
Twice a year for a rear roof facing the cutting, which is most conservatories in this area: spring for the light, autumn to take the leaf and growth off before the wet months set in. Once a year is enough on an open, sunnier plot further uphill. The conservatory gutter benefits from the shorter interval either way, because on a stepped plot it is overflowing long before anybody indoors notices the roof looking bad.
First time customer. Excellent service and great job. Will definitely be using them again in the future.
Charles was great. He was very professional and did a great job.
Excellent job, highly recommended.
Yardley Wood · Conservatory Cleaning
Frequently asked questions
Because it faces the wrong way for this area. The front of your house gets sun and traffic film, the back gets shade off the cutting and damp still air, and algae only needs the second of those. A flat or shallow roof on that side collects water and light debris as well, which is exactly what the growth feeds on.
Growth inside the flutes of the polycarbonate sheets, seen through the panel from underneath. The top surface is genuinely clean. Sealed flutes stay clear, but where the end caps or tape have failed, algae gets in and no external wash reaches it. That is a panel or capping repair, not a cleaning job, and we will show you.
Not both. The green, yes: algae lifts off completely and the change is obvious from inside. A yellow or amber tint is UV working on the sheet itself, so there is nothing on the surface to take off, and only replacement panels alter it. On a shaded roof by the cutting, the green is usually most of what you are seeing.
Yes, and that junction is precisely why we use it. Low pressure lifts the algae chemically and rinses off, without forcing water behind the pebbledash where the conservatory frame meets the wall. High pressure at that seam is how a cleaning job turns into a damp patch on the inside of the wall a month later.
Yes, as standard, and here it is arguably the more useful half of the visit. On a plot that steps down, the conservatory gutter is the lowest on the property and takes everything the house run sheds, so it fills first and then tips over the frame onto whatever is sitting beneath it.
Other cleaning we do in Yardley Wood
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.