Cleaning FAQs, Birmingham & the West Midlands

It depends, and here is exactly what it depends on. Four things move the number: the size of the property, the height and the access, the condition it is in, and whether it is a one-off or a repeat visit. A three-storey villa with high parapet guttering takes longer than a semi, an oven nobody has touched in years takes longer than one cleaned last month, and a driveway you cannot get a van near takes longer than one you can. First cleans are nearly always the dearest, because they are the visit that deals with everything that has accumulated, and a property on a regular booking stays cheap precisely because the build-up never returns.

The quote is free and there is no obligation attached to it. For most jobs we can price over the phone, or from photographs sent on WhatsApp, which saves everybody a visit. The figure we give you is agreed before we start, never after. The only time it moves is if the job turns out materially different from what was described, a gutter with seedlings actually rooted in it, or a property in a much worse state than the photographs suggested, and in that case we stop, tell you what we found and what it would add, and you decide. We do not start work and hand over a bigger bill at the end.

In effect yes, though we would rather explain it than publish a number that will be wrong for your job. Every visit carries the same setup whatever its size, so one small task on its own is poor value for you as well as for us. If you want a single window done or one rug cleaned, either combine it with something else at the same visit, or ask when we are next working near you and we will fit it into that day. Regular domestic cleaning works to a minimum block of hours per visit, because below that there is not enough time to finish a room properly and you end up paying for a rush.

Bank transfer is the simplest and the details come with the invoice. We take cash as well. On a normal domestic job we do not ask for payment up front, and we invoice once the work is done and you have had a chance to look at it. On larger jobs and on commercial contracts we agree the payment terms in writing before anything starts. Either way the invoice comes from Adefem Concepts Solutions Ltd., company number 16899886, which matters if you are a landlord, an agent or a business putting it through the books.

Within about 25 minutes of Selly Oak, very little: we can usually offer a slot within the week. Further out, book a week or two ahead, because those areas are covered on set days. To book, call or WhatsApp 07788 574283, email adefemconcepts@gmail.com, or use the form on the contact page. WhatsApp is usually the quickest, because you can photograph the gutter, the patio or the stain and get a price back without arranging a visit first. Anything tied to a date you cannot move, end of tenancy above all, should be booked as far ahead as you can manage, and exterior work is weather-dependent, so leave a little slack if it has to be done by a particular day.

For exterior work, no. Windows, gutters, conservatory roofs, patios and drives are all done from outside, and we only need the side gate unlocked. We leave a note to say we have been. For interior work it is your choice: if you give us a key or code, you need not be in, and you come back to a finished house. If you would rather not be there for the walk-round at the end, we lock up when we finish and send photographs so you can see what was done before you get home.

Yes. If you give us a key or code, you need not be in. A key is labelled with a reference rather than with your address and comes back whenever you ask, with no notice required. If you use a key safe we will use the code you give us, and we would encourage you to change that code once the work finishes, whoever has had it. If any of that makes you uncomfortable, do not do it. A simple arrangement where you let us in and then go out works perfectly well and we have no preference either way.

Tell us as early as you can and it is not a problem. A day or more of notice costs nobody anything and we will just move you. The awkward cases are a cancellation when we are already parked outside, or an interior clean we cannot get into because nobody is home and the key is not where it was meant to be, because that is a slot we cannot fill at an hour’s notice. We will always talk to you about it rather than applying an automatic charge, but repeated no-access on a booked slot is the one thing that will end up on an invoice.

Window cleaning with pure water goes ahead in ordinary rain and the finish is unaffected, because the glass is being rinsed with water that dries clean anyway and rain simply rinses it further. What we do not work in is strong wind, since a pole extended to full height in a gust is genuinely dangerous, or hard frost. Pressure washing and gutter work get called off in heavy rain and wind, because the results are poor and the ground turns to mud. If we have to move you, you will hear from us that morning with the next slot, not be left waiting in for a van that is not coming.

No, we bring all of it. The van carries purified water in tanks, so exterior work does not need your outside tap or your electricity, though on a large job it helps if a tap is available and we will always ask before using anything of yours. For interior work we bring the machines, the cloths and the products. We do not use your mop, your vacuum or your cloths, mainly because we cannot vouch for how clean they are and cross-contaminating a kitchen with somebody else’s cloth is exactly the sort of thing we are being paid to prevent. If you would prefer a particular product of your own used on a particular surface, leave it out and tell us.

Milder, fragrance-free products are available on request at no extra cost, and we would rather you asked than assumed. Say so when you book, particularly if there is a baby, an asthmatic or a pet in the house, or if somebody reacts to fragrance. Worth knowing that a lot of the exterior work is already just water: window and conservatory glass is cleaned with purified water and a brush and no detergent at all. Where a stronger product genuinely earns its keep is ovens, degreasing a kitchen, mould in grout and biological growth on paving, and on those jobs the gentler option usually needs longer dwell time to reach the same result. We build that into the time rather than pretend there is no difference.

We clean. We do not repair, decorate or garden. So we do not refit gutters, replace seals, re-point brickwork, relay paving or repaint frames, although we will tell you when we think one of those is needed and show you the photograph that made us think it. We do not shift heavy furniture or appliances single-handed, and we clean behind and under whatever can be safely accessed. We will not touch anything we believe we would damage: unsealed wood, delicate or antique rugs, blown or crazed glazing, damaged plaster. Clearance is not cleaning either, and clearance and waste removal are not something we offer, so a property full of belongings needs clearing by somebody else before a clean is worth booking. Drains, pest control, lofts and chimneys are not us.

Not much, but a little helps a lot. For interior work, clear the surfaces you want cleaned and put away anything valuable, fragile or personal, because we will clean around what is left rather than move it. For exterior work, unlock the side gate, move cars off the drive if the drive is being cleaned, close windows and roof vents before any gutter or roof work, and tell us if there is a dog in the garden. If you have a pond, say so at the quote stage, because we keep run-off away from it and that occasionally changes how we set up.

You get an estimate before we start, and we would rather over-estimate than rush the last hour of a job. As a rough guide: exterior windows on an average semi take under an hour, a gutter clear takes one to two hours, a conservatory roof most of a morning, and a patio or driveway is often the better part of a day, because a rotary cleaner covers ground slowly if it is going to come up evenly. A deep clean on a three-bed house is a full working day, and an end of tenancy clean on that same house takes longer again, since the oven on its own can absorb a couple of hours.

Yes, we hold insurance for the work we carry out at your property, and the current certificate goes out by email to anyone who asks before the job. Asking is sensible and you should ask it of any cleaning firm. Read what it covers rather than taking the word insured on a website: it covers accidental damage and injury arising out of our work. It does not turn us into a repair service for faults that were already there, so if we clear a gutter and a section that was already cracked carries on leaking, that is a repair rather than a claim. It is also why we photograph anything that looks fragile or already damaged before we touch it.

We tell you. That is the whole answer, and it is the part most firms are vague about. If we break, mark or damage something, you hear it from us on the day rather than discovering it a week later, and we put it right by repair, replacement or a claim depending on what it is. We would ask for the same in return: if you spot something after we have gone, tell us within a couple of days while it is still possible to work out what actually happened. The photographs we take before starting exist to protect both sides of that conversation, not just ours.

Tell us straight away, ideally before we leave, which is why we offer to walk the job with you at the end. If you notice something afterwards, tell us within a couple of days, the same window as for damage, and we will look at it with you and arrange to put right anything we missed. The time limit has a reason: after a few days in a lived-in house, nobody can reliably separate what we missed from what has happened since. We would much rather come back than argue about it, and we would far rather you told us than quietly booked somebody else next time and never said why.

Call 07788 574283 or email adefemconcepts@gmail.com and say what happened. There is no complaints department to be passed around: this is a small company, and the person who answers is the person who can sort it out. Put it in writing if you want a record of it and you will get a reply in writing. If we are in the wrong, we own it and fix it. If we think we are not, we will explain why rather than going quiet on you, and you remain entirely free to disagree and take it further.

Adefem is a small company with one named director, Adekunle Charles Akinrinlola, who customers know as Charles, and the company is on the public register under number 16899886. The work follows the same method every time, we are insured for it, and we bring our own equipment and products. You are told before the visit who is coming, and the price is agreed before anything starts.

Yes. End of tenancy work, void property cleans, communal areas and stairwells, and regular office, retail or premises cleaning are all work we take on. Commercial visits run within our published hours, and an 8am start usually clears the premises before trading. You get an invoice from a company registered in England and Wales, number 16899886, which is generally what agents and accounts departments need. For anything recurring we put the scope, the frequency and the price in writing before the first visit, so there is no argument six months later about what “included” was supposed to mean.