exterior
Conservatory and uPVC cleaning
Conservatory cleaning costs £80 to £180 for a standard lean-to done inside and out, and £150 to £320 for a large Victorian or P-shaped one. The roof is most of the price and all of the difficulty: nobody walks on it, so it is reached from the ground with a pole or from a tower, and that decides the quote more than the floor area does.
What this covers
What it costs. Conservatory cleaning costs £80 to £180 for a standard lean-to inside and out. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Roof panels washed from a pole, glass or polycarbonate
- Glazing bars and the algae that collects in them
- uPVC frames, trims and finials brought back from grey
- The box gutter where the conservatory meets the house
- Inside of the roof, where reachable without walking on the glass
What is involved
Polycarbonate and glass are not the same job. Polycarbonate is soft, scratches under a stiff brush and goes cloudy where somebody has used an abrasive on it, so it takes a soft bristle and pure water. Glass takes more pressure but shows every drip, so it is finished with deionised water and left to dry without a squeegee.
The glazing bars are where the work actually is. Algae and moss collect in the channels either side of every bar, and a roof that looks green from the garden is usually clean glass with dirty bars. Clean bars are what make the roof look clean from the lawn, so a thorough job always includes them.
The box gutter is the part that matters structurally. Where the conservatory roof meets the house wall there is a gutter that takes the run-off from the whole roof, it fills with the same debris as the roof, and when it overflows it goes into the wall rather than down the outside of it.
Choosing someone for the job
Ask whether the roof is polycarbonate or glass A company that has looked at the roof will already know, and will quote for the right method.
Ask if the box gutter is included or extra. It is the one part that causes damage rather than looking bad.
Ask how they reach the roof. From the ground with a pole is normal and safe; standing on the roof is neither, and a cracked panel is expensive.
Worth reading first:
Common questions
Can they walk on the roof?
No. A conservatory roof carries nothing, and a foot through a panel is a repair costing more than several years of cleaning. The work is done from a pole at ground level or from a tower alongside.
How often does it need doing?
Once a year for most, twice where the conservatory sits under trees. North-facing roofs green over faster because they stay damp longer.
Where conservatory cleaning is listed
Towns with a cleaner on this site who takes it on, and how many.