West Sussex · Canopy and hood cleaning
Canopy and hood cleaning in Tilgate, West Sussex
One call covers canopy cleaning in Tilgate: survey, fixed quote, work and sign-off. CHAS and SafeContractor accredited, ISO 9001 and fully insured.
- Grease channels that no longer drain
- A plenum thick with grease behind the filters
- Smoke hanging around the canopy during service
Canopy cleaning in Tilgate: the local picture
The FSA’s food hygiene register shows about 88 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 48 sandwich bars and takeaways in and around Tilgate, up to about a mile and a half out. Any of those kitchens with a canopy has a hood that needs cleaning inside and out. Food hygiene inspections in Tilgate are the job of Crawley council’s environmental health team. An officer looking round a kitchen will see the canopy, and grease there is hard to miss. Before-and-after photos from each clean are a simple way to show the extract is in hand. Tilgate sits within the area of West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Its fire safety officers can audit commercial kitchens, and grease in the extract is part of a kitchen’s fire risk.
Kitchens that cook twelve hours or more a day, as some healthcare kitchens do, fall into BESA’s three-monthly minimum; Crawley Hospital is the nearest hospital to Tilgate, about 1.2 miles north-west. Bursars and site managers at schools such as The Oaks Primary School & Nursery tend to book extract cleaning for when the kitchen is empty. Where a hall near Holy Trinity, or anywhere in Tilgate, hosts lunch clubs or events, its extract gathers grease just as a café’s does.
Tilgate is about 1 mile south-east of Crawley, in West Sussex. Sites in Tilgate get the same service as everywhere we cover: diagnosis first, a fixed price, out-of-hours working where necessary and a written report with photos. Across West Sussex, we cover 371 places, and Tilgate is one of them. There’s also a page for Brighton, roughly 19 miles from Tilgate.
Every address in RH10 and RH11 is within our area for canopy cleaning, from busy streets to back roads. Local streets include York Road, Nash Road and Cook Road, and we cover them all for canopy cleaning. Nearby, we also carry out canopy cleaning in Southgate (1 mile west), Crawley (1 mile north-west), Three Bridges (1 mile north-east), Maidenbower (1 mile east) and West Green (1 mile north-west). Larger places within reach include Horsham (7 miles south-west), Haywards Heath (8 miles south-east), Burgess Hill (10 miles south), East Grinstead (7 miles east), Billingshurst (13 miles south-west) and Roffey (6 miles west).
What’s near Tilgate
In Tilgate, that means kitchens and buildings near Thomas Bennett Community College, The Grasshopper pub and Tilgate Park and the streets around them. For rail, the closest station is Crawley station, roughly 0.6 miles north-west. Nearby you’ll also find County Mall (0.7 miles north-west) and Crawley Hospital (1.2 miles north-west). The countryside around Tilgate includes Tilgate Lake.
How we handle canopy cleaning in Tilgate
For canopies and hoods in Tilgate, the work follows the same careful routine: filters out, plenum scraped and degreased, then the canopy cleaned inside and out. Before and after photos go into your report. If you have filters that never seem to stay clean and a hood coated in old grease, we can put it right, from island canopies, canopy light fittings and baffle filters onwards.
In a smaller place like Tilgate, the kitchens with extract systems are more likely to be a pub, a café, a takeaway or a school or care home kitchen than a big restaurant. Quieter kitchens still collect grease in the duct, just more slowly, so the interval is set by hours of use and grease readings.
Good records are part of the job. You get a written report with pictures after every visit, listing what was done, anything we couldn’t reach and when the next visit is due. Keep it with your fire safety records so it’s ready for an insurer, fire officer or EHO.
- Location
- Tilgate (RH10, RH11)
- Region
- West Sussex
- Reporting
- Certificate plus before-and-after pictures
- Price
- A fixed quote up front
- When we work
- Nights, weekends or holidays to suit you
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Checked
- 30 October 2026
Why act early in Tilgate
A greasy canopy is fuel directly above the flame. Flames from the range can ignite it and be pulled further into the system, where a fire is much harder to stop. Cleaning it removes that fuel. A quieter site near Tilgate still needs its system looked after.
Putting the work off seldom saves money. Build-up, wear and faults tend to get worse, not better, and a neglected system can mean more work. If you are unsure, call 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line for straight advice and a fixed quote.
Why Tilgate businesses choose us
- Photo reports with every job
- Member of BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- Trading since 2009
- We diagnose before we treat
See our cost guide and how to check a contractor.
What staff can safely do
Logging matters as much as cleaning. A dated log of in-house cleaning and checks shows an inspector that the system is looked after between visits, alongside our reports.
Staff cleaning and specialist work aren’t the same thing. A daily filter wipe and a weekly filter wash keep grease down at the front of the system, but they do not reach the grease that builds up further in. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
Nearby places to Tilgate
Also in Tilgate
Part by part
Pub and hotel kitchens
Few pubs and hotels can shut the kitchen for a day. Canopy cleans are done late at night or early in the morning so the kitchen keeps trading.
School and staff canteen kitchens
Canteens and school kitchens tend to run to a timetable, which makes a canopy clean easy to schedule. Holidays and weekends work well.
Tilgate: your questions answered
Do you work in villages like Tilgate?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. Photos of the system and directions to the site help us plan the visit.
Who enforces fire safety at workplaces in Tilgate?
That’s West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. Records of extract cleaning are a sensible thing to have ready if a fire safety officer carries out an audit.
What is TR19?
It’s the industry benchmark for cleaning ventilation and kitchen extract systems, written by BESA. It covers how systems are inspected, cleaned and checked and expects a risk-based approach.
What kinds of canopies do you clean?
Single hoods, long wall canopies and island canopies alike. We work out the approach when we survey, from photos or a visit.
Do we need to close the kitchen for a canopy clean?
We clean out of hours as a matter of course, at night, early in the morning or at weekends. We leave it clean and ready for the next service.
Do you survey before quoting?
Yes. We always survey first, either from pictures and details you send or on a site visit. Then you get a fixed quote.
What if parts of the system can’t be reached?
They’re marked on the report. Often the fix is extra access, such as new panels in ductwork, and we can fit those.
Can I just have the canopy cleaned instead of the whole system?
TR19® Grease is about the whole extract, from canopy to discharge. Cleaning the canopy alone leaves the ducts, risers and fan untouched, and the report will say what was covered.
What affects the cost of canopy cleaning
The price is fixed before any work begins. It’s based on:
- How many systems or sites are involved
- Where the site is and how we reach it
- Whether it’s a one-off visit or part of a schedule
- Any permits to work or inductions
Working hours, access and the scale of the site can all change the price. We take each of them into account, and the price is fixed before work begins.
Helping us quote
Before you ask for a quote, gather:
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
- Your opening hours and when the area is out of use
- Photos showing the whole system and its surroundings
- Close-ups of filters, grilles, hatches or access panels
The quickest way to a quote is to send pictures: the system from a couple of angles, plus any access panels or hatches. Tell us what kind of site it is and when it’s open, and we can price many jobs without a visit.
Keeping the system healthy
Think of this as the after-treatment advice, in brief:
- Do not scrape the canopy with metal tools
- Flag any change in how the canopy behaves
- Empty the grease troughs before they fill
- Leave the extract running until cooking stops
A full system clean comes with a TR19 certificate from the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal. Where only the canopy is done, the report says so clearly.
Tell us if the canopy starts dripping or the filters clog sooner than usual. More drips or quicker clogging often mean the cleaning interval needs looking at, which a grease thickness test can confirm.
How the visit works
The first job on site is protection: sheeting goes over floors and surfaces close to the work. Then we make the system safe and start. The work on site takes part of a shift for most kitchens, more where there are several canopies or heavy deposits, and we clear up before we go. Because the survey comes first, a visit to Tilgate can normally be finished without a second trip.
- The canopy is checked from pictures or on a visit.
- Once the kitchen has closed, the cooking line is cooled and sheeted.
- We lift out the filters and scrape the plenum and housing.
- The canopy shell, seams, troughs and gutters are degreased inside and out.
- Filters are refitted, the area cleaned down and the photo report put together.
Getting ready for the visit
- Clear the space around the work
- Mention any parking or loading restrictions
- Let us know when the site is closed or quiet
How to get a quote
To get a fixed quote, call us on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email with the site type, your trading hours and a short description of the system. Photos and the last report, if you have one, make the quote quicker. We usually come back within one working day.
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Landlords, agents and facilities managers
Facilities teams in offices, schools and healthcare sites book us too across West Sussex. Larger estates can be phased building by building around the people who use them.
When the building owner and the occupier are different, the lease normally sets out who maintains what. We can quote either party and send the paperwork to whoever needs it.