Greater London · Ductwork cleaning
Ductwork cleaning in Lee, Greater London
Need ductwork cleaning in Lee? We survey first, send you a fixed quote and work around your opening hours, finishing with a written report and photos.
- A grease test showing the duct is overdue
- Fat dripping from the ductwork
- Smells of old cooking grease from the ductwork
Signs you need ductwork cleaning in Lee
A greasy duct is a fire path, in Lee as anywhere. Burning grease can carry fire through the ductwork to other rooms or floors, which is why the responsible person needs it under control.
These are the problems we see most often:
- Gaps where access panels were never fitted
- A duct nobody has opened in years
- Heavy grease at the base of a riser
- Grease seeping out of the duct seams
Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as University Hospital Lewisham (about 1.1 miles west), often cook for long hours, which puts them in BESA’s heavier-use bands.
Questions to ask before booking
- If the quote is a fixed price or an estimate
- What insurance they carry
- How VAT is shown on the quote
- How they set the interval to the next visit
How we handle ductwork cleaning in Lee
In doctor’s terms, the ductwork is the system’s arteries: find the blockages, clear them, then check the flow is right. Grease readings before and after give you the evidence, alongside before and after pictures. The work covers multi-storey ducts, access panels and vertical risers, and the jobs we see most are duct runs with no cleaning record and high readings at a recent grease test.
Kitchens in Lee, like many across London, can share a building with flats or offices, with the duct running up through shared risers. A duct fire there can reach parts of the building far from the range, so a regular TR19® clean protects everyone in it.
For insurers and inspectors, the record counts. That’s why every job is written up in a report with pictures, plus a TR19® certificate through the BESCA VHE portal where the work is a TR19® Grease clean.
- Place
- Lee (SE12, SE13, SE3)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Records
- Certificate and photo report
- Price
- A fixed price before we start
- Hours
- Overnight and weekend work, 24/7 emergency callout
- Telephone
- 0345 646 2711
- Page updated
- 30 October 2026
How we price ductwork cleaning
A fixed price needs a few facts first. We check:
- The scale of the work
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- Whether we need access equipment or extra panels
- A single visit or a regular plan
Putting the work off seldom saves money. Build-up, wear and faults tend to get worse, not better, which can make the next visit longer. If you’re not sure what’s needed, phone us on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we’ll give you an honest view and a fixed quote.
Helping us quote
The more you tell us, the more accurate the quote. With your enquiry, please include:
- Problems your staff have spotted
- Where the site is and what kind of site it is
- Where the plant sits or the system leaves the building, such as a roof or outside wall
- Your last certificate, test record or report
Some systems can be priced from photos; others need a survey. Larger sites, and anything hidden behind walls, ceilings or floors, are normally surveyed first. Either way, the quote is fixed before any work is booked.
In-house cleaning or a specialist?
Staff cleaning doesn’t replace a specialist visit; it supports it. Regular in-house cleaning slows the build-up, but hidden parts of the system still need specialist attention.
In-house cleaning and specialist cleaning do different jobs. Wiping filters daily and washing them weekly keeps the visible parts in order, but they do not reach the grease that builds up further in. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
Multi-site operators often want one contractor and one number. We cover South East England and London, so a run of sites can go into one programme and kept to a regular schedule.
Whether it’s one building or many, you get the same standard: diagnosis, a fixed price, work booked around your hours and a written report with pictures.
Looking after it afterwards
Aftercare is simple, and it makes the next visit easier:
- Don’t block access panels with shelving or stock
- Diarise the next duct clean
- Get panels fitted where the duct couldn’t be cleaned
- Tell us if grease leaks from the ductwork
Any section of duct we couldn’t reach is listed on the report and why. You can then decide whether to have access panels fitted.
Watch for warning signs between cleans: grease leaking from duct joints, smells, or a fan that sounds rough. Testing will show whether any section has reached 500 microns.
Also in Lee
Lee kitchens: local notes
Look up Lee on the FSA’s food hygiene register and you’ll find about 234 restaurants, cafés and canteens and about 114 sandwich bars and takeaways within about 1.5 miles of central Lee. Wherever those kitchens cook under a canopy, the horizontal runs and risers need cleaning as well as the hood. Overnight is the normal time to clean a London kitchen extract, so trading isn’t affected. In Lee, food businesses are inspected by environmental health officers from Lewisham council. A greasy canopy or dripping filters are the sort of thing an inspection can pick up. A TR19® certificate and photo report after each clean gives you a record to show an inspector.
Commuter trade near Lee station can mean long cooking hours, and long hours put a kitchen into BESA’s more frequent cleaning bands. For schools such as Brindishe Lee School, kitchen extract cleaning is normally booked for the holidays, when the canteen is closed.
Lee is about 2 miles south of Greenwich, in Greater London. Anywhere in SE12, we can carry out ductwork cleaning at your premises. Lee is one of 764 places in Greater London where we work for ductwork cleaning. We also work in London, about 6 miles from Lee.
Our technicians cover all of SE12, SE13 and SE3 for ductwork cleaning and the streets around it. That includes premises on Old Road, Manor Lane and Mallet Road and the roads around them. Nearby, we also carry out ductwork cleaning in Hither Green (1 mile west), Horn Park (1 mile south-east), Lewisham (1 mile north-west), Ladywell (1 mile west) and Blackheath (1 mile north). Further out, we also cover London (6 miles north-west), City of Westminster (8 miles north-west), Marylebone (8 miles north-west), Kensington (10 miles west), St Pancras (7 miles north-west) and Shoreditch (6 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Lee
Typical jobs here are in premises near Manor House Gardens, Trinity Church of England School and International Academy of Greenwich and the streets around them. Lee has its own railway station: Lee station. Well-known places in the area include Lewisham Shopping Centre (1.1 miles north-west) and Prefab Museum (1.3 miles south). Not far away are Summer Hill and Birdbrook Road Nature Reserve.
How it works
There’s very little for your team to do on the day. A contact on site lets us in at the agreed time and points us to the system, and the rest is down to us. Before we leave, the area is tidied and the paperwork follows. Many London buildings have a managing agent, a security desk or a permit-to-work system, so tell us who to contact in Lee.
- The duct route is surveyed and every access point found.
- We take grease readings along the route.
- Once the kitchen has closed, we protect the area and open the panels.
- Thick grease is scraped out, then the runs and risers are degreased.
- We close up, re-test, photograph and record anything out of reach.
Getting ready for the visit
- Make sure someone can let us in and lock up afterwards
- Find the previous report, if there is one
- Mention any locked doors, roof access or ceiling voids
Ask for a quote
Getting a quote doesn’t take long. Send a few details and pictures, and we normally reply with a fixed quote within one working day. Where a survey is needed, we arrange a time that suits the site.
Related advice
What ductwork cleaning cannot fix
Some problems need a different service or another trade:
- Sections that cannot be reached safely without new access (those are recorded, and panels can be fitted)
- Leaking duct joints that need repair
- A failed fan motor at the end of the duct (a fan repair job)
Not sure which it is? You can call us on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we’ll tell you honestly.
What the work covers
- Horizontal duct runs
- Bends and junctions
- Attenuators
- Multi-storey ducts
- Access panels
- Vertical risers
FAQs for Lee
Do you work at weekends in Lee?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. Your customers, staff or residents in Lee needn’t be disturbed. Your opening times are the first thing we ask for.
Which fire and rescue service is responsible for Lee?
Fire safety enforcement in Lee is handled by London Fire Brigade. A recent cleaning certificate and a note of the next clean date show that grease in the extract is being managed.
What’s 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.
Can we book visits on a schedule?
Yes. Tell us what you have and how it’s used, and we’ll suggest a schedule and quote for it.
What if parts of the system can’t be reached?
Anything we can’t reach goes on the report, with a note of where it is, and we explain what access is needed, such as extra access panels in ductwork.
Is Lee in your area?
Yes. We work across Greater London, Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex, and that includes Lee.
Which sectors do you work in?
Commercial premises of every kind: kitchens, offices, schools, healthcare, retail, leisure and food production. We fit the work around how the site operates.
Are you insured?
Yes. Duct Doctor is fully insured, and the details are available on request.