Medway · Grease filter exchange
Gillingham grease filter exchange
We cover Gillingham for a scheduled grease filter exchange, swapping dirty canopy filters for clean ones. Out-of-hours visits, a fixed quote and a written report with pictures on every job.
- A greasy plenum behind the filters
- Smoke and heat lingering under the hood
- Hand-washed filters that still look greasy
How it works
Night work is normal for us. Evenings, nights and weekends are when much of our work happens, so the site can open as normal afterwards. The visit itself takes a short visit, depending on how many filters the canopies hold. Managed buildings in a place the size of Gillingham often have sign-in, permits-to-work and key holders, and the visit is planned around them.
- We start by noting how many filters you have and what type they are.
- Together we set how often the filters should be changed.
- At every visit, the greasy filters are lifted out.
- Clean, dry filters are fitted in their place, with no gaps left between them.
- We flag any damaged filters or anything wrong with the canopy.
Getting ready for the visit
- Have your last certificate or report to hand
- Make sure someone can let us in and lock up afterwards
- Plan for cooking equipment or plant to be off before we arrive
Getting a quote
Some systems can be priced from pictures; others need a survey. Larger sites, and anything hidden behind walls, ceilings or floors, are normally surveyed first. Either way, you get a fixed price before any work starts.
Related advice
Grease filter exchange for kitchens and businesses in Gillingham
The filters in the canopy are the first thing cooking vapour meets. Their job is to stop grease getting further into the system, but only while they’re reasonably clean. Our grease filter exchange service swaps dirty filters for clean ones on a schedule. The work covers mesh filters, baffle filters and wall canopies, and the jobs we see most are grease building up behind the canopy filters and filters that leave gaps in the canopy.
Town-centre kitchens in a place like Gillingham often sit below flats or offices, with risers that run up the back of the building to roof level. Vertical risers like that need access panels in the right places, and any section we cannot reach is recorded on the report.
The report is your system’s health record: dated, with pictures, and showing what was done. Grease extract cleans are also certificated to TR19® Grease through the BESCA VHE portal and sits alongside the report.
Gillingham: your questions answered
Do you work at weekends in Gillingham?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. The site is handed back ready to open. Let us know the hours you are closed and we will book within them.
Do you clean school canteen extracts around Gillingham out of term?
Yes, out-of-term visits are normal for schools. Around Gillingham, the Food Standards Agency lists about 17 schools and colleges with registered kitchens within a mile and a half or so. Booking early in the term gives the best choice of holiday dates.
What’s TR19?
It’s BESA’s specification and the benchmark insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to. It sets out inspection, cleaning and record keeping, and it takes a risk-based approach.
Do you have a 24/7 line?
Yes, day and night, every day of the year. Our office is open from 8am to 6pm on weekdays, with the emergency line covering every other hour.
How long does grease filter exchange take?
It depends on the size of the system, but for many sites it takes well under an hour for most canopies. We will give you a better idea when we quote.
Can you set up regular visits?
Yes. Send details of the systems and how they’re used, and we’ll suggest a schedule and quote for it.
How much does a filter exchange service cost?
It depends on the number and type of filters and how often they’re changed. We’ll give you a fixed quote once we know your canopies.
Is Gillingham in your area?
Yes. Our area takes in London and the counties of South East England, and that includes Gillingham.
What staff can safely do
Day-to-day cleaning is something your team can do: wiping canopies, washing grease filters and recording it in a log. Inside the ducts, risers and fan is specialist work, which is where we come in.
A few tasks are always specialist work: opening up ductwork, cleaning fans, drop testing fire dampers and measuring grease need training, the right equipment and safe access. That is our job.
What else we do in Gillingham
How we price grease filter exchange
Before we fix a price, we need to know a few things. We look at:
- When the work can happen, such as evenings, overnight or weekends
- One-off work versus a regular cycle
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- The size of the system
Whatever the type of site, the quote works the same way: how much there is, how we reach it, what state it’s in and when we can work. Call for a fixed quote and we’ll go through it with you.
What we need to know
Photos and a few facts are often enough to price the work. Useful things to send:
- Anything you’ve noticed, such as smells, noise, drips or poor airflow
- The postcode and the type of business
- A few general shots of the system
- The roof, plant room or outside wall the system runs to
For grease filter exchange in Gillingham, call us on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email. Tell us what kind of premises it is and when it’s open, and send pictures or your last report if you can. We typically send a fixed quote within one working day.
Looking after it afterwards
Aftercare is simple, and it makes the next visit easier:
- Report damaged filters so they can be replaced
- Never cook with the extract switched off
- Clear anything stored on or near the canopy
- Don’t let the full clean slip because filters are changed
Fresh filters improve airflow at the canopy right away. Keep the extract running while you cook so the filters do their job.
A kitchen that’s getting busier needs its filters changed more often. Adjusting the schedule now prevents a build-up in the ducts.
How the job changes from site to site
School, care home and staff kitchens
For kitchens closed in the holidays, visits can be timed around term or rota so the filters are clean when cooking picks up.
Busy restaurant and pub kitchens
When service is non-stop, filters get forgotten. An exchange service takes it off the rota.
Why deal with it now?
Filters full of grease are fuel sitting right above the cooking. Flames from the range can be drawn up into the canopy, and from there into the duct. Clean filters mean less fuel in the canopy. The longer a system in Gillingham goes without attention, the more there is to clean or fix.
Leaving it longer rarely makes the work cheaper. Problems in a system tend to grow, which can make the next visit longer. If you are not sure what’s needed, call us on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we’ll give you an honest view and a fixed quote.
Why us?
- Fixed quotes from a survey or pictures
- A BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- A single point of contact for sites across the South East and London
- Fully insured
Multi-site and managed buildings
Records are where multi-site compliance often slips. Each visit produces a dated report with pictures, so you can show an insurer or inspector what was done at each site.
Managing agents often deal with us directly. Send the address, what’s needed and how access works, and we’ll send a fixed quote.
Grease filter exchange in Gillingham: the local picture
Gillingham is within about 2 miles of the coast. Corrosion on the fan housing and cowl is worth a look at every clean, alongside the grease. The FSA’s data shows about 15 pubs, bars and clubs registered in Gillingham and the streets around it, up to about 1.5 miles out. Where they serve hot food, their kitchen extracts need cleaning to TR19® like any restaurant’s. Food hygiene inspections in Gillingham are the job of Medway council’s environmental health team. A greasy canopy or dripping filters are the sort of thing an inspection can pick up. A dated certificate in the maintenance file answers the question before it’s asked.
Healthcare kitchens can’t easily close, so their extracts are cleaned overnight or between meal services; the nearest hospital to Gillingham is Medway Maritime Hospital, about 1.6 miles west. Restoration House, about 3.3 miles west, is one of the historic houses near Gillingham; if you run event catering at a venue like that, cleans can be booked between functions. Term dates shape school work: for a school like Featherby Junior School, an extract clean fits neatly into a half-term or summer break.
Gillingham is about 30 miles east of London, in Medway. Anywhere in ME8, we can carry out grease filter exchange at your premises. Gillingham is one of 68 towns, villages and districts in Medway where we work for grease filter exchange. Our Maidstone page covers sites nearby (8 miles or so).
Work in ME8, ME7, ME4 and ME5 is surveyed, quoted and booked the same way as anywhere else. That includes premises on Leeds Square, London Road and Dorset Square and the roads around them. Being close to the A2 and A231, Gillingham is simple for us to get to at any hour. Nearby, we also carry out grease filter exchange in Twydall (1 mile east), Lower Twydall (1 mile north-east), Grange (1 mile north), Darland (1 mile south-west) and Hale (1 mile south-west). Larger places within reach include Rochester (4 miles west), Strood (4 miles west), Lordswood (3 miles south-west), Hoo St Werburgh (4 miles north), Rochester Riverside (3 miles north-west) and Walderslade (3 miles south-west). Being one of Medway’s larger places, Gillingham has commercial sites of every size, and we cover all of them for grease filter exchange.
Landmarks near Gillingham
Around Gillingham, our work takes us to kitchens and buildings near The Robert Napier School, The Robert Napier School and The Star pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Gillingham (Kent) station, roughly 1.5 miles north-west. A little further out are Medway Maritime Hospital (1.6 miles west) and Six Poor Travellers House (3.3 miles west). Green spaces nearby include Blue Bell Hill and Bishop Saltings.