Thurrock · Grease filter exchange
Grease filter exchange in Grays, Thurrock
We cover Grays for a scheduled grease filter exchange, swapping dirty canopy filters for clean ones. Fixed quotes, work around your opening hours and photo reports on every job.
- Grease dripping from the canopy
- A greasy plenum behind the filters
- Weak extraction at the canopy
Grease, kitchens and Grays
The coast is only about 3 miles from Grays. Salt air speeds up corrosion of roof-level fans, discharge cowls and their fixings. Food Standards Agency records list about 62 restaurants, cafés and canteens and about 51 takeaways and sandwich shops within roughly a mile and a half of the centre of Grays. Any of those kitchens with a canopy relies on its filters to catch grease before it reaches the duct. The fire and rescue service for Grays is Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. The Fire Safety Order puts the duty on whoever runs a kitchen to control its fire risk, and a greasy duct is fuel.
Healthcare kitchens, like those at hospitals such as Thurrock Community Hospital (about 0.9 miles north), often cook for long hours, which puts them in BESA’s heavier-use bands. Commuter trade near Grays station can mean long cooking hours, and long hours put a kitchen into BESA’s more frequent cleaning bands. If you run a church or community hall kitchen, near St John the Evangelist or elsewhere in Grays, its extract still collects grease from every lunch and event.
Grays is about 5 miles north-east of Dartford, in Thurrock. Every kind of commercial site in Grays, grease filter exchange is something we can help with. We can work out of hours so trading is not interrupted. We cover 26 places across Thurrock, large and small. Maidstone is in our area too, about 17 miles from Grays.
Our technicians cover all of the RM17, RM16, RM20 and RM18 postcode area for grease filter exchange and the roads nearby. We cover sites on London Road, College Avenue and Cresthill Avenue and the roads around them. Being close to the A126 and B149, Grays is easy for our technicians to reach at any hour. Other places close to Grays include Little Thurrock (1 mile north-east), Chafford Hundred (1 mile north-west), Orsett Heath (1 mile north-east), North Stifford (2 miles north-west) and Chadwell St Mary (2 miles east). Within a short drive, we also cover Stanford-le-Hope (5 miles north-east), South Ockendon (3 miles north-west), Balstonia (5 miles north-east), Corringham (6 miles north-east), Aveley (4 miles west) and Purfleet-on-Thames (4 miles west).
Local landmarks in Grays
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around Thurrock and Basildon College, Grays Convent High School and The Traitors Gate pub and the streets around them. The closest station to Grays is Grays station, roughly 0.6 miles south-west. Well-known places in the area include Stone Castle (3.6 miles south-west) and Thurrock Community Hospital (0.9 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Chafford Gorges Nature Park and Sawyers Lake.
Grease filter exchange in Grays, done properly
Filter exchange sits between full TR19® cleans. Clean filters reduce the grease reaching the ducts though vapour still carries some grease past them. So the canopy, plenum and ducts still need their full TR19 clean. The work covers restaurants and pubs, school and hospital kitchens and island canopies, and the jobs we see most are filter washing that keeps being missed and poor airflow through the filters.
Kitchens in towns like Grays are often in older buildings that were never designed for them, so duct runs can be awkward, with bends, long horizontal sections and too few access panels. Sections we cannot reach are listed on the report, and access panels can be added.
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.
For landlords and multi-site operators
Facilities teams in offices, schools and healthcare sites book us too in Grays and across Thurrock. Work can be phased by floor, building or site around the people who use them.
The Fire Safety Order 2005 puts the duty to manage fire risk on the responsible person, and that can be the employer, the owner, a landlord, a facilities manager or a managing agent. Where responsibility is shared, records matter even more.
What staff can safely do
Your own staff can handle the daily basics: 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’s our job.
Part by part
Busy restaurant and pub kitchens
High-output kitchens clog filters quickly. They often need the shortest exchange interval.
Canopy filter housings
We check that filters sit snugly in the housing at each visit, because gaps let grease through.
What affects the quote in Grays
We quote each job individually. These are the things that affect it:
- A single visit or a regular plan
- Site rules, permits and inductions
- Access, including roofs, risers and ceiling voids
- Where the site is and how we reach it
No two sites are the same, so we price each one individually. Size, access, the condition of the system and when we can work all play a part.
What to send for a quote
Before you ask for a quote, gather:
- Where the plant sits or the system leaves the building, such as a roof or outside wall
- Any previous report or certificate
- A few general shots of the system
- Anything you’ve noticed, such as smells, noise, drips or poor airflow
If you need grease filter exchange in Grays, call us on 0345 646 2711, or send details by email. Let us know the site type and the opening hours, and send pictures or your last report if you can. A fixed quote usually follows within one working day.
Looking after it afterwards
Think of this as the after-treatment advice, short and simple:
- Look out for drips from the canopy
- Always run the extract while cooking
- Tell us if the menu or opening hours change
- Tell us if a filter is bent or damaged
There’s no waiting: the canopy is ready as soon as the clean set is fitted. We take the greasy filters with us to be cleaned.
Saturated filters let more grease through. Getting onto a regular exchange now keeps grease out of the plenum and ductwork until the next TR19 clean.
Also near Grays
Also in Grays
Grays questions
Can you work in Grays outside opening hours?
Yes, nights and weekends are routine for us. The site is handed back ready to open. Tell us your opening hours when you ask for a quote.
Is grease filter exchange any different in a coastal place like Grays?
It can. Salt air reaches Grays, which is within about 3 miles of the coast, and it speeds up rust. A fan housing that’s rusting near the coast can fail sooner, so it’s worth catching early.
What if some of our filters are damaged?
Damaged filters don’t seat properly and let grease through. We point them out on the visit so they can be replaced.
Do you look at the system first?
Yes, always. We diagnose before we treat: the survey shows what needs doing and what access we need and the fixed quote is built on it.
How long does grease filter exchange take?
That depends on how much there is to do, but for many sites it takes well under an hour for most canopies. We will give you a better idea when we quote.
How do you keep the site clean during the work?
By covering it before any work starts. We keep the work contained and leave the area clean.
Does the law say we must follow TR19?
No, not in itself. Insurers, fire officers and EHOs look to TR19® as the benchmark, and many insurance policies ask for proof of TR19® cleaning. The law behind it is the Fire Safety Order 2005, which applies in England and Wales.
What’s the right interval for changing filters?
That depends on the cooking. Heavy cooking means more frequent changes than lighter ones. We agree the interval with you.
When it’s something else
It’s worth knowing the limits before booking:
- Cooking smells reaching neighbours, which need odour control
- Grease behind the filters that a swap can’t remove
- An extract that was undersized from the start
If you are not sure, just give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we will give you a straight answer.
Parts of the system we cover
- Wall canopies
- Island canopies
- Baffle filters
- School and hospital kitchens
- Mesh filters
- Restaurants and pubs
The process
There are three stages on the day: set-up, the treatment itself and the sign-off. Getting ready means protecting surfaces and switching off what needs to be off, while signing off means the written report and photos. The middle part takes longest, and that takes anything from a few minutes to an hour or so, depending on the number of filters. In a town like Grays, we normally work after closing or on a quiet day, so the site opens again on time.
- First, we record the size, type and number of filters in each canopy.
- We agree a schedule that suits how much the kitchen cooks.
- On each visit, the dirty filters come out of the canopy.
- Clean filters go straight back in, seated properly with no gaps.
- If a filter is damaged or the plenum needs attention, we tell you.
Preparing for the visit
- Agree a time when the area can be out of use
- Have your last certificate or report to hand
- Allow time for equipment near the work to be turned off and cool down
Get a fixed quote
Quoting starts with a diagnosis, from your photos and details or, where that isn’t enough, a survey on site. Then we send a fixed price, before we start.