Kent · Grease filter exchange
Grease filter exchange in Shepway, Kent
Grease filter exchange in Shepway from ventilation hygiene specialists trading since 2009. Out-of-hours visits and 24/7 emergency callout.
- Blocked baffle filters
- Drips falling from the filters onto equipment
- Staff short of time to wash filters
Questions from Shepway
Will you come out to Shepway?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. A survey first, from pictures or a visit, means we arrive with the right kit.
Can you clean school kitchen extracts in Shepway during the holidays?
Yes, holiday work suits schools best. Food Standards Agency records list about 32 schools, colleges and universities with registered kitchens within about a mile and a half of Shepway. Tell us your holiday dates and we will book the visit for when the site is empty.
Which records should we keep?
The reports and certificates from each visit, plus your own logs. Insurers, fire officers and EHOs may all ask to see them, so keep them together and easy to find.
Can damaged filters stay in the canopy?
We check every filter at each visit. We tell you about any that are damaged, because gaps let grease into the plenum.
Is there a cleaning option for the filters we have?
Yes, that’s an option. We will check your filters first, as damaged ones may be better replaced.
Do you have insurance?
Yes. We are fully insured, and we can share the details when you need them.
Do you provide a certificate or report?
Yes. It’s the record insurers and inspectors ask to see: a written, dated record with pictures of what we did and anything we couldn’t access.
Will we have to stop cooking for a filter change?
An exchange does not take long, and can be booked outside service times. The clean set goes in as soon as the dirty one comes out.
Grease filter exchange in Shepway, done properly
We set up grease filter exchange for kitchens in Shepway on a schedule that suits their cooking. The heavier the cooking, the more often filters need changing, lighter ones less. We agree the interval with you at the start. The work covers restaurants and pubs, baffle filters and mesh filters, and the jobs we see most are grease building up behind the canopy filters and grease left in baffles after washing.
Kitchens around a place like Shepway are often in older buildings or single-storey extensions, where the duct may cross a roof void or climb an outside wall. Long horizontal runs like that hold grease and need access panels to reach.
Duct Doctor has been trading since 2009, as a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. We also hold CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we carry full insurance.
- Location
- Shepway (ME15)
- Region
- Kent
- Paperwork
- Photo report after each visit
- Quote
- A fixed quote up front
- Hours
- After hours by arrangement; emergencies any time
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Reviewed
- 30 October 2026
What happens if it’s left?
When filters block, extraction suffers. Heat and fumes hang in the kitchen while the fan strains. A regular exchange keeps the airflow where it should be. Around Shepway, a kitchen or building out of action is missed right away.
Putting the work off seldom saves money. Problems in a system tend to grow, which can make the next visit longer. If you are unsure, call 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we will give you an honest view and a fixed quote.
Why Shepway businesses choose us
- BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease
- Evenings, overnight and weekends, plus 24/7 emergency callout
- One contact for all your sites in London and the South East
- Survey first, then a fixed quote
Places near Shepway
Also in Shepway
What we do, step by step
Everything the job needs comes with us, from protective sheeting to tools and access equipment. You only need to give us clear access and switch off what needs to be off. The visit takes anything from a few minutes to an hour or so, depending on the number of filters. Because the survey comes first, a visit to Shepway can typically be finished without a second trip.
- We count and measure the filters in every canopy.
- We agree a schedule that suits how much the kitchen cooks.
- Each visit starts with the used filters being removed.
- We fit clean filters and check they sit snugly in the housing.
- If a filter is damaged or the plenum needs attention, we tell you.
Preparing for the visit
- Clear the space around the work
- Mention any sign-in, permit or induction we need
- Make sure someone can let us in and lock up afterwards
Ask for a quote
Quoting starts with a diagnosis, either from pictures and details you send or from a site visit. After that, you get a fixed price for the work so you know the cost before work begins.
Advice
Between visits
To keep the system working properly between visits:
- Look out for drips from the canopy
- Make sure no filter is left out
- Make sure we can reach the canopy on exchange day
- Never cook with the extract switched off
Keep an eye out for filters that have been taken out. Gaps let grease into the plenum, so let us know if one goes missing or gets damaged.
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.
Signs you need grease filter exchange in Shepway
However long the kitchen cooks each day, the filters see every minute of it. A kitchen that cooks all day loads its filters quickly, so it needs more frequent changes.
Common reasons sites call us are:
- Filters that come out of the sink still dirty
- Bent or damaged filters that don’t sit properly
- Grease dripping from the canopy
- Filters so greasy the air can barely pass
Where a hall near St Martin's Church, or anywhere in Shepway, hosts lunch clubs or events, its extract gathers grease just as a café’s does.
Questions to ask before booking
- Whether the price is fixed
- If they look at the system before pricing
- When the next visit should be, and why
- How areas they can’t reach will be recorded
Grease, kitchens and Shepway
The FSA’s food hygiene register includes about 24 pubs and bars within roughly a mile and a half of the centre of Shepway. Any of them serving cooked food has an extract to keep clean, from canopy to discharge. It’s Maidstone council that sends environmental health officers to food businesses in Shepway. An officer looking round a kitchen will see the canopy, and grease there is hard to miss. Our report lists what was cleaned and when, which is useful to have ready. Fire safety in Shepway falls to Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Grease in a kitchen extract is a recognised fire risk, and the fire authority enforces the law on managing it in most commercial premises.
Bursars and site managers at schools such as Greenfields Community Primary School tend to book extract cleaning for when the kitchen is empty. If your kitchen is in a listed or historic building, like the houses around Shepway (Stoneacre is about 1.4 miles east), fitting access panels needs care.
Shepway is about 1 mile south-east of Maidstone, in Kent. We provide grease filter exchange for commercial premises of every kind in Shepway and the rest of Kent. Shepway is one of 922 towns, villages and districts in Kent we cover for grease filter exchange.
All of ME15 is covered for grease filter exchange, from the main roads to the quietest streets. Streets in the area include Derby Road, Devon Road and Surrey Road, and we cover them all for grease filter exchange. We also cover the places around Shepway: Willington (1 mile east), Park Wood (1 mile south), Otham (1 mile south-east), Maidstone (1 mile north-west) and Weavering (1 mile north-east). We also work in nearby towns such as Sittingbourne (10 miles north-east), Royal Tunbridge Wells (15 miles south-west), Gravesend (14 miles north-west), Tonbridge (12 miles west), Faversham (15 miles east) and Northfleet (15 miles north-west).
Around Shepway
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around Mote Park, The Wheatsheaf pub and Senacre Technology College, among other places. Shepway’s nearest station is Maidstone West station, roughly 1.7 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include KIMS hospital (2.2 miles north) and Allington Castle (3.1 miles north-west). Not far away are Detling Hill.
How the job changes from site to site
The plenum
The plenum is the space behind the filters. Grease that gets past the filters settles there.
Canopy filter housings
Filters sit in a housing or channel in the canopy. If it’s bent or greasy, filters won’t seat properly.
What staff can safely do
Staff cleaning doesn’t replace a specialist visit; it supports it. Regular in-house cleaning slows the build-up, but the parts you can’t see still need a specialist at the right interval.
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. That part needs specialist access and equipment.
Managing agents and facilities teams in Shepway
For anyone managing more than one site, we can plan visits across the whole estate and price them together. Every building has its own written report, so records stay tidy.
Keeping records across a portfolio is half the battle. Each visit produces a dated report with photos, ready to show insurers, fire officers or EHOs.