Greater London · Grease trap cleaning
Grease Trap Cleaning in Catford
For grease trap cleaning in Catford, one call is all it takes: survey, fixed quote, work and sign-off. CHAS and SafeContractor accredited, ISO 9001 and fully insured.
- A larger grease trap that needs emptying
- Gurgling drains in the kitchen
- A small trap that fills too quickly
The process
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 an hour or so for an under-sink trap, longer for a larger unit. Managed blocks in London often need contractors booked in ahead, and we are happy to deal with the agent directly for a site in Catford.
- A visit is booked around your service.
- We open the trap and look at its condition.
- Built-up grease and food waste are taken out.
- The inside, baffles and outlet are cleaned.
- We close it up, check it drains and suggest when it needs cleaning again.
Getting ready for the visit
- Mention any locked doors, roof access or ceiling voids
- Dig out any earlier paperwork for the system
- Mention any sign-in, permit or induction we need
Getting a quote
To get a fixed quote, ring 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and tell us the type of site, your opening hours and roughly what the system looks like. A few photos and your last certificate or report help a lot. We typically come back within one working day.
Advice
Grease trap cleaning in Catford
A grease trap catches fats, oils and grease from the kitchen sinks before they reach the drain. As the waste water cools, the grease floats and stays in the trap, and clean water flows on. Over time, the trap fills up and has to be emptied and cleaned. We’re often asked to deal with a small trap that fills too quickly and drains that gurgle and bubble, on school and care home kitchens, kitchen waste pipes and restaurants and takeaways.
London kitchens work hard in small spaces, so grease collects behind equipment, on ceilings and in drains and grease traps. In Catford, deep cleans and grease trap work are usually done overnight.
For insurers and inspectors, the record counts. So every job comes with a written report and pictures, plus a TR19® certificate through the BESCA VHE portal where the work is a TR19® Grease clean.
- Where
- Catford (SE6, BR1)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Records
- Photo report after each visit
- Price
- A fixed quote up front
- Hours
- Evenings, overnight and weekends; 24/7 emergencies
- Phone
- 0345 646 2711
- Page updated
- 30 October 2026
Towns and villages near Catford
What else we do in Catford
Grease trap cleaning around Catford
There are about 292 cafés, restaurants and staff canteens and about 197 sandwich bars and takeaways in and around Catford, up to about a mile and a half out, according to the Food Standards Agency’s register. Fat from washing up sets hard in pipes, and kitchens like these produce plenty of it. Environmental health officers from Lewisham council inspect food businesses in Catford. They look at the cleanliness of the whole kitchen: walls, floors, ceilings and equipment. A cleaning log that includes deep cleans and grease trap visits shows the work is planned. Compact London kitchens collect grease in tight corners, which an overnight deep clean can reach.
Healthcare kitchens cook through the year, so a deep clean has to be fitted around meals; University Hospital Lewisham, about 0.8 miles north, is the nearest hospital to Catford. Hall kitchens near Church of St Laurence and Community Centre or elsewhere in Catford may have older sinks and drains, so a grease trap check is worth adding to a deep clean.
Catford is about 5 miles east of Streatham, in Greater London. Wherever you are in the SE6 postcode area, we cover grease trap cleaning for commercial sites. Our Greater London coverage runs to 764 places, Catford among them.
We work across the SE6 and BR1 postcode area for grease trap cleaning and the roads nearby. Grease trap cleaning is available to premises on Bargery Road, Penerley Road and Inchmery Road and the roads around them. If your site is just outside Catford, we cover Bellingham (1 mile south-west), Southend (1 mile south-west), Ladywell (1 mile north), Hither Green (1 mile north-east) and Bell Green (1 mile south-west). Further out, we also cover London (5 miles north-west), City of Westminster (8 miles north-west), Marylebone (8 miles north-west), Kensington (9 miles north-west), St Pancras (7 miles north-west) and Shoreditch (6 miles north-west).
What’s near Catford
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around The London & Rye pub, Trinity Church of England School and Forster Memorial Park and the streets around them. Catford’s nearest station is Catford Bridge station, roughly 0.5 miles north-west of the centre. A little further out are Greenwich Castle (2.6 miles north) and University Hospital Lewisham (0.8 miles north). Not far away are Downham Woodland Walk and Knight's Hill.
When something else is needed
Some problems need a different service or another trade:
- Blockages in the public sewer beyond the property
- Drains that are cracked or have collapsed
- A trap undersized for the amount of cooking
If you’re not sure, just call us on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we’ll give you a straight answer before booking.
Parts of the system we cover
- Inline grease traps
- Kitchen waste pipes
- School and care home kitchens
- Restaurants and takeaways
- Under-sink grease traps
- Pot wash sinks
Aftercare tips
Once we have finished, these simple steps help:
- Act on gurgling or smelly drains
- Hot water only moves grease further down
- Do not wait for a blockage to book a clean
- Do not store things on top of the trap
Between cleans, keep food scraps out of the sink. Use strainers in the sink plugholes before they reach the trap.
Fat that escapes the trap hardens in the pipework. Clearing it then is a bigger job, so it’s far better to keep the trap clean.
Common problems we fix in Catford
Hot washing-up water keeps grease liquid for a while. When it cools, the grease hardens, often in the trap or the pipe beyond.
Signs it’s time to call us include:
- An under-sink trap that keeps filling up
- A blocked kitchen drain caused by grease
- A larger grease trap that needs emptying
- Washing-up water that won’t drain away
School kitchens, at schools like Holy Cross Catholic Primary School for example, normally have their deep cleans and grease trap work done while the canteen is closed.
Before you book anyone
- Whether a written report and pictures are included
- Whether they’re fully insured
- Proof of accreditation you can verify
- Whether the quote shows VAT
Questions from Catford
Can you work in school kitchens in Catford during the holidays?
Yes. Half-terms and the summer break are the natural time for school work. Food Standards Agency records list about 46 schools, colleges and universities with registered kitchens within about a mile and a half of Catford. Tell us your holiday dates and we’ll book the visit for when the site is empty.
Who would carry out a food hygiene inspection at a kitchen in Catford?
That is Lewisham council, whose environmental health officers carry out food hygiene inspections in Catford. How often a business is inspected depends on the council’s risk rating for it, so the kitchen needs to be ready at any time.
How do you protect the area?
We start with protection: floor sheeting and covers over nearby surfaces and equipment. The area is left tidy, with our waste taken away.
Which accreditations do you hold?
BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite membership, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease, plus CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001. We’re fully insured and have been trading since 2009.
How far ahead should we book?
That depends on the slot you want and the size of the job. Mention your preferred dates with your enquiry, and if it’s an emergency, call us any time.
What should go in our maintenance log?
Everything that shows the system is looked after: reports, certificates, pictures and your own cleaning or check logs. A single log for each site works best.
Where does the waste go?
We take it away at the end of the visit. While we work, it’s kept contained so the area stays clean.
Can you set up regular visits?
Yes. We run scheduled maintenance contracts, with visits at the interval your system needs. Each report recommends when the next visit should be.
What your team can do, and what needs us
Staff cleaning and specialist work are not the same thing. A daily filter wipe and a weekly filter wash keep grease down at the front of the system, but grease that has passed the filters is out of reach. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
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, next to our reports.
Fixed quotes for grease trap cleaning in Catford
The survey tells us what the work involves. The main factors are:
- Whether several sites go on one quote
- Any permits to work or inductions
- The size of the system
- Access, including roofs, risers and ceiling voids
When the work has to happen, how we reach it and how big the site is can all change the price. We take each of them into account, and the price is fixed before we start.
What we need to know
You do not need the technical terms. Just send:
- The postcode and the type of business
- A few general shots of the system
- Any access panels or hatches you can see
- Anything you’ve noticed, such as smells, noise, drips or poor airflow
Quotes are quick. Call or email with a few details and you’ll typically have a fixed price within one working day. If we need to see the system first, we book a survey around your hours.
For landlords and multi-site operators
From a single site to a large estate, the standard is the same: diagnosis, a fixed price, work booked around your hours and a written report with photos.
We regularly work with managing agents. Tell us the site, the work and the access arrangements, and we’ll send a fixed quote.