Kent · Grease trap cleaning
Grease Trap Cleaning in Shipbourne
Professional grease trap cleaning in and around Shipbourne, booked around your opening hours and signed off in writing with pictures.
- A routine grease trap service
- Drains that gurgle and bubble
- An under-sink unit that needs regular emptying
Grease trap cleaning in Shipbourne
A grease trap is the kitchen drain’s first line of protection. When it’s looked after, you hardly know it’s there, but neglected, it causes blockages and smells. Routine cleaning keeps it in good working order. Common call-outs are for a kitchen drain that smells and an overdue grease trap, across kitchen waste pipes, inline grease traps and school and care home kitchens.
Work in a small place like Shipbourne starts with agreeing a date and access.
A written report with pictures follows every visit, so there’s a dated record of the work. Where the work is a TR19® Grease clean, the certificate is issued through the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal.
- Where
- Shipbourne (TN11)
- Region
- Kent
- Records
- Photo report after each visit
- Price
- A fixed price before any work starts
- Working hours
- Out of hours as standard, 24/7 emergency line
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Page updated
- 30 October 2026
What staff can safely do
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 they don’t reach the grease that builds up further in. Reaching it takes a specialist with the right equipment.
Some jobs should never be done in-house: entering ducts, working on fans, testing dampers and taking grease readings need training, the right equipment and safe access. Leave those to us.
Part by part
Under-sink grease traps
Under-sink traps are compact units fitted below the kitchen sink. They fill quickly, so they need frequent emptying.
Baffles and outlets
Clean water leaves through the outlet. A blocked outlet stops the trap working.
Towns and villages near Shipbourne
More services for Shipbourne
What we are called out for in Shipbourne
For a kitchen in Shipbourne or anywhere else, the trap is out of sight and out of mind. Hidden under a sink or in a floor, it’s often ignored until something goes wrong.
Common reasons sites call us include:
- A regular cleaning plan for the grease trap
- Drains that gurgle and bubble
- An under-sink trap that keeps filling up
- A larger grease trap that needs emptying
For schools such as Shipbourne School, deep cleans and grease trap work are normally booked for the holidays.
Questions to ask before you book
- Their accreditations, such as BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite, CHAS or SafeContractor
- Whether a written report and photos are included
- When the next visit should be, and why
- If they look at the system before pricing
Honest limits
We’d rather tell you now than book work that won’t help, so here are the limits:
- Grease deep in the drains, which needs jetting by a drainage contractor
- Sewer problems outside the premises
- Collapsed or damaged drains, which need a drainage contractor
If you are not sure, just give us a ring on 0345 646 2711 or send us an email and we will give you a straight answer before you book.
Parts of the system we cover
- School and care home kitchens
- Inline grease traps
- Restaurants and takeaways
- Kitchen waste pipes
- Pot wash sinks
- Under-sink grease traps
Landlords, agents and facilities managers
We work for landlords, managing agents and facilities managers as well as the people running the site. Shared systems, like a riser serving several units, need a clear agreement on who books the work, and we can quote for the whole system.
Keeping records across a portfolio is half the battle. Each visit produces a dated report with pictures, so you can show an insurer or inspector what was done at each site.
How the visit works
Night work is normal for us. A lot of visits happen overnight or at weekends, so a kitchen or building can carry on as usual the next day. On site, the work takes an hour or so for an under-sink trap, longer for a larger unit. For a village or hamlet like Shipbourne, tell us about narrow lanes, gates and parking when you book.
- We agree a time when the sinks aren’t needed.
- The trap is opened up and checked.
- We remove the grease layer and settled solids.
- 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 parking or loading restrictions
- Make sure equipment near the work can be switched off and left to cool
- Find the previous report, if there is one
Getting a quote
Photos are enough for some jobs, while others need a look on site. 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
What happens if it’s left?
A blocked drain can stop a kitchen in its tracks. Sinks will not empty and waste water can come back up. Keeping the trap clean reduces the risk. In a place like Shipbourne, ductwork and fans are easy to forget until something goes wrong.
Kitchens, offices, schools and hospitals are all priced the same way: the size of the job, access, condition and working hours. Ask for a fixed quote and we will go through it with you.
Why choose Duct Doctor in Shipbourne
- Accredited under CHAS and SafeContractor, with ISO 9001
- Evenings, overnight and weekends, plus 24/7 emergency callout
- A written report with photos after each visit
- Survey first, then a fixed quote
See how cleaning jobs are priced and how to check a contractor.
Questions from Shipbourne
Will you come out to Shipbourne?
Yes, we work in villages as well as towns, and Shipbourne is covered. Photos of the system and directions to the site help us plan the visit.
Can a school kitchen in Shipbourne be done out of term time?
Yes, and it’s the easiest time to do it. Food Standards Agency records list about 3 schools, colleges and universities with registered kitchens within about a mile and a half of Shipbourne. You can call us on 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line with the dates the site is empty.
Do you have insurance?
Yes. We carry full insurance, and we have been trading since 2009.
Do the sinks have to be out of use during the clean?
Just the sinks that drain into the trap, and only while we work. We plan the visit for a quieter time wherever possible.
Do you offer maintenance contracts?
Yes. Regular plans can run on 3, 6 or 12-monthly cycles, depending on what the system needs.
Can one contract cover all our sites?
Yes. One number covers all your sites in our area, with visits on a regular schedule.
What is TR19?
BESA’s ventilation hygiene specification, with two parts that matter most here: TR19® Grease for kitchen extract systems and TR19® Air for general ventilation. It is not law, but it’s the benchmark.
What paperwork should we keep on file?
Each report and certificate we give you, filed in the maintenance log, along with your own cleaning log. BESA says certificates should show the date, location and technician.
Shipbourne kitchens: local notes
Food hygiene inspections in Shipbourne are the job of Tonbridge and Malling council’s environmental health team. Grease behind equipment or on a ceiling is the kind of thing an inspection can note. A cleaning log that includes deep cleans and grease trap visits shows the work is planned. We cover Shipbourne, about 24 miles from central London, as part of our work across London and the South East. Visits are booked around your hours, evenings and weekends included.
Where a church or community hall near Church of St Giles, or anywhere in Shipbourne, has a kitchen used by volunteers, a periodic deep clean keeps it ready for the next event. Ightham Mote, about 1.1 miles north-west, is one of the historic houses around Shipbourne; event kitchens at places like that work in bursts, so a deep clean after a busy season helps.
Shipbourne is about 3 miles north of Tonbridge, in Kent. We provide grease trap cleaning for commercial premises of every kind in Shipbourne and the rest of Kent. Shipbourne is one of 922 places in Kent where we work for commercial clients. For sites nearby, see our Maidstone page (11 miles or so).
We cover every part of TN11 for grease trap cleaning and the streets around it. Local streets include Upper Green Road, Upper Green Lane and Back Lane, and we cover them all for grease trap cleaning. We also cover Budds (1 mile west), Yopps Green (1 mile north), Sheet Hill (2 miles north), Ivy Hatch (2 miles north) and Coldharbour (2 miles south-west). Larger places within reach include Maidstone (11 miles east), Dartford (14 miles north), Sevenoaks (5 miles north-west), Royal Tunbridge Wells (8 miles south), Gravesend (13 miles north) and Tonbridge (3 miles south).
What’s near Shipbourne
We work in commercial kitchens and buildings around Ivy Hatch Nature Reserve, Hugh Christie Technology College and The Chaser Public House, among other places. The closest station to Shipbourne is Borough Green & Wrotham station, roughly 3.3 miles north. Other landmarks nearby include Ightham Court (3.3 miles north) and Hadlow Tower museum (2.8 miles south-east). For a walk, there’s Barden Lake.