Reading · Grease trap cleaning
Grease trap cleaning in Sonning, Reading
Grease trap cleaning for businesses, landlords and public buildings in Sonning. CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and fully insured.
- Foul odours from the grease trap
- Scheduled grease trap emptying
- A grease trap that hasn’t been emptied in a long time
How we handle grease trap cleaning in Sonning
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. The work covers kitchen waste pipes, under-sink grease traps and restaurants and takeaways, and common reasons people get in touch are an under-sink trap that keeps filling up and washing-up water that won’t drain away.
Somewhere as small as Sonning, the kitchens that need a deep clean are normally a pub, a school, a care home or a hall kitchen, wherever there is one. Wherever there is one, it needs its grease trap and hard-to-reach areas kept clean.
The paperwork matters as much as the work. You get a written report with photos after each visit, covering the work done, any areas we couldn’t access and a recommended next date. File it in your maintenance log so it’s to hand when an insurer or inspector asks.
- Location
- Sonning (RG4)
- Wider area
- Reading
- Reporting
- Report and photos after the visit
- Quote
- A fixed quote up front
- Working hours
- Evenings, overnight and weekends; 24/7 emergencies
- Call
- 0345 646 2711
- Reviewed
- 30 October 2026
Keeping the system healthy
So the system stays in good health:
- Mention any increase in cooking
- Never pour used oil down the sink
- Get food waste into the bin, not the sink
- Keep the grease trap on a regular cleaning schedule
Between cleans, keep food scraps out of the sink. Sink strainers help catch solids so less solid waste gets through.
Slow sinks and a bad smell are early warnings. Getting it cleaned now can stop a full blockage later.
When something else is needed
Some problems need a different service or another trade:
- A leaking sink waste or trap connection
- A grease trap that is too small for the kitchen
- Blockages further down the drainage network
If in doubt, call 0345 646 2711 or drop us a line and we’ll say what we think before you book.
What we work on in Sonning
- Restaurants and takeaways
- Under-sink grease traps
- School and care home kitchens
- Kitchen waste pipes
- Inline grease traps
- Pot wash sinks
What grease trap cleaning looks like in Sonning
The FSA’s food hygiene register includes about 15 pubs and bars within about 1.5 miles of central Sonning. Wherever food is prepared there, a periodic deep clean and a clear grease trap keep things in order. Food hygiene inspections in Sonning are the job of Wokingham council’s environmental health team. Grease behind equipment or on a ceiling is the kind of thing an inspection can note. Keeping a record of deep cleans and grease trap visits helps at inspection time.
Royal Berkshire Hospital, about 2.6 miles south-west, is the nearest hospital to Sonning; healthcare kitchens cannot stop cooking, so deep cleans are worked around meal times. School kitchens, at schools like Sonning Church of England Primary School for example, usually have their deep cleans and grease trap work done while the canteen is closed. Hall kitchens near St Andrew's Church or elsewhere in Sonning may have older sinks and drains, so a grease trap check is worth adding to a deep clean.
Sonning is about 1 mile north-west of Woodley, in Reading. Every kind of commercial site in Sonning, we can take on grease trap cleaning. Visits can be booked for evenings, overnight or weekends so trading is not interrupted. Across Reading, we cover 34 places, and Sonning is one of them.
Postcode districts we cover here for grease trap cleaning: RG4. You’ll find streets such as High Street, Parkway Drive and Pound Lane, and we cover them all for grease trap cleaning. You’ll find Sonning on the B478 and B4446, which makes it straightforward for our technicians to reach for grease trap cleaning. Other places close to Sonning include Play Hatch (1 mile north-west), Dunsden Green (2 miles north-west), Newtown (2 miles south-west), Caversham Park Village (2 miles north-west) and Littlestead Green (2 miles north-west). We also work in nearby towns such as Caversham (3 miles west), Norcot (5 miles west), West Reading (4 miles west), Tilehurst Within (5 miles west), Shinfield (5 miles south-west) and Arborfield Garrison (6 miles south).
What’s near Sonning
In Sonning, that means kitchens and buildings near Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve, Bull Inn and Waingels College, among other places. The nearest railway station is Twyford station, about 1.9 miles east. A little further out are Berkshire Medical Heritage Centre Museum (2.5 miles south-west) and Royal Berkshire Hospital (2.6 miles south-west). Not far away are Sonning Hill and South Lake.
Questions from Sonning
Can you get to a site in Sonning?
Yes. Villages and rural sites across the South East are part of our work, Sonning included. A survey first, from photos or a visit, means we arrive with the right kit.
Can school kitchens in Sonning be cleaned in the holidays?
Yes, out-of-term visits are normal for schools. With about 9 schools and colleges on the FSA’s register within roughly a mile and a half of Sonning, it pays to plan holiday dates ahead. Booking early in the term gives the best choice of holiday dates.
Which accreditations do you hold?
We hold CHAS, SafeContractor and ISO 9001, and we are a BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite member, cleaning to BESA TR19® Grease. Vent Hygiene Elite is run by BESCA and independently audited.
What happens if a grease trap isn’t cleaned?
A full trap cannot catch any more grease. It then sets in the drains, causing blockages and smells, and can add to fatbergs in the sewer.
Which grease traps does the service cover?
We clean under-sink traps, inline traps and interceptors. Let us know what’s fitted and we’ll plan around it.
Do you provide a certificate or report?
Yes, always. The report is dated and includes photos, plus a certificate via the BESCA Vent Hygiene Elite portal for TR19® Grease cleans. File it with your fire safety records.
What do you do to protect the area?
Floors and surfaces near the work are sheeted before work begins, and anything we remove is contained. At the end, the area is cleaned down.
Which records should we keep?
Everything that shows the system is looked after: our reports and photos, any certificates and your in-house logs. One maintenance log per site keeps it simple.
Why it’s worth doing now in Sonning
A full grease trap lets grease through to the drains. It hardens on the pipe walls until water can’t get through. Cleaning the trap regularly is far easier than clearing a blocked drain. A planned visit to Sonning is easier to arrange than an emergency callout.
Working hours, access and the scale of the site all affect the cost. Each of those is built into the quote, and the price is fixed before work begins.
Why Sonning businesses choose us
- A written report with pictures after every visit
- Trading since 2009
- Fixed quotes, normally within one working day
- We diagnose before we treat
Take a look at what affects the cost or how to check a contractor.
How the job changes from site to site
Grease interceptors
Grease interceptors are larger units that serve busier kitchens. With more capacity, they fill more slowly, but they still need regular emptying and cleaning.
Baffles and outlets
Baffles inside the trap slow the water so grease can separate. They gather grease and debris so they’re cleaned every time.
Places near Sonning
More services for Sonning
What affects the quote in Sonning
You will get a fixed price before we start. It’s based on:
- The scale of the work
- Whether we need access equipment or extra panels
- Whether several sites go on one quote
- One-off work versus a regular cycle
A single site or a whole portfolio, we price it on the same basis: the work involved, the access and the timing. You will have a fixed price before any work starts.
What we need to know
What to send for a quote:
- Any symptoms, from odd noises to smells or leaks
- The paperwork from the last visit, if you have it
- Your opening hours and when the area is out of use
- The postcode and the type of business
Here’s what helps us quote: where the site is, what it is and its opening hours, photos of the system and any previous report or certificate. Then call us on 0345 646 2711 or email us.
The process
Before we leave, we walk the area with whoever is on site. We point out anything that couldn’t be reached or needs a follow-up, and it goes on the report too. All told, the work takes an hour or so for an under-sink trap, longer for a larger unit. For a village or hamlet like Sonning, tell us about narrow lanes, gates and parking when you book.
- 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.
Before we arrive
- Move anything stored near the system
- Tell us where we can park and unload
- Tell us the best time to work, such as after service or at a weekend
Get a fixed quote
If you need grease trap cleaning in Sonning, call 0345 646 2711 or use the quote form. Let us know the site type and the opening hours, plus photos or the previous report if they’re to hand. A fixed quote normally follows within one working day.
Related advice
What staff can safely do
Good housekeeping makes our visits easier, not unnecessary. Clean filters and tidy surfaces slow the build-up, but hidden parts of the system still need specialist attention.
A few tasks are always specialist work: opening up ductwork, cleaning fans, drop testing fire dampers and measuring grease call for the right kit, training and safe access. Leave those to us.