Oven cleaning around Kent House, SE20, on the Penge and Beckenham border. Dip-tank in the van, heat-tested before we leave, single ovens from £77.
Kent House is named after a building that has not stood for nearly seventy years. Kent House farm was the first house in the historic county of Kent once you had crossed the Surrey border, which is how the name fixed itself to the station, the road, and in the end the whole pocket between Penge and Beckenham. The farmhouse stood on Kent House Road near the Lennard Road junction and was demolished in February 1957. The name outlasted the house.
The station came second
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened the line on 1 July 1863 and the station did not follow until 1 October 1884, when it opened as Kent House (Beckenham). It stands 7 miles 66 chains from London Victoria, between Penge East and Beckenham Junction, and Southeastern runs it as part of the Bromley South Metro, with a few Thameslink services calling. That is the sort of border this area lives on: Bromley borough, an SE20 postcode, Beckenham in the station name.
Terraces, conversions and ex-council flats
SE20 is Victorian and Edwardian terraces, period conversions and ex-local authority flats, and each puts a different appliance in front of us. Conversions tend to have one integrated oven fitted into what used to be a reception room. The terraces have the space for a double or a range. Whatever the oven is, the gas or ceramic hob beside it is usually in much the same state, and a hob clean runs £23–28 by type when it goes on the same booking.
Zone PGE controls a two-hour window
Penge sits in controlled parking zone PGE, and the control is narrow: bays are permit-only between 10am and 12 noon, Mondays to Saturdays, with a resident permit at £50 a year. Two hours. Bromley signs the restriction times at every entrance and exit to a zone, so the sign is what to read rather than any page describing it.
The list
| Single oven | £77 |
| Double oven | £110 |
| Range cooker, 90cm | £114 |
| Two-oven AGA | £143 |
| Hob | £23–28 |
| Extractor hood | £28 |
| Microwave | £22 |
Asked from SE20
Do you charge more for a Beckenham address?
No. The price follows the appliance, not the postcode. A single oven is £77 whether the address reads SE20 or Beckenham, and you get the figure on the phone.
What actually leaves the kitchen?
Racks, shelves, trays and side runners. They soak in the heated tank in the van while the cavity, fan cover and door glass are cleaned by hand indoors with non-caustic products.
How long does a single oven take?
About ninety minutes, and roughly two hours for a double. The oven is heat-tested and signed off before we leave.
Do you work Sundays?
Seven days, yes. Insured and DBS-checked.
Said after the sign-off
Brilliant clean, my oven looks like brand new. A 5 star clean.
Very satisfied with the service. They were slightly late at first but I got a call from customer service to let me know, and it was all fine. The oven man, as he called himself, arrived and worked very hard for a couple of hours. My oven now looks like it has never been used.
Nice hardworking lads that always do a good job. We used them for our old flat when moving out and for the new one now, both jobs were done very professionally. My wife is very impressed with the results and would recommend them to friends and family.
Where Kent House sits
Nearby areas we cover
Wisley · Belmont · St Helier · South Wimbledon · Island Gardens · Kings Langley
Our London coverage
Bow Common St Johns Lower Holloway Chipperfield Harley Street Anerley Stonebridge Park Totteridge North Cray City of London Walton-on-Thames Hatch Lane Swanley Wealdstone Stonecot Hill St Ann's Monument West Norwood Bushey Mead Barking and Dagenham Bush Hill Hamm Court Farleigh Cambridge Heath
Call 020 8077 5225 and the Kent House price is fixed on the spot; typers can use the quote form instead.