Oven cleaning across Rainham, RM13, from the village conservation area over to Orchard Village. Dip-tank method in the van, seven days, single ovens from £77.
The church of St Helen and St Giles is the oldest building in the London Borough of Havering, a Norman job put up between 1160 and 1170 for Richard de Lucy, son-in-law to Henry II, and restored between 1893 and 1906 on Freemason money. Rainham Hall stands next door, a three-storey brown and red brick Georgian house built in 1729 for Captain John Harle, a sea captain born in 1688 who had bought the property the year before and paid to dredge the River Ingrebourne so trading vessels could reach the village.
Georgian cottages with shopfronts cut into them
Most of the independent shops sit inside a designated conservation area, and they started life as Georgian cottages before the twentieth century opened shop frontages in their ground floors. Over 40 of them trade there. The retail runs along Upminster Road South and the Broadway, and New Road slices the conservation area in half. Work around the war memorial left a pedestrianised space used for village events.
The Mardyke towers came down
The Mardyke Estate went up in the 1960s to house Ford workers. Havering balloted the residents in 2007, more than 60 per cent backed a stock transfer, and the estate passed to Old Ford Housing Association in March 2008 with redevelopment starting the following November and running through to 2017. The residents renamed it Orchard Village. All six of the original tower blocks were demolished and 555 homes replaced them, split into 339 general needs, 64 shared ownership and 152 for private sale.
Getting to the village
Rainham station opened in 1854, 25 minutes out from Fenchurch Street, with a bus interchange beside it and routes 103, 165, 287 and 372 calling. Racks, shelves, trays and side runners go into the heated tank in the van. The tank never comes indoors. Cavity, fan cover and door glass are degreased by hand with non-caustic products. A double oven in a Rainham kitchen is £110 and runs to about two hours. Fixed price, no premium-area surcharge on an RM13 address.
What it costs
| Single oven | £77 |
| Double oven | £110 |
| Range cooker, 90cm | £114 |
| Two-oven AGA | £143 |
| Hob | £23–28 |
| Extractor hood | £28 |
| Microwave | £22 |
Questions from around the Broadway
Will the flat smell of chemicals afterwards?
It should not. The soaking happens out in the van and the products used indoors are non-caustic.
Do you clean the hob and the hood at the same visit?
Yes. A hob is £23–28 depending on the type, an extractor hood £28.
Is this suitable for the end of a tenancy?
Yes. The door glass is split where the design allows, which is what an inventory clerk checks first.
Do you work weekends?
Seven days a week, on 020 8077 5225.
Said after the sign-off
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.
I would certainly recommend this service, very efficient and good value for money. The young man did a great job and even cleaned the kitchen floor. Thank you.
Brilliant clean, my oven looks like brand new. A 5 star clean.
Rainham on the map
Nearby areas we cover
Elmers End · Coney Hall · Hammersmith Broadway · Ravensbourne · Enfield Lock · Westminster
More of our London patch
Island Gardens Chadwell St Mary Savile Row Stratford High Street Newbury Park Hale End Eltham West Leyton Midland Road Whitefoot Staines-upon-Thames Bedmond Willesden Parsons Green Downham Estate Harold Wood Dartford New Charlton Bulls Cross West Drayton Millbank Bethnal Green North Elverson Road Bishopsgate Imperial Wharf
Call 020 8077 5225 and the Rainham price is fixed on the spot.