Downham is BR1, which confuses people, because the estate straddles the boundary: most of it sits in Lewisham and the south-eastern edge of it is Bromley. The postcode changes nothing about the price. A single oven is £77 here, a two bedroom move-out clean £243, a bedroom carpet £36 and weekly housework £23 per cleaner per hour, exactly as they are in the middle of Catford.
Another cottage estate, the same decade
Downham was laid out by the London County Council in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the same programme that produced Bellingham a mile to the north west. Brick semis and short terraces with long front paths and decent gardens. A lot were bought under right to buy and extended since, so the kitchen at the back is often twice the size it started as, with a flat roof over it and a good deal more worktop than the original plan allowed for. Extended kitchens are why a deep clean here tends to be a £264 or £342 booking rather than the £186 minimum.
Ovens more than anything else
This is our busiest corner for oven work. The kitchens are at the back with a door straight out to the garden, so the parts can go out that way to the van instead of travelling the length of a hall, and everything messy stays away from the rest of the house. Free-standing cookers outnumber built-in ones on this estate, and a free-standing model comes apart further than a fitted one does, which is why the finished result is usually better. A hob is £23 on top and an extractor £28.
Hard water and a lot of original tiling
Thames Water supplies this side of the borough at around 300 ppm. Plenty of the bathrooms up here still have their original glazed tiling, which holds a limescale film that a cloth slides straight over without touching. It needs an acid descaler and it needs dwell time rather than scrubbing. On a move-out clean that is usually the difference between an inventory that passes and one that comes back at you, and the descaling minutes are already inside the banded figure.
Long paths and where the van goes
It works the same way as Bellingham. The van sits on the estate road and the hose does the rest, which is fine up to about thirty metres. Where there is a side gate we use it and the kit never sees your hall. Where there is not, everything comes through the house and floor protection goes down first.
Grit off the gardens, and the front room three-piece
Bigger gardens mean more soil coming in on boots and the ground here is heavier than it is down by the river. Hall and stair carpets take the brunt. A room at £36 and a flight at £41 together come to £77 and clear the £67 one off minimum. Since the front rooms are a decent size, upholstery gets booked alongside more often here than elsewhere: a two seater sofa is £57, an armchair £33, a dining chair £13 and a mattress £35, all priced by the piece. Above a two seater there is no printed rate, because the fabric and the arm shape decide whether it is an hour or an afternoon, so describe yours and you get a number.
Getting out here
It is the far corner of the round, about fifteen minutes from the Catford gyratory down the A21 Bromley Road, and we are out this way most days. Ring even if you are not certain which side of the boundary you sit on. If you are past Bromley proper we will tell you on the call whether we can reach you. The price list reads the same either way and the line is open 8am to 7pm, seven days, on 020 3129 2846.
Questions we get asked
Downham is BR1 and partly Bromley. Do you still cover it?
Yes, most days. The estate straddles the boundary, with most of it in Lewisham and the south-eastern edge in Bromley, and the prices are identical to SE6 either way. It is about fifteen minutes down the A21 from the Catford gyratory.
How much is an oven clean?
Singles are £77 and doubles £110. A 90cm range or a two oven AGA is £143, a hob strip £23 and an extractor £28. The free-standing cookers common up here tend to finish better than fitted ones, because more of the appliance comes apart.
Can you get the limescale off the old bathroom tiles?
Yes, with an acid descaler and dwell time rather than scouring, which keeps the glaze intact.
Do you clean sofas and mattresses?
Yes, priced by the piece: two seater sofa £57, armchair £33, mattress £35, dining chair £13. Curtains are cleaned hanging at £35 for a short drop and £42 for a long one. Anything larger than a two seater gets a figure once you have described the fabric.
Prefer the phone? 020 3129 2846, 8am to 7pm.