Conservatory Cleaning Cost At A Glance
- The roof is the job, and it is priced per panel — £10.50–£13.50, with £12 the common average. One regional firm goes lower, at £8–£10. A typical 12-panel Edwardian roof works out at roughly £125–£160.
- Outside only — roof, frames and glass — is £125–£195 (average £160). Inside and out is £300–£650 (average £475). A full valet with UPVC restoration, gutters and a water-repellent coating runs £475–£750 and up.
- London and the South East sit roughly 20–30% above the rest of the UK. One national survey puts London conservatory cleans at £300–£650 against £150–£500 in Wales and Yorkshire.
- The biggest variable is green growth. A roof cleaned every year is £80–£150. The same roof left five years, thick with moss and lichen, is £300–£600.
- Access is the hidden line item. Most conservatories are reached with a water-fed pole from the ground, but a scaffold tower is £50–£185 a week and a powered platform £280–£400 a day.
- Not every cleaner does every roof. Many water-fed-pole rounds — including Fantastic Services' own conservatory service — exclude polycarbonate, tiled and solar-panel roofs. Check before you book.
Add to Preferred Sources How Much Does Conservatory Cleaning Cost In 2026?
More people search for conservatory roof cleaning than for conservatory cleaning in general, and that tells you where the job is. The vertical glass is easy — it usually gets done as an add-on to a window round for £10–£50. The roof is the paid work: pitched, fragile, streaked with algae, with box gutters full of leaf litter along the bottom edge.
Most UK firms price the roof by the panel. Checkatrade publishes £10.50–£13.50 a panel with a £12 average, and one regional specialist advertises a lower £8–£10. Others quote per job, per square metre at £5–£10, or by the hour at £25–£40. All three land in the same place for a typical conservatory. Cleaning the inside face of the roof is a separate, slower job — you are working overhead off steps, drying every bar and bead — so it usually costs as much again as the outside.
| Job (unit of sale) | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|
| Conservatory roof clean, per panel | £10.50–£13.50 | £13–£17 |
| Roof only, small conservatory, cleaned regularly | £80–£150 | £100–£190 |
| Roof only, heavy moss, algae and lichen | £250–£500 | £300–£600 |
| Outside only — roof, frames and glass | £125–£195 | £160–£250 |
| Inside only — roof bars, glass, sills | £100–£200 | £130–£260 |
| Inside and out — full clean | £300–£500 | £400–£650 |
| Full valet — clean, UPVC restoration, gutters, coating | £475–£650 | £600–£750+ |
| Conservatory gutter and downpipe clear (add-on) | £20–£50 | £40–£80 |
| UPVC frame restoration back to white | £100–£300 | £130–£380 |
| Moss, algae and lichen treatment (add-on) | £20–£150 | £30–£190 |
| Charged by time, where hourly rates apply | £25–£40/hr | £32–£50/hr |
| Minimum charge / call-out | £50–£80 | £70–£110 |
Conservatory Cleaning Cost By Style, Size And Roof Type
Style matters mostly because it changes the panel count. A lean-to is a simple rectangle of six to eight panels. A Victorian has a faceted bay and more, narrower panes. A P-shape is effectively two conservatories joined, and prices like it. The figures below are for an outside clean — roof, frames and glass — with typical panel counts for each style.
| Conservatory style | Approx. size | Typical roof panels | Rest of UK | London & South East |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small lean-to | 3m x 3m (9 m²) | 6–8 | £80–£130 | £100–£165 |
| Lean-to | 4m x 3m (12 m²) | 8–10 | £100–£160 | £130–£200 |
| Victorian | 3.5m x 3.5m (12 m²) | 10–14 | £120–£190 | £150–£240 |
| Edwardian | 4m x 4m (16 m²) | 12–16 | £140–£220 | £180–£280 |
| Gable-end | 4m x 4m (16 m²) | 12–16 | £140–£220 | £180–£280 |
| P-shape | 6m x 3.5m (21 m²) | 18–24 | £190–£300 | £240–£380 |
| Orangery | 5m x 4m (20 m²) | 8–12 plus lantern | £160–£300 | £200–£380 |
Add roughly £100–£250 to clean the inside face as well, and £50–£150 where moss and lichen need treating rather than washing off. A large Victorian or Edwardian conservatory done inside and out sits at £600–£700, and a P-shape done properly can reach £700.
Roof material changes the method more than the headline price. Polycarbonate flexes and scratches, so it is cleaned by pole and soft brush only, and algae in the flutes never fully comes out. Glass takes a firmer clean and finishes better, but self-cleaning coated glass must not be scrubbed with abrasives. Tiled and solid replacement roofs are not a glazing job at all, and many conservatory specialists will not quote for them.
What Affects The Cost Of Conservatory Cleaning?
1. The Size Of The Roof And Its Panel Count
This is the dominant driver, because the roof is most of the labour. At the £12-a-panel average, the difference between a six-panel lean-to and a twenty-panel P-shape is roughly £70 against £240 for the same standard of clean. Ridges, hips and a lantern add panels without adding much floor area, which is why orangeries price higher than their square metres suggest.
2. How Much Algae, Moss And Lichen Has Built Up
A roof washed every year is a wash-and-rinse. A roof left five years is a treatment job: biocide, dwell time, a second pass and often a return visit. That is the difference between £80–£150 and £300–£600 for the same structure. Shaded, north-facing and tree-overhung conservatories grow green growth fastest and need doing twice a year.
3. Roof Material And Coatings
Polycarbonate needs a gentle soft-brush and pure-water method, so it takes longer per panel and never looks as clean as glass. Self-cleaning glass rules out abrasives and some detergents. Solar panels, tiled roofs and solid replacement roofs are frequently excluded from conservatory cleaning services altogether — Fantastic Services' own conservatory clean excludes all three — so confirm what your roof is before you get quotes.
4. Inside, Outside Or Both
Outside only is £125–£195. Doing both faces takes four to five hours and pushes the same job to £300–£650. Interior work is slower because everything has to be dried and detailed, furniture and blinds moved, and floors protected. If budget is tight, the outside is where the visible difference is.
5. Access And Equipment
Most conservatories are cleaned from the ground with a water-fed pole, which costs you nothing extra. Steep pitches, conservatories over a basement lightwell, or roofs at first-floor level need more: a scaffold tower is £50–£75 a week for 2.2–4.2m and £130–£185 for 8.7–13.2m, and a powered access platform is £280–£320 a day for a scissor lift or £370–£400 truck-mounted. Expect that cost passed on.
6. Your Location
London and the South East run about 20–30% above the rest of the UK. National figures bear it out: London conservatory cleans at £300–£650 against £150–£500 in Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber. Access equipment carries its own London premium of around 20%, and delivery of hired kit adds £25–£50 outside urban areas.
What's Included — And What's Not
A standard quote usually covers:
- The roof panels, glazing bars, ridge and cappings, cleaned outside
- Frames, glass and sills to the vertical elevations
- Clearing the conservatory's own box gutters of leaf litter and moss
- Rinsing down with purified water so the glass dries spot-free
- Doors, thresholds and the surrounding hard standing left tidy
Usually charged extra:
- The inside face of the roof and glazing bars — £100–£250
- Biocide treatment for established moss and lichen — £50–£150
- UPVC restoration back to white on yellowed frames — £100–£300
- A water-repellent glass coating and lock, hinge and handle lubrication, normally bundled into a valet at £475–£750
- Scaffold tower or powered platform hire where poles cannot reach
- Tiled roofs, solid replacement roofs, solar panels and fabric blinds, which many providers exclude entirely
Can You Do It Yourself?
Outside glass at ground level, frames, sills and the inside of the vertical panes are all genuinely fine to do yourself. Warm water, a little washing-up liquid, a soft cloth and a squeegee will do it, and cleaning materials cost £15–£30.
The roof is where DIY stops being sensible. Nobody should walk on a conservatory roof — polycarbonate and glazing bars are not designed to carry weight, and falls through conservatory roofs are a well-known cause of serious injury. A pressure washer is worse than useless: it drives water past the seals and gaskets, lifts the tape from polycarbonate flutes and can crack sealed units. If you want to try, use a telescopic soft-brush pole from the ground and a fungicidal wash, and accept you will not reach the ridge.
Hiring your own access equipment rarely saves money. A small tower at £50–£75 a week plus £25–£50 delivery is most of a professional roof clean before you have climbed anything — and a professional carries insurance if a panel cracks.
How To Save Money On Conservatory Cleaning
1. Clean it before it goes green
Annual cleaning at £80–£150 costs less than a moss remediation at £300–£600 every five years, and the roof lasts longer.
2. Add it to a window round
Conservatory glass cleaned alongside your windows is £10–£50 as an add-on rather than a separate call-out with its own minimum charge.
3. Bundle the gutters
Conservatory gutter clearing is £20–£50 as part of a clean, but £50–£150 booked on its own.
4. Skip the inside every other visit
Doing outside-only in alternate years roughly halves the annual cost with very little visible difference.
5. Book spring or early autumn
Summer is peak for exterior cleaning; midweek slots outside that window are easier to negotiate.
6. Fantastic Club membership
Fantastic Club membership is £89 a year and takes £30 off the service plus £270 in credits, which pays for itself if you also book window or gutter cleaning.
How To Hire A Good Conservatory Cleaner
Check public liability insurance first and ask what the cover is if a roof panel or sealed unit cracks — this is the one job where that question is not paranoid. Look for Which? Trusted Traders or Checkatrade vetting, and ask how long they have used water-fed pole systems.
A proper quote names the panel count or the size, says whether the price is outside only or both faces, lists the gutters and any biocide treatment separately, and confirms the roof material. Red flags: anyone proposing a pressure washer on glazing, anyone quoting to walk on the roof, a single lump sum with no scope, and a refusal to say whether polycarbonate or self-cleaning glass changes their method.
Book your conservatory clean today!
A clean roof puts the light back into the room, and it is best done from the ground by someone insured to do it. Prices are set on the size and state of the roof, so a quick check gives you a firm figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much does roof cleaning cost per panel?
The cost per panel typically ranges from £2–£5 depending on the material (polycarbonate, glass, or uPVC) and cleaning method. Polycarbonate panels are usually the cheapest to clean, while glass panels cost more due to the care required to avoid damage. Most conservatories have 12–40 panels, so a full roof cleaning can cost £30–£200 before additional labour charges are applied.
2. How often should I have my conservatory cleaned?
Most experts recommend cleaning your conservatory roof 2–3 times per year. In areas with heavy rainfall, tree coverage, or high levels of dust and pollution, you may need quarterly cleaning. Integrating conservatory cleaning with your window cleaning round every 6–8 weeks is common practice. Regular cleaning prevents algae build-up and extends the life of the roof panels.
3. Is pressure washing safe for conservatory glass?
Low-pressure washing (below 80 bar) is generally safe for most conservatory glass and panels. However, high-pressure jets (above 100 bar) can damage seals, crack glass, and dislodge panels. Professional cleaners use softer brush methods or specialist equipment to avoid damage. Never use pressure washers at close range on weakened or older panels, and always hire a qualified professional if your conservatory has valuable or delicate glazing.
4. Why is a lean-to conservatory more expensive to clean?
Lean-to conservatories are more expensive to clean because they are lower-pitched and often have restricted access. Cleaners must use ladders, scaffolding, or specialized equipment to safely reach the roof. The risk of falls and the extra equipment rental costs are reflected in higher quotes. Additionally, the single-slope roof can trap debris and algae more easily, requiring more intensive cleaning methods.
5. Can conservatory cleaning be added to my window cleaning round?
Yes, most window cleaning contractors offer conservatory roof cleaning as an add-on service, often charging £40–£80 per visit depending on size and complexity. Adding it to your regular window cleaning round (every 6–8 weeks) provides better value than booking it separately. Many companies offer bundled rates for combined window and conservatory cleaning, saving 10–15% compared to individual services.
6. How do you remove green algae from conservatory roofs?
Professional cleaners remove green algae using specialized biocide treatments, soft-brush cleaning, or low-pressure rinsing. Chemical treatments are applied and left to work for 24–48 hours before gentle rinsing. For polycarbonate panels, soft-brush methods are preferred to avoid scratching. Prevention is key—regular cleaning every 6–8 weeks and applying anti-algae coatings can reduce future growth. DIY methods like bleach solutions risk damaging seals and panels.
7. Are gutters included in the conservatory cleaning price?
Gutter cleaning is usually charged separately as an add-on service, costing £30–£60 depending on gutter length and debris accumulation. Some contractors include basic gutter clearing (removing loose debris) in the conservatory cleaning price but charge extra for deep cleaning or gutter repair. Always ask your cleaner whether gutters are included in the quote and whether any additional gutter work will incur extra fees.
| Service | Standard Price | Fantastic Club Price |
|---|---|---|
| Conservatory cleaning, one side | from £80 | from £50 |
| Conservatory cleaning, both sides | from £140 | from £110 |
| Fantastic Club annual membership | £89/year | — |
Exteriors are cleaned with purified water through a water-fed pole; interiors are done traditionally with a squeegee. Greenhouses, sunrooms, orangeries and garden rooms are covered. Solar panels, tiled roofs, polycarbonate roofs and fabric blinds are not included in this service. Prices shown are for areas within the M25 and minimum charges apply.
