Apsley is the old paper-mill village at the southern end of Hemel Hempstead, on the Grand Union Canal, in HP3. It has its own station, and the mill land is now the flats and houses around Apsley Lock. Prices are the same as the rest of town: £207 for a one bedroom tenancy clean and £77 for a single oven.
Getting kit to a lockside flat
The blocks by the lock were built to face the water. Lovely to live in, less so to reach with a machine. Vehicles get in round the back, into a car park or through a barrier, and the walk to the door can be long with a trolley. When you book, give us the block name and the entrance you use, and mention a lift or a visitor bay code if there is one.
Commuter lets near the station
Apsley station sits on the line to Euston, with Kings Langley the next stop south, so many of the newer flats are let to commuters and turn over at the end of the month. For a move-out clean, a one bedroom flat is £207 and a two bedroom £243, with the oven at £31 on top. Agents here mostly want the floors done too, and carpets booked with the clean are £29 a bedroom and £36 a living room.
Galley kitchens
The lockside flats tend to have a galley kitchen with one built-in oven and a ceramic hob. Quick work. The oven is £77 and the ceramic hob £23, so £100 for the pair, with the racks in the dip tank on the van and the inside and door glass done at the worktop. Clear the surfaces either side of the cooker and it goes faster still.
Scale in the newer bathrooms
New build does not mean soft water. The same Affinity supply reaches the lockside flats at around 283 mg/l, and shower glass there clouds over as fast as anywhere in town. At a move-out that crust is the first thing an inventory clerk runs a finger along. We take it off with an acid gel and a blade, then polish the glass dry so it does not spot again before the check.
The older streets
Away from the water are ordinary streets much older than the new town, with houses extended and re-floored over the years. They get the same care as anywhere else. A one-off deep clean from £186 suits a house that needs setting straight after building work, and a weekly rota suits one that just needs keeping on top of.
Travel times
We come down the A4251 from town, or along from Boxmoor after a job near the station, and outside rush hour it is a ten minute run. The Plough backs up at both ends of the day, so Apsley work mostly goes mid-morning. Up the hill from you is Bennetts End, and the full price list is on the Hemel Hempstead page.
Questions we get asked
Do you clean the flats at Apsley Lock?
Often. Give us the block and the entrance you use, as vans get in round the back and the walk varies from block to block. Mention a lift or a coded visitor bay too.
How much is a one bedroom move-out clean in Apsley?
£207, priced by bedrooms. A studio is £156 and two bedrooms £243. An oven added to it is £31, and carpets done with the clean are £29 a bedroom and £36 a living room.
Can the oven and carpets be done together?
Yes. The oven goes first, so nobody walks across a freshly cleaned carpet afterwards. A single oven plus one bedroom and a living room carpet is £156 as stand-alone work.
How long do the carpets take to dry?
Two hours or so before you can walk on them in socks, and most of a day to dry right through. With the windows shut and the heating off it is slower, so leave one on the latch.