Grovehill is the 1970s estate on Hemel’s north-east edge, in HP2, built on the Radburn plan: front doors and footpaths on one side of the houses, parking courts on the other. That layout shapes every job here. Prices are the same as the rest of town, £36 for a bedroom carpet and £77 for a single oven.
Tell us the court and the door
On a Radburn layout the satnav often takes a driver to the back of the house. The van pulls into a parking court, the front door faces a pedestrian deck or a footpath, and the two can be a block apart. So when you book, tell us which court to use and which door you will open. It saves ten minutes of someone walking round with a machine. On a carpet job it also decides where up to fifty metres of hose will run.
Maisonette blocks and lettings
The blocks here climb three or four storeys on shared concrete stairs with no lift, so a top floor flat gets the light kit and a longer slot. Together with Adeyfield and Highfield, Grovehill holds most of the town’s privately rented flats, and tenancy cleans come round often as a result. A studio is £156, one bedroom £207 and two bedrooms £243, set before we start and held on the day unless you add carpets or an oven.
The jobs booked most
Carpets come first. Bedrooms cost £36 apiece, with £43 for the lounge and £41 per flight, and one-off work has a £67 minimum that a single small room will not reach alone. Ovens come next. There is less regular cleaning here than in the owner-occupied parts of town, which makes sense where so many homes are let, though the rate is the same £23 an hour weekly.
Oven racks on the footpath
Oven work has its own version of the Radburn problem. The racks, trays and pan supports travel from your kitchen to the heated tank in the van, then back again an hour or so later, so the walk between the court and the door is made four times. A single oven is £77 and a double £110 either way. Knowing the right court simply keeps the job shorter.
Morning slots
The Arriva 500 and 501 run out here from the Marlowes interchange, so early slots are easy to staff even when a cleaner is not driving. The van is the slower half. Anything crossing the Plough at half past eight sits in the queue, so Grovehill jobs start either early or after nine.
Next door is Adeyfield, the oldest of the neighbourhood units, and west across the valley sits Warners End, both on the same prices. Our full list is on the main page.
Questions we get asked
Where should the van park in Grovehill?
In the parking court nearest your front door, which is not always the one the satnav picks. Give us the court and the door when you book; on a carpet job it decides how much hose goes out.
Does a long hose run cost more?
The price stays the same. Fifty metres of hose out and back adds time to the slot, so we book it a little longer.
How much is a studio end of tenancy clean?
£156, agreed before we arrive. One bedroom is £207 and two bedrooms £243. The oven is £31 on the same visit, and carpets done with the clean are £29 a bedroom.
Do you do regular cleaning on the estate?
Yes, though less than in the owner-occupied areas, since so much of Grovehill is let. It is £23 an hour weekly or £24 fortnightly, three hours at a time, with the same cleaner each visit.