Elstree grew up along Watling Street, and its High Street still holds late-medieval timber-framed hall houses, among them the Holly Bush inn, behind later brick fronts. London Carpet Cleaning reaches Elstree, WD6, as easily as Edgware, with prices from £36 a room. Once we finish, carpets are dry within 6 to 7 hours.
A Roman road village on the county line
Elstree is an old village, much older than the Borehamwood that grew up beside it. It is strung along the Roman road of Watling Street, which carried medieval pilgrims to St Albans Abbey and coaches in the turnpike era, when six inns were trading here. Today the same road, the A5183, changes its name through the village, from Watling Street and Elstree Hill North to the High Street and Elstree Hill South, and crosses Barnet Lane and Watford Road at a crossroads that was widened in 1967. For centuries the village was split between two counties and four parishes; it was only united within Hertfordshire in 1993.
The buildings tell that history. Elstree has four late-medieval timber-framed hall houses, including the Holly Bush inn, and 17th-century timber-framed buildings at 18 High Street and 1 to 3 Barnet Lane, though most of the framing is now hidden behind later brick. There are two Georgian town houses, Hill House and Schopwick Place, a Victorian parish church, St Nicholas, and Arts and Crafts cottages and almshouses built under the 1st Lord Aldenham. Around 1900 the village spread south along Elstree Hill South and east along Barnet Lane, where large detached villas stand back from the road in ample grounds. The conservation area was first designated in 1976, by Hertsmere and the London Boroughs of Barnet and Harrow together, since the village then straddled the boundary. Elstree and Borehamwood station, on the Thameslink line into St Pancras, is the nearest for trains.
How big are Elstree’s homes?
| Homes that are | Share |
|---|---|
| Four or more bedrooms | 41.3% |
| Semi-detached houses | 25.7% |
| Flats in purpose-built blocks | 22.3% |
| Owned outright | 33.6% |
| Built before 1900 | 10.0% |
| Heated by oil only | 2.0% |
The census area is Elstree and Aldenham, the village and the open country to the west of it, so the figures mix village houses with farms and outlying homes. Big homes lead: 41.3% have four or more bedrooms, which is why the job we are asked for most is the whole house gone over in one visit. A four-bedroom house with a through-lounge and one flight of stairs is a fixed £246.
The rest is more varied than the large villas suggest. Semis make up 25.7% of homes and purpose-built flats 22.3%, and a third of homes (33.6%) are owned outright, often by people who have lived here for decades. A tenth of homes (10.0%) date from before 1900, the cottages and older houses where a deep-pile wool runner on a period staircase wants a gentler hand. Out in the countryside some homes run on oil (2.0%) or bottled gas, away from the mains; the carpet still dries on time, and we just ask for the heating to be on low.
Figures: ONS Census 2021 (Hertsmere 010) and VOA council tax stock, March 2024.
Through traffic, drives and the village lanes
There are no controlled parking zones in Elstree village; Hertsmere’s zones are in Borehamwood, Bushey, Radlett and Potters Bar. The difficulty here is traffic. The A5183 and A411 meet at the crossroads, and Hertsmere’s own appraisal calls the traffic through the village heavy, so the van cannot sit on the High Street for a morning. For the cottages on the High Street we park on a side road or the nearest safe space and run the hose in.
Most of the larger houses on Barnet Lane, Deacons Hill Road and Allum Lane have their own drive, often gravel, and the van pulls straight in. Before a big whole-house clean, clear the beds of storage boxes underneath and lift rugs off the carpets we are doing. For an early start before Pesach, tell us your timings and we will plan the rooms so the kitchen end of the house is free when you need it.
How much does carpet cleaning cost in Elstree?
Every price is fixed before we come, there is no call-out fee, and Elstree pays the same as the rest of Hertsmere and every London borough we cover.
- Carpet, per bedroom, from £36
- Living room from £43
- Through-lounge from £61
- Stairs, one flight, from £41
- Two-seater sofa from £57; armchair from £33
- Rug up to 3m² from £35; mattress from £35
Get a free quote, or call us on 020 8077 8090.
Whole-house carpet, sofa and rug cleaning
The same crew handles every soft surface in the house. Our hot-water carpet cleaning handles the fitted carpet and the stairs, while sofa and upholstery cleaning covers fabric suites and conditions tired leather back to a soft finish. Loose rugs, including wool and silk-mix Persians, are cleaned in the house, and for a silk-mix piece we ask for a photo first; the rug cleaning page has the details. We also clean across the rest of Borehamwood and over the boundary into the London Borough of Barnet, so a household with places in both is covered by one team.
Elstree customers ask
Do you cover all of WD6 and the surrounding lanes?
Yes. We clean throughout WD6, from the village core on Elstree Hill and the High Street out along Barnet Lane, Aldenham Road and Allum Lane, and across into Borehamwood and Well End. Elstree is on our daily run north of London, so you are not treated as a distant call-out and there is no travel surcharge for the postcode.
Where do you park at a house on a gravel drive or a narrow village lane?
Most Elstree homes have their own drive, and we park on it and run the hose straight in. The water and power stay in the van, so we need only a careful spot near the door. On the busier stretches of the High Street and Elstree Hill we park on a side road and keep the main road clear while we work.
Can you do a whole house in one visit before a holiday?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do here. A full set of bedrooms, the stairs, landings and reception rooms can be cleaned in a single booking, and we are happy to start early so the house is ready for Pesach or for guests. Tell us the room count when you call and we will give you one fixed price for the lot.
How long will carpets take to dry in an Elstree period house?
Our hot-water extraction leaves carpets dry in about 6 to 7 hours, a little longer for dense wool, such as a deep-pile runner on a period staircase, or on a cold day. We lift most of the moisture back out with the machine, and with a window cracked or the heating ticking over a morning clean is ready by the evening, socks, not shoes, until then.
Is there permit parking in Elstree village?
No. Hertsmere’s controlled parking zones are in Borehamwood, Bushey, Radlett and Potters Bar, not in Elstree, so there is no permit to arrange. The main roads through the crossroads are busy, though, and we will not block them. If you live on the High Street, tell us the nearest side road or space and we will carry the hose from there.
Our cottage is one of the old timber-framed houses. Is there anything to know?
Mainly care with the floors and stairs. Old boards are rarely level and old stairs can be steep and narrow, so we work slowly and clean by hand where the wand will not sit flat. Old wool and old underlay are cleaned low-moisture, so nothing soaks through to the timber, and we keep the doors open while it dries.
Every clean is backed by our re-clean guarantee: if a treated area does not come up as agreed, we come back and put it right at no charge. We are fully insured and DBS-checked, and we have cleaned carpets, upholstery and rugs in and around Elstree since 2009.
