Datchet is the Thames-side village south of Slough, linked to the Windsor bank by the Victoria and Albert bridges. It comes under the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead rather than Slough, with an SL3 postcode. The station is in the middle of the village, on the line from Windsor and Eton Riverside to Waterloo, with two level crossings just west of the platforms.
Two kinds of wet carpet
A wet carpet goes one of two ways, depending on where the water came from. Clean water first: a burst pipe, a washing machine hose, a bath left running. If the leak was stopped and the carpet dried within a day or two, a clean usually brings it back. What stays behind is a brown tidemark along the line where the water stopped spreading. That line is partly soil carried up as the carpet dried and partly colour drawn out of the backing, and a hot rinse with strong extraction takes most of it out.
River water is a different matter. The Thames reached parts of Datchet in the winter floods of 2014, and a carpet that has sat in flood water has taken in whatever the river was carrying. It needs lifting with its underlay and replacing. A clean would only cost you money, so we say that on the phone and do not book a visit.
The fan myth
The usual mistake after a leak is a fan pointed at the carpet and the job called done. The pile feels dry by the next day. The underlay can stay wet for a week, and that is where a musty smell starts. Before you book us, press a dry kitchen towel hard into the worst spot and hold it there. If it comes up damp, the carpet is still wet underneath, and it needs longer with the heating on and a window open before any cleaning is worth doing.
An ordinary visit
Most Datchet calls have nothing to do with leaks. Two bedrooms, a through lounge, one staircase with its landing, and the hall come to £205: £72 for the bedrooms, £61 for the lounge, £41 for the flight, £9 for the landing and £22 for the hall. Tell us your road when you book, and if the only parking near you is a paid bay, we add exactly what it cost us.
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| Bedroom carpet | £36 |
| Lounge | £43 |
| Through-lounge | £61 |
| Stairs, per flight | £41 |
| Small rug (to 3m²) | £35 |
| Large rug (3m²+) | £51 |
| Bedroom carpet, booked with a tenancy clean | £29 |
| Living room carpet, alongside an end of tenancy | £36 |
| Stairs, booked with a tenancy clean | £35 |
The rinse itself is described under carpet cleaning, and marks that are not water are covered under stain removal. The other SL3 villages on our list are Colnbrook and Langley, with the full list of room prices on our prices page.