South PasadenaGrill Cleaning & BBQ Repair

The city is small, a little over three square miles, and most of it sits under a heavy canopy of oaks, sycamores, pines and camphor trees. That shade keeps patios cooler than in a lot of the San Gabriel Valley. It also means a steady rain of leaves, seed pods, needles and sap onto anything left outside, and grills catch more of it than you'd think.

Debris settles under the cooking grates and onto the heat plates, then works its way into the burner area. Lit, it smokes and flares. Left alone through a wet winter, it holds moisture against the firebox and speeds up rust. Shady, quiet corners are also where spiders like to build, and their webs inside burner tubes are one of the most common reasons a grill burns yellow or won't light at all.

A lot of South Pasadena homes date from the 1910s through the 1940s. Backyards are often modest, and the grill is usually a freestanding cart or a small built-in someone added during a remodel. Many of these grills are older than their owners realize. We see original igniters held together with tape, burners rusted through at the seams and regulators that have spent fifteen years in the sun.

Most of that is fixable. Burners, igniters, heat plates and hoses are standard parts on the truck. When a grill is too far gone for repair to make sense, we'll say so and give you options, including a replacement that fits the space. Our repair or replace guide lays out how we think about it.

We work all over town: the streets around Mission Street and the Meridian Iron Works, the hillier blocks near the Arroyo, Monterey Hills condos, and the quieter neighborhoods toward the San Marino and Alhambra borders. Many houses here have a long, narrow driveway or a detached garage in back. Just tell us where to park and which gate to use.