Antique Way

Antique Appliance Restoration Process

Once your antique arrives at our facility, or you've chosen a stove or refrigerator from our very large selection of Unrestored Stoves and Refrigerators, your vintage appliance gets every attention to detail. Our 100 Point Restoration process begins with a complete photographing the stove or refrigerator from every angle, inside and out, behind and underneath if necessary. The unit is then carefully dismantled with each part cataloged and tagged, with photos taken at every step of the process. Once the unit is completely dismantled, all old insulation is discarded. Electrical wiring is diagramed and inspected.

If the finish is porcelain, every precaution is taken to preserve the original surface. Small chips or damaged areas of porcelain are repaired using professional acrylic enamel surface repair products. Minor scratches or abrasions are best left untreated as they lend to the authenticity of the vintage appliance as well as enhance its natural beauty. When porcelain cabinets or panels are severely abraded or damaged, they are removed and sent to a professional porcelain refinishing company where they are sandblasted and re-fired with a new porcelain coating.

When the cabinet finish is originally a painted surface, the cabinet and all associated panels are sandblasted to remove not only years of dirt and debris, but often times layers and layers of paint where the item may have been painted different colors. It is most common to find refrigerators that were painted with the most current decorating color from past decades (pink or turquoise in the 1950's, avocado green in the 1960's and harvest gold or coppertone brown in the 1970's).

Once the cabinet has been cleaned to the original metal surface, repair work to the cabinet is performed. This includes removing dents, repairing rusted or corroded areas and in worst cases, actually fabricating a replacement panel or section of the appliance. When the body work is complete, the cabinet and all panels are sprayed with two coats of industrial primer to seal and protect the metal from future deterioration. The painting process involves the application of up to 6 coats of solvent based enamel paint. Although the most common color for appliances, prior to the 1950's, was white, we will gladly color match to suit your decorating needs.

While all of the cabinet restoration is being performed, the detailing crew is hard at work refinishing each and every component of the appliance. All cabinet hardware, shelving, controls, knobs, logos, etc., are refinished by hand with the utmost attention to detail. Chrome hardware is cleaned and buffed. If upon inspection of the hardware, it is determined that the original finish is discolored or to corroded to use, the item is sent to a professional re-plating company to be re-plated.

Many times, the lettering on control knobs or clock faces has been worn away from years of use. Or painting experts, meticulously, re-letter these pieces by hand. Gas valves for gas ranges are disassembled and cleaned, then reassembled with gas valve grease for a ˇ°like newˇ± control operation. Damaged plastic or fiberglass door liners on refrigerators are repaired with fiberglass repair products and epoxy resins. Many times we have to completely refashion severely damaged door liners.

Refrigeration systems are closely inspected and determined to be re-useable or replaced. Our refrigeration specialist are AHAM-NARDA certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and are qualified to either overhaul and re-use the original refrigeration system or when necessary, refit the refrigerator with a new refrigeration system using new environmentally friendly refrigerants.

When the appliance is ready to be re-assembled, new, high efficiency insulation is installed. All of the original electrical wiring is inspected and any material determined to be unsafe is replaced with new. As refrigerators are reassembled, they receive a new , custom built door gasket The new door gasket in conjunction with the new insulation, insure a positive airtight seal for the appliance. These features create a super insulated cabinet that result in an extremely energy efficient appliance.

The final assembly process addresses the fine-tuning of cosmetic as well as operational detail. The re-assembled appliance is carefully inspected for door alignment, levelness, ease of drawer, control knob and shelf operation, as well as finished surface appearance. The appliance is then connected and tested for performance.

Refrigerators are allowed to operate for a full 10 days with temperatures and running times being monitored on a regular basis. Gas and electric stoves are connected to their respective power sources and tested for effective heating and consistency of oven temperatures. Calibration adjustments are made to ensure the appliance operates at an optimum performance level when it reaches its new home.

Gas stoves are converted and set for natural gas or propane gas, depending on the requirements of the owner. Oven safety control valves are installed on all restored vintage gas stoves. For electric stoves, we re-calibrate each burner control. In the event that we are unable to use a switch or control that was original to the appliance, we seek out the most suitable new replacement part, then refit the original knob to the new control to ensure a proper cosmetic finish.