Restoring the Sandyford Cottage

One arrival, the cooker didn't really look too bad, given that it was quite a number of years old. It was only when I began to look closely, that I realised it needed a bit of an overhaul!

The first job was to convert the burners to run on diesel, instead of kerosene. This involved them being taken out and removed to a specialist to be tested and have diesel pre-heaters fitted.

While this was going on, I had the opportunity to deal with the cosmetic appearance. The cooker top enamel was quite worn and most of the rest had a lot of burnt-on fat and grease.The inside of the oven door was caked in burnt-on carbonised grease.

I took the cooker top to DreamMaker Kitchens & Bathrooms in Suffolk. They specialise in restoring cooking ranges, bathtubs and so on. They degreased it and applied etching primer, followed by the new black top coats. The result was a vast improvement, without the risk and cost of full re-enamelling.

I brought the cooker doors and lids back from the boatyard to my workshop and set about cleaning them up. The inside of the top (hot) oven was in the worst state, with years of baked-on grease. It took four applications of oven cleaner, plus a scraper and wire wool, to finally reveal the original black enamel! While I was at it, I removed the temperature gauge, dismantled it, cleaned and polished all the parts and re-installed it.

The rockwool insulation inside the lids and top oven door was looking a bit soggy and worn out, so I've ordered a roll of foil-backed rockwool to replace it, plus a tube of high temperature silicone to secure everyting back in place.

All of the brass nuts and handles were very tarnished, so they were all given a good polish, ready for re-assembly.