Period Aga

[FamilyWiggs]

Anyone know how much it would cost to have an aga re-enamelled?

Some of the prices on eBay just now are ridiculous for traditional agas being ripped out of "farmhouses" that are about to "be refurbished" :shock: I don't think I can hold out much longer... sine are in original condition though and SWMBO would like a shiny one.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I want to know too. I recently tried to improve the finish on my Rayburn by spraying Mr Muscle kitchen cleaner all over it. It's now dirty red and streaky, covered in burnt on deposits and impossible to get shiny.

Is it an enamel finish that's needed, rather than a respray with metal paint though?

 

[Moo]

That happened to me, too. I discovered that one can only clean the things when they're cold.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Get the proper Aga cleaning kit, there is one for the black and coloured enamel casting and one for the stainless steel, bit expensive but lasts for ages and does keep it all shiney all the time. Can be applied when hot. Mr M is the last thing to use, as it is abrasive. Otherwise, like for cast iron baths you need to go to the manufacturer for quotes and have the job done properly. It should last for years if properly cared for with the right cleaning. yes it is re-enamelling-- they put 9 coats on ( or used to)

 

[LadyArowana]

Our house came with an AGA, a green one, and I don't like green. Well, not that classic "British Racing Green", may one day have major conflict with dearest husband on that point.................... the only thing that stopped him having a car that colour was that he couldn't decide on the seats :lol: but I digress.

I asked the salesman in the AGA shop about changing the colour as I had read of the possibilities here http://www.aga-web.co.uk/91_1202.htm . He told me the prices for various new bits. When I had the servicing done by the AGA engineer I also discussed it with him. He told me that mine would likely not be a candidate for some of the 'replacement of parts' colour changing as it was an older model. He mentioned the re-enamelling process as an alternative, BUT said that because this involves a very heat intensive process there is always a possibility that there will be distortion of the parts which will then not fit together well and he wasn't in favour. How often this happens and how much of a problem it is if it does or indeed what the remedy is I did not enquire. He was bemused that I wanted to do away with what I had as it is apparently an "old" green and much loved.

He was such a nice chap I couldn't bring myself to tell him I was contemplating being rid of the entire contraption in favour of something that a) could be turned off and b) could fit a turkey. Those don't seem like unreasonable requirements for a cooker to me, but my big green beastie fails both. I did mention such heretical thoughts to a friend who has one exactly the same and she is now on a one woman mission to make me see the error of my ways. My guess is she will be about as successful at that as she has been in convincing me that I need shoes with proper arch supports and lower heels. I still havn't come to a decision. If I decide to replace the whole kitchen I may leave it in and just have an extra oven somewhere.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I'm feeling so bad about the Mr Muscle spray now! I've got the proper Aga cleaner stuff and it never gets it shiny and clean. It's 25 years old and I think needs re enamelling.

I find having a Rayburn, an electric oven, a separate hob and a microwave to be a really liberating combination- there are times when every one is cooking something!

LadyA - British racing green wouldn't be my choice either for a kitchen. Though it is a lovely colour for farm vehicles and agricultural equipment!

 

[LadyArowana]

I find having a Rayburn, an electric oven, a separate hob and a microwave to be a really liberating combination- there are times when every one is cooking something!

LadyA - British racing green wouldn't be my choice either for a kitchen. Though it is a lovely colour for farm vehicles and agricultural equipment!

Isn't it John Dere? that makes the green and yellow farm machines? Perhaps if I bought bright yellow tea towels and oven gloves to hang on the rail and an antler themed light I could go with that look :lol: At the moment it's green and purple........and flowery



Nothing to do with me!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Hmm, not sure about the yellow tea towels.

That kitchen looks very feminine and rather sweet. But yes, I can understand why you'd want to change it all completely, and a green Aga is a bit limiting.

 

[robgil]

i am a duck egg blue man my self, but if i were to have one done to what ever colour i liked i would have to sit down and think about that one.
are aga's like baths? if you dont get them vitreous enamelled they end up worse than they were when you started? there is a difference between re-enamelling and re-coating, re-enamelling to me is having it put in a very hot oven after being totally stripped and having coloured glass melted all over it and re-coating simply being painted.

 

[Feltwell]

I really like that green Aga - the kitchen around it I'm not convinced about though, sorry! Still, being male and heterosexual, I know how much my opinion on such things is worth :wink:

Myself and Mrs F have quite a good arrangement for such things as decoration. She narrows the choice down to 3 or 4 options which she likes. I choose from those. Everyone's a winner:-

- She's guaranteed to get something she likes
- I don't have to wade through several million coma-inducing and baffling options

Not for everyone but it works for us.

 

[Moo]

When the Aga man came to service ours (four-oven, solid fuel, inherited with the house - I'd never encountered one before) and I suggested changing the colour he was absolutely horrified. "You can't do that! It's the original colour, and probably the oldest working Aga in Norfolk!".
So we chose the kitchen colour-scheme to match it (cream), and lived with it for years and years, stoking it every night, getting used to the film of yellow dust that coated the kitchen, and cooking the best food I've ever achieved.
I still miss it.


ps - and at Christmas it would swallow the most enormous turkey.

 

[robgil]

does anybody know the spec for the flue on a solid fuelled aga? we are thinking about one for the kitchen for special occasions and have our doubts about the flue, it will come up through a cedar shingled roof on a lean-to and the main house is thatched.
or would oil be better?

 

[vicky whitworth]

I love my Aga. It's cream, which is sort of boring but also fairly neutral. I toyed with the red when I came to buy it but went all cautious in the end. I don't have any other type of cooking facility. No microwave, no separate hob. I'm a completely committed Aga fan. In the Summer we may turn it off for a month or so and live on salad and BBQs but most of the time it's on and doing a fantastic job making the house a home and keeping the kitchen toasty. Can't imagine what size turkey wouldn't go into an Aga. Stuff goes into the back of mine and sometimes gets forgotten only to emerge days later well charred. Kindling goes into the bottom oven to dry out. It has an exhaust pipe that exits through the kitchen wall alongside a footpath. People often say they can smell if I'm baking as cake smells waft out. I used to hate it when people said it's a life style thing but after having one in my last house for 12 years, I started saving within six months of moving in so that if we moved we would have the money to buy another, and so when we did move I'd just saved enough for an economy 7 jobby.

I know you can buy new fronts as my neighbour did that with her old navy blue Aga (not my choice of colour personally - bit too smart for me) when it got scruffy.

 

[benmc]

Good price list here - http://www.flame-works.co.uk/reenamell.html

Also the enamel cleaner in the black tube mentioned above is great.

Just used it on our new aga. Put on with damp cloth and leave for 5-10 min. Wipe off with damp cloth and it takes all the stains etc off the hot top plate.

Ben

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Vicki, like me in our hazy days of installing Aga's we always had cream. It is such a lovely deep creamy colour, classic, and does not limit you when completing the kitchen decor. I confess to having a blue esse this time, but somehow our kitchen seems to need a strong colour somewhere, so I've got away with it.

I also agree with those who aspire to have a secondary cooking appliance-- unless you have the 4 oven Aga,--- it is very useful to have an additional cooker, I did when I had a stanley ( 18 years ago), and I relied upon the extra oven to do the hot roasts. I have also noticed that all the range cookers now have much larger ovens, and in doing so are competing quite aggressively for the niche market.

After some considerable swearing, cursing, and mourning my 4 oven aga I have now begun to bond with my esse, and am finding ways of overcoming the lack of ovens, it is turning out some pretty good results; but, coupled with a very small kitchen, cooking is quite labour intensive as I have to think well ahead about what I am cooking and the best oven positions to use. My only serious remaining gripe is that the external heat is vicious, and must be a waste of energy. The Aga is so carefully packed with vermuc (sp? - whatever) insulating material that there is very little external heat loss and each shelf level temperature is reliable.

My son tells me that his electric Everhot has individual fully controllable zones, large oven capacity and a grill, it's not arrived yet, but i am looking forward to seeing it. His choice has been guided by lack of flue facilities, it being too close to the barn and not complying with building regs. He said the electric Everhot is supposed to cost £7.oo a week to run. We'll see!

 

[LadyArowana]

I really like that green Aga - the kitchen around it I'm not convinced about though, sorry!

No need to apologise, not to me anyway, as it all came with the house! It isn't the original location of the kitchen, that would have been on the lower ground floor where the servants hung out. The original stonework is still there, although it has been messed with, but no fire grate. The central heating boiler is in the cupboard at the side. CO's are often keen to have the kitchen relocated there if it has been put elsewhere, but I like that we can see out of the window rather than just a flight of steps.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well after a while stalking and sniping various beasties on eBay, I am now the owner of a tatty original oil fired Aga for less than 200 nicker. It is in Devon which is a bit of a bind.

I'm planning to shot blast it here and then have it re-enamelled and replace a few bits to get it tickety boo. I think it'll have cost me circa £1500 by the end of the process - and the reconditioned ones sell for about £3500 plus. I'm wondering if there is a business in this!

Having researched it thoroughly I'll do the dismantling, reassembly and installation myself. They really are rather simple beasts.

In time, SWMBO will have one that looks like this one and also does our hot water in the kitchen:

Rob - re your question regarding flues. There is a "powerflue" option for folk without/unable to install a chimney/flue. It runs through insulated small bore pipe, can be vertical (or even underfloor) and is power by small electric fan.

http://www.agafixspares.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1513

http://www.lillie-aga.co.uk/news/article/power-flue-pipe-routes/

 

[Penners]

Our oil-fired Esse in our last house had a power flue. It worked fine, although it didn't use a small-bore pipe - it was full diameter flue pipe all the way.

The only issue I had with it was that it ran all the time - 24/7 - despite the fact that our Esse was on a time-clock. Even though it was quite quiet, this seemed wasteful to me. There appeared to be no provision for it to be timed on and off with the Esse. I suspect that this was because the Esse wouldn't start up unless the power flue had spun up to full operational speed (thus creating the necessary vacuum) and the PF needed to run on for about 10 minutes after the Esse had shut down, in order to fully clear all combustion products.

I overcame this by putting the power flue on its own time-clock, set to come on 5 minutes before the Esse and to switch off 10 minutes after the range had shut down.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Well I think she's a a very lucky lady Robin. I wish I had a man who'd drive to Devon, pick up a heap of junk and turn it into a beautiful cream Aga. (though I shouldn't complain as I do have a man who lets me stay glued to the leccy blankey whilst he goes out in the snow to work to pay for my current red Rayburn, which I declared wasn't good enough and insisited on all manner of other cooking appliances, which he bought for me as well).

But still, lucky SWMBO, how very manly, and good luck with your project. Let us know how you get on with it!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

That Aga is stunning, I.m green with envy.