Adventures in Renovation

This morning I went to go look at a vintage stove somone advertised on Craigslist. As part of my obsessive appliance search, I've been keeping an eye on all the appliance listings on Craigslist. It's a Tappan Deluxe stove from 1948. It's a big Cadillac of a stove. Well maybe more like a '57 Chevy. It's sporty red and white mammoth of a stove. Over 40" wide. And it has knobs that light up when you turn on the burners. It was an absolute steal at $175. Especially since it works perfectly and is in spotless condition.

This guy loved it so much, he moved it from Vermont. It came with a house he lived in up there. But it didn't fit in his house here so he had to store it in the garage. Now his family is moving to Portland so it was finally time to part with it.

He posted the listing at 2PM on Saturday. I went to look at it at 9PM the next morning (today) and bought it right there. Then my Dad just happened to be coming up with his truck to help me with the house. So I got Bryan and my Dad to help me pick it up that same afternoon. Everything was falling into place.

We loaded the stove into the truck and he said "Well, enjoy the stove. My wife is probably inside crying."

I said, "I will. I'll take good care of it. I'll try to love it at least as much as she did." And drove away.

But only a few blocks away from my house, the stove tipped over in the back of the truck and the top of the stove and all the grates came flying off. Bang! I looked in the side view mirror and saw stuff bouncing down the road. Two of the steel grates broke apart and the top piece, the piece with the timer and lights got a huge scratch in the porcelain and ripped out the wires. I think it landed on its face too because the two knobs that control the clock in the front got smashed. It was really sad.

My Dad felt really really horrible because he was driving. I kept telling him it wasn't his fault. Which it wasn't. I mean, the top wasn't even screwed on like it was supposed to be. We should have taken the top off and the grates off so there weren't any loose parts sitting on top anyway. I could have strapped the thing down or rode in the back with it to keep and eye on it. But I said, "It's fine. It weighs like 500 lbs. It'll be fine!" Who knew.

But the good news it that there's a few places on the internet that restore old stoves. Yu can send them parts and they'll restore them for you. This website called Antique Gas Stoves even says they can repair broken grates and re-coat them in porcelain. So all hope it not lost. In the end, this stove may come out better because if it.