Our Refurbishment Process: How We Restore an Aga to As-New Condition

We privately purchase our Agas on an individual basis. When choosing an Aga, our engineers carefully look for a few key details to ensure it is suitable for refurbishment. Most important is that the Aga has good castings with a shell that is built for longevity. Then, its smaller details, such as the newest burner styles and adjustable hinges. No
detail is too small or insignificant for our rigorous engineers.

Unlike some other refurbishers, we keep each Aga together throughout the refurbishment process, rather than dismantling dozens of cookers and assembling a stockpile of disparate parts. This means that the finished cooker will fit together beautifully as one, just as it did when it left the factory.

For those of you refurbishing your own Aga, we can refurbish almost anything! It is very rare to find that your Aga is unsuitable for the refurbishment process. We start by requesting detailed photos of your Aga, including key details like hinges and surrounding clearance. This allows us to match the exact parts needed from our stock, ensuring a smooth and successful refurbishment. The parts are then shotblasted and re-enamelled in your desired colour.

Before we start, each Aga is dismantled into its key components at our Dorset workshop. We disassemble the front and top plates, lids, doors and hinges ready for refurbishment. We then remove all chrome parts; these will be replaced with brand new ones later on in the process.

Shotblasting is deeply satisfying and its own little bit of refurbishment magic!

Small steel shot is fired at high velocity against cast iron, creating an abrasive action which blasts away old enamel and surface contaminants. When it’s done, all visible cast iron components have been completely stripped bare, and if there’s any imperfections now visible in the iron, our engineers can attend to it before the new enamel is applied. It truly is quite impressive, watching an old, battered iron frame transform into something that looks like it’s come straight from the factory.

This is where your Aga begins its new life, and your creativity starts to come into play.

All visible cast iron components are professionally re-enamelled in your chosen colour, including the front plate, top plate, doors, lid rings, handrail brackets and hinge blocks.

Unlike ordinary paint, Aga enamel is vitreous enamel; a layer of powdered glass fused onto the cast iron at extremely high temperatures. This creates the beautifully smooth, durable finish that make Aga cookers truly shine above the rest.

Whether you're replacing a traditional cream Aga with timeless black, elegant pewter, British Racing Green or Royal Blue, the re-enamelling process completely transforms the appearance of the cooker into something that reflects your own personal style.

Every Aga receives new insulation, new door seals, new door liners, new lid liners, chrome domes, a thermometer, badge, handrail and numerous replacement components throughout the refurbishment.

This means that while the shell of your Aga looks as good as new, many of the parts are in actual fact brand new. You can rely upon them to serve you well in day-to-day life, without worrying that parts are out of date or past their best.

Everything is ready, and now the final magic to bring it all together.

Our engineers have been busily preparing and refurbishing all the parts in our Dorset workshop, but now the rebuilding process can happen in your home.

We’d love to say the final part is as easy as the fairy godmother waving her wand for the final outfit to come together, but it’s a touch more complex than that! After weeks of preparation, the rebuild process normally takes around eight hours and typically includes:

Positioning and levelling the base.

Building the cast iron carcass.

Installing insulation.

Fitting the ovens.

Installing the tie bars.

Fitting the top plate and hotplates.

Installing the lids and handrail.

Carefully adjusting the doors and lids.

Final commissioning and testing.

And phew! With that, your Aga is ready. Shining and gleaming, the belle of the ball.