Old Stove Repairs & Refurbs

Henry has come over the years to fix our circa 1938 Wedgewood stove at various times. He is unfailingly polite and gets the job done. The other night, he came over sort of "out of the blue" as I called a number and he happened to answer the number. In the past it has been harder to schedule, but the stars aligned for us the other night. HE DOES A GREAT JOB AND THE PRICE IS REASONABLE. Also he loves to chat and talk philosophy and linguistics and such.

We love our old stove, even though we are aware that there is a valid argument to make that these gas stoves are worse for air quality than electric stoves. Our stove is reliable and we are happy to have it.

And, we are happy to have the assistance, when needed, of folks like Henry Rutgers to keep it working.

Such an amazing difference from new appliances, that break on purpose, that are crappy, that come new with problems, that cost the earth to repair, and where the folks who come to make the repairs are the unhappy employees of sub-contractors of sub-contractors and are themselves, quite cynical about the machines that they are repairing. So as long as we can, we will keep our approximately 85 year old stove working and keep cooking on it and baking in its oven.

(Our stove has a "kindler" which has warped walls, so we can't use it... what is a "kindler," you may ask? the idea was that in addition to gas, if you hooked up the kindler part to a flue, you could burn small pieces of wood or trash paper or what have you; a thrifty choice in the midst of the Depression, and meant to appeal to those who remembered when a stove could produce heat and cook food without reliance on piped-in gas or electricity.)

I have a 1958 O'Keefe and Merritt oven that stopped working on Friday. I emailed Henry on Saturday morning and he called me right away. Luckily for me he was already on his way to San Francisco to work on another stove and I was on his route. I'm embarrassed to say that it was a simple pilot light issue that he relit (It's my first gas oven!) and he then calibrated my oven and ordered new tempered glass for the inside of the door. I didn't even know it was missing! I promise I will get better about understanding my old oven, but in the meantime, THANK YOU HENRY!!!! You are a wealth of knowledge and interesting stories.

Henry Rutgers is a true Old Stove "whisperer!" He saved our Christmas this year by coming at the right time to fix the oven (the main problem) in my 70 year old O'Keefe and Merritt gas range. He also fixed 2 old problems that were not as crucial, the broiler and a burner. You just have to contact him via e-mail and wait for his reply! Be patient if you have an old stove. He is worth waiting, as another group who sent someone quickly was not able to help, and another never replied at all about repairing an old stove. Thank you, Henry!

I had my water heater replaced, when we restarted the gas all the pilots lit fine on my Okeefe and Merritt stove but I couldn't get the oven to work. I sent Henry an email and he called me back and walked me through how to reset the safety button that I couldn't find on my own, just talking on the phone! He's wonderful and I'm super grateful to have my oven back working

Henry Rutgers is our hero! We have a 1950's vintage O'Keefe & Merritt. Henry had worked on it periodically over the years, always coaxing it back to work. However, we had lost track of Henry until yesterday. Both ovens have been on the blink and we were on the verge of giving up and purchasing a new stove. Through a more persistent search (while standing in an appliance store considering various unsatisfactory alternatives), I found Henry's contact info. (He prefers contact via email henru99@yahoo.com. See also http://oldstoverepair.com) Henry got back to us while we were in transit home, and was in our kitchen doing his magic two hours later!
Henry is nothing short of a miracle worker. Now, instead of a last minute change of venue, we'll be hosting Christmas Eve at home.

Lucky enough to have a classic stove?
Issues?
Did you press in and release the big safety valve button?
Located at the back of the stove up top - easy to get to.
Just lift off the top plates the burners stick thru.
One for the broiler and one for the oven.
Check the pilot light is good and strong?
No luck?
Henry Rutgers is your man.

Wedgewood circa 1950.
Had an unusual one - there was a pilot light but the oven was a no go.
Henry had it down in seconds.
Not enough of a flame and we're at max gas for the pilot.
Popped the pilot light assembly.
Well ... it took some skill and expertise on Henry's part cause it was not cooperating with the disassembly.
Sure enough it was partially clogged.
Ream it out. Fixed.
You don't want to try this one yourself cause if you mess up the pilot assembly trying to force it apart - well - you just dug a deeper hole.

Henry - super honest, great service, reasonable price and - best of all - I learned a lot.
Can't say enough - specially with the rep appliance repair people have.

You may want to work that safety button every few years so it doesn't get sticky with old grease. When they age like that they become hard to push in and sometimes won't pop back out. Gotta use pliers. If working right and not seized up - they just slide in and spring back out easy.

Generally your two main oven expense items are the thermostat (the knob and the gizmo behind it) and the safety valve (sometimes called a pickle valve cause it can be kinda shaped like one).

Henry has replacements for those at fair and honest prices.
In short - whatever the issue - he'll have you up and running pronto.
Highly recommended.

Thank you, Henry for coming out to fix my mother's old Wedgewood stove from the 1950's. When a gas leak was discovered, PG&E promptly turned off the gas to the stove. My mom was very worried she would be told it was time to purchase a new range. She loves her Wedgewood and wasn't ready to part with it. I began the search for someone who knew enough about these old stoves to come to the house. It seems there are three main guys in the Bay Area that repair old Wedgewood and O'Keefe & Merritt stoves. They all know one another and seem to be kept quite busy as each one of them was booked-out in advance. Fortunately, we didn't have an immediate need and could afford to wait. In the meantime, thank goodness for microwaves!

I'm glad we waited, because Henry knew his stuff and was DEFINITELY the most reasonably priced of the three repairmen. We were not prepared for a last-minute phone call from Henry saying he had time to look at the stove today, because he was just across the bay. Luckily, the timing worked in our favor and we were available for him to stop by. Now I realize that he likes to try to group appointments by location if possible, so be aware that he might try to fit you in based upon where he is for the day. Besides repairing the line with the leak, he also performed a "tune up" on the stove, which we requested since a couple of burners hadn't been working right. It took Henry a few hours of repairing, greasing, adjusting and reassembling, but I have a very happy mother now, and we were very pleased with the final bill, which we were expecting to be much higher based on the quotes from the other repairmen.

I have an old 1940's Wedgewood that had a broken oven door. It wouldn't stay closed. When I got it the door was slightly ajar but it just completely broke over time and use. It had been broken for 6 months and we had tried to look at it ourselves before I reached out as I found not many people fix these. This is not his full time gig so expect to wait and be flexible with scheduling. I sent him an email letting him know I was extra flexible with time over the next couple weeks and a few days later he called to say he could come by same day! I ran home and am not disappointed! He fixed it better than it was before and for a very reasonable cost. He was friendly and efficient! Overall it was a great experience! I will reach out should I ever need help with my Wedgewood again!

Henry really helped me out when my aging Wedgewood needed some work. It did take a lot of tries to reach him thru email and then get a phone number, but once we made contact, he came right out. I think the work took conservatively 4-5 hours, a few misc parts and the bill was about $450, which, for the time, was money well spent. I hope to get another 10-15 years out of this stove/oven, so I'm happy he came to service it.

Also, Henry really teaches you how to understand what is right or wrong with your stove/oven, and how to investigate for future reference. I feel that I got a complete education from Henry about my Wedgewood which I didn't even know had a "heater" side compartment, not a warmer as the seller had indicated to me.

I really recommend Henry, but please note, the phone numbers on his website are incorrect, you MUST email him to reach him.

~Ms. Ali

I have two Wedgewood stoves from 1929 in my building. They don't make 'em like this anymore. The precise adjustments of the burner are spectacular, and I love them aesthetically. Finding an old stove repairman is hard, but once you've found Henry you can stop looking. He machined some parts for my thermostat in 2008, and that stove is still going strong. This year, he replaced the pilot light on the other after I foolishly tried to fix it myself and broke it.

But best of all, he found me an elusive spider grate for the burner. I'd looked for one at every junk shop up and down the coast and on eBay and everywhere in between. I was considering taking a metal fabrication class at Laney College so I could replace my broken one, but he spared me the effort.

Henry is personable and quirky and reasonable. I am so happy I found him!