Hi all,
I've got a little bit of a dilema. Way back 50 or more years ago my grandfather acquired an old wood cook stove - a round oak chief, that I think was made in the very early 1900s. My family moved to va in the early 80s, and at some point in the early 90s I think we brought that wood cook stove down from NY and put it in my parents house. My parents heated their home with that wood cook stove for 30 years until my father died two years ago. After he died I had to get everything out of the house and since I am currently renting I don't have much space to put anything. A friend of the family asked if she could use the stove until I wanted it back, so I thought it would be a win win. So, I cleaned it all out really good and took it all apart and she had some guys come pick it up, take it to her house and put it back together. Well, it turned out that within a year she met someone and moved in with him and so her little house just sat for the last year with the stove in it. She is now attempting to sell the house and asked me to come get the stove. So, I thought ok, I can make some room in my little plastic shed and just store it for a little bit until we buy a house sometime. Well I wasn't prepared for the state of the house or stove, and when I arrived at her house yesterday got an unpleasant surprise. I guess mice had gotten into the house and that plus dampness made for a pretty unpleasant smell and also there was some rust on the stove now. My brother in law and I took all of the removeable pieces off of the stove as quickly as possible and into the bed of my truck with plans to return next week to get the bulk/body/base of the stove. However, I'm not sure now what to do with it. It smells bad enough that I don't want to put it in my shed with my other things. Since its all steel/iron I'm sure it would clean up, but I don't have time or space to now clean to get rid of the smell and rust before storing it. I feel like I just need to find a new home for it - someone who does have time and space to clean it up good. This kind of kills me as this stove was the centerpiece of my parents home for the last 30 years. literally everything happened around that stove. when we lost power, my mom cooked and baked with it, heated water, etc. Plus my grandfather had used it for a few decades before that. I wouldn't have given it to that family friend if I'd have known this was going to happen, but there was no way to know and at the time it seemed like something that might actually help me out. oh well. poop.
So, do you guys have any ideas? How to find a new home for this old stove? I've currently packed up all the removeable pieces (doors, grates, tops, etc.) into plastic storage bins after rubbing them down with some oil to hopefully slow down the rust, but I still have to get the bulk of the stove and do something with that, but I definitely don't have any where to put it - so I need to find a home for it pretty quickly. Thanks for any help / ideas!
Here is a picture of it in my parents house, warming up the old cat.
I've got a little bit of a dilema. Way back 50 or more years ago my grandfather acquired an old wood cook stove - a round oak chief, that I think was made in the very early 1900s. My family moved to va in the early 80s, and at some point in the early 90s I think we brought that wood cook stove down from NY and put it in my parents house. My parents heated their home with that wood cook stove for 30 years until my father died two years ago. After he died I had to get everything out of the house and since I am currently renting I don't have much space to put anything. A friend of the family asked if she could use the stove until I wanted it back, so I thought it would be a win win. So, I cleaned it all out really good and took it all apart and she had some guys come pick it up, take it to her house and put it back together. Well, it turned out that within a year she met someone and moved in with him and so her little house just sat for the last year with the stove in it. She is now attempting to sell the house and asked me to come get the stove. So, I thought ok, I can make some room in my little plastic shed and just store it for a little bit until we buy a house sometime. Well I wasn't prepared for the state of the house or stove, and when I arrived at her house yesterday got an unpleasant surprise. I guess mice had gotten into the house and that plus dampness made for a pretty unpleasant smell and also there was some rust on the stove now. My brother in law and I took all of the removeable pieces off of the stove as quickly as possible and into the bed of my truck with plans to return next week to get the bulk/body/base of the stove. However, I'm not sure now what to do with it. It smells bad enough that I don't want to put it in my shed with my other things. Since its all steel/iron I'm sure it would clean up, but I don't have time or space to now clean to get rid of the smell and rust before storing it. I feel like I just need to find a new home for it - someone who does have time and space to clean it up good. This kind of kills me as this stove was the centerpiece of my parents home for the last 30 years. literally everything happened around that stove. when we lost power, my mom cooked and baked with it, heated water, etc. Plus my grandfather had used it for a few decades before that. I wouldn't have given it to that family friend if I'd have known this was going to happen, but there was no way to know and at the time it seemed like something that might actually help me out. oh well. poop.
So, do you guys have any ideas? How to find a new home for this old stove? I've currently packed up all the removeable pieces (doors, grates, tops, etc.) into plastic storage bins after rubbing them down with some oil to hopefully slow down the rust, but I still have to get the bulk of the stove and do something with that, but I definitely don't have any where to put it - so I need to find a home for it pretty quickly. Thanks for any help / ideas!
Here is a picture of it in my parents house, warming up the old cat.
