Repairing a Rayburn Regent
Audrey asks:
I have a Rayburn Regent solid fuel range from the mid ’70s and need a new firedoor. I’ve been told that the doors are made to suit the Rayburn so replacement doors are impossible to find.
The firedoor (left hand side) is just about on its last legs as the latch has broken, so it’s either find a new door or buy a new Rayburn. Any help would be appreciated.
Note: I emailed Audrey in order to get more info on this and found out that the Rayburn Regent is the older style that has vertical handles…
Audrey, it’s pretty much impossible to find such doors new, these days. You might be lucky and come across a dealer who has some very old stock, but I reckon that this is highly unlikely.
I’ve been trying to find you someone who can supply a second-hand door, and thought I had come up trumps with a supplier who promised much; however, the upshot of my enquiries was that the supplier was too busy to be bothered looking to see if the door that he has in stock was the correct type. Actual words:
I have some old doors off a Regent but really haven’t time to mess about for the sake of a £2 handle
Now, as getting this info took well over two weeks I’d say we’ll forget that avenue of enquiry. Considering that you’d be looking at spending well over £100 on a second-hand door with this trader, I’d have thought that taking ten minutes to check which handle version he has in stock would be well worth him doing. Obviously not!
I also made a few eBay searches and came across a few Regents, though most of them were in pretty poor condition. So I’d definitely advise against buying on eBay – then again, it’s only the door that needs to be in good condition…we won’t dismiss eBay just yet.
Purchasing a new Rayburn is obviously an option, but one that shouldn’t be necessary. I’ll make some more enquiries and see if I can’t come up with a better solution for you.
