Al Bar-Wilmette Platers

Okay. This is not a business everyone is going to need. But if you own an old house (and I do) — and you are trying to restore the original hardware and metal fixtures, then Al Bar-​Wilmette Platers is going to be a godsend.
They do it all. They can restore old light fixtures, re-​plate locks and door hardware so that the finish looks as good as the day your old house was built. They can even take new hardware and re– plate it to look like the original fixtures in your house. They also have salvage hardware to help you match those impossible things like switch plate covers, and have one of the largest collections of door hardware (including decorative knobs) that I have seen.
Case in point. I have a butler’s door on a pivot (you know the ones– they swing between the kitchen and the dining room or between the butlers pantry and the kitchen) The brass plates on the pivot mechanism had been painted over so many times over the past 80 years that I thought they were lost. I scoured antique stores and artifact resale shops, went to house tear downs, everything to try to find new brass plates for this mechanism.
Just when I had given up– someone suggested Al Bar Wilmette Platers. I removed the plates from the door and took a road trip up to Wilmette. I also took some old doorknobs whose finish had failed as well as a kick plate for another door. I didn’t hold out much hope and my back up plan was just to paint them black to blend in with the wood stain. They took them from me and told me to return in a couple of weeks.
When I went back– they unwrapped the plates from their brown paper wrap and I was amazed. All the newly plated metal gleamed like it was new– I could see myself in them they were so shiny and bright! And once re-​installed– they frame the door just like they did when the house was new!
So before you decide to give up on something in your old house that needs to be re-​plated– head up to Al Bar. The craftsmanship is second to none and if you’re like me– you’ll leave your old house just a little better than you found it!