Restoring A Tag Sale Find at Patty's Portico in Port Chester, New York
Before all those fun summertime gatherings, it’s always a good idea to take stock of any outdoor furniture that may need repairing or restoring.
Whenever I get the chance, I often enjoy shopping at antiques shops or tag sales - one never knows what one will find. Earlier this year, I purchased a vintage outdoor living set at a neighborhood estates sale. It was a bit timeworn and painted black, but I knew with a little restoration work and a fresh coat of color, the pieces would look fantastic. I enlisted the help of Patty DeFelice, owner of Patty's Portico: Outdoor Furniture Restoration & Powder Coating - a family inspired business that has been serving the New York City area for more than 25-years. Patty and her team stripped the furniture all the way down to the metal, removed any rust that had developed, covered everything with a zinc-rich primer, and then powder coated each piece using electrostatic application methods.
Here are some photos and a short video, enjoy.
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- Back in early January, I spotted this set of metal outdoor furniture at a neighborhood estate sale. It was in excellent condition and I knew it would look great on my terrace at my Bedford, New York farm.
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- A few months later, I took the furniture to Patty’s Portico: Outdoor Furniture Restoration & Powder Coating. Patty DeFelice started the business after working for her dad at his automotive repair shop. What started out as a short term job ended up to be a 30-year stay. During this time, she learned how to fix and paint cars. At one point, a customer asked if she could cover some furniture using automative paint, and in her search to find the safest and most effective methods, turned to powder coating. Patty attended seminars and studied the best ways to apply it and use it on all types of furniture. After 10 more years at her dad’s automotive shop, she opened Patty’s Portico.
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- The furniture I purchased was vintage mid-century modern in design. It would need stripping and priming before it would be ready to powder coat with my signature “Bedford Gray.” The entire job was expected to take several weeks.
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- I also brought Patty some other items including a couple of old metal baker’s table bases. These pieces would go through the same process.
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- The first step is to strip all the original paint down to the bare metal by sandblasting. Sandblasting is an operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove any surface coverings or contaminants.
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- To completely strip this chair and ottoman takes at least an hour-and-a-half – and there were a lot of pieces to do.
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- Here is the old metal baker’s table base completely stripped down to the metal – it looks like new.
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- Next, the furniture is brought into a special spraying booth where the pieces are coated with zinc-rich primer. The zinc-rich coating provides corrosion resistance and adds to the durability of the furniture. The primer is delivered through a vibrating machine and hose and then carried through the nozzle with electrostatic charge. This process takes about 15-minutes per piece.
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- The primer is left to dry and then it’s time to powder coat. Powder coating is applied as dry powder through an electrostatic process, then cured with heat. It can be used on different surfaces, including metal, concrete and steel, Here, one can see the dark primed areas getting powder coated with color – “Bedford Gray.” Below is a short video of how evenly and carefully the powder coating is applied. This step also takes about 15-minutes per coat.
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- Here is one of the ottomans nearly finished.
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- Next, the items are placed into a large oven where they are baked for about 15-minutes at 375-degrees Fahrenheit. This is crucial because it is the heat that gives it its durability.
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- Fortunately, Patty’s oven is 10-feet long, so several pieces can be baked at a time.
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- Here is the old baker’s table base going into the oven along with the chairs.
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- Once the pieces are cured, they are removed from the oven and left to dry and cool completely.
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- And here is the sofa – all done and back at the farm. It looks so great all restored and powder coated.
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- Here are the two chairs with their matching ottomans. I decided to place the entire set on one side of the gravel courtyard behind my Winter House Kitchen. It’s perfect for this space.
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- Everything looks brand new.
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- Here is a wider view of the newly restored furniture. On the right is one of my antique sugar kettles. Sugar kettles were used on 19th century Louisiana plantations for the production of sugar. Sugar cane was placed in the large, spherical vessels and cooked down to make syrup. Because they could withstand such high heat, they were also used for cooking. I use them as fire pits. They make instant and effective fire pits, and can be moved to different locations. I am looking forward to lots of entertaining here this summer. For more information, please visit Patty’s web site at pattysportico.com.
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