I took a magnet to the corroded, dirty fixture to try and figure out what it's made of. A lot of brass fixtures are really just brass-coated steel. Nearly all of them made these days - all cheap junk. This one is made out of solid brass so it's worth renewing instead of replacing. Here's what I'm up against:
It probably got this way for the same reason the leaded glass in the front door is corroded - wasp and hornet killer. Keep that stuff away from anything made of metal!
After I removed the fixture I had to take it apart, remove the corrosion and relacquer it. It's not a bad job. Just time consuming and you have to pay attention to any details the original finish had. In this case it was brushed brass, not polished. To recreate the finish all you have to do is sand the clean brass in the same direction it was sanded in originally. Simple. Clean all oils and fingerprints off the brass and apply lacquer.
Reassemble everything, add a new chain and some energy-saving light bulbs and you're done!
Installation is the reverse of removal. Now the porch light won't take away from the appearance of the refinished door and new windows.
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