Smoke damage

[Dave Swartz, RPT]

Ron,

This rebuilder is in error for several reasons.  First, as you have pointed
out, that the keys, felts, etc are in need of a different cleaning process
than that of the exterior finish.  Hammers for instance, serve as "natural"
wicks to the odor...rule of thumb...were there is residue, there is odor.
Despite the claims that odor isn't apparent intitially, doesn't make it so.
Give it a warm humid summer day, and wahlah, you will face the odor.

Second, washing down the outside still does not address the malodors
contained within the piano.  How are the strings?  The acidity of smoke
residue will, in many cases corrode the plain wire.  This piano needs
professional attention.

My suggestion would be contact me directly, as I would fill up too much
bandwidth replying to the misconceptions represented here.  You may reach me
here through e-mail:  dave@majesticpiano.com

Should have the opportunity to see the instrument first hand, visit my
website:  http://www.majesticpiano.com and print out the "smoke damage
assessment form", take it with you to the piano, fill it out and fax it.

We deal with technicians, insurance adjusters, and clients on a daily basis.
I'd be happy to help.

Talk with you soon,

Dave Swartz, RPT
IICRC Certified Odor Technician
Majestic Piano
dave@majesticpiano.com
Website:  http://www.majesticpiano.com




-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Torrella <torrella@umich.edu>
To: College&University Tech Forum <caut@ptg.org>
Date: Tuesday, March 09, 1999 1:25 PM
Subject: Smoke damage


>One of the faculty, here, recently had a fire in the kitchen - a
>teflon-coated pan that burned for hours while he was giving a recital. The
>result of all of that thick, black, stinky smoke was that the entire house
>stunk (they had the walls washed - didn't get rid of the odor, so now
>their walls will be sealed using some special method) and their 1920s
>Steinway A stinks, too. (I'm referring to odor....)
>
>A rebuilder, hired by the insurance company, commented (in part):
>
>"I can see no effect of the so called kitchen mishap on the condition of
>the piano, all repairs have been necessary to make long before the time of
>the mishap and a mere wash down on outside surfaces would be all that is
>needed. All surfaces are hard surfaces except for felts, which are damaged
>by other causes and worn out. There is no odor evident and residue
>includes mostly, if not all, pre-existing build up of other household
>contaminates." [sic]
>
>I agree with the rebuilder that the piano was in need of rebuilding before
>the pan burned up (what he refers to as "the so called kitchen mishap"),
>but having seen the instrument myself, I found the odor to be *quite*
>strong (that smoke odor is hard to miss -- but then, I'm not a smoker, so
>my olfactory senses are fairly acute).
>
>What perplexes me is this "wash down" concept and the idea that wood is a
>"hard surface." Granted, the lacquered portions are hard, but the
>soundboard (which has the original shellac finish), all of the action
>parts, keysticks, keyframe and bed, beams, etc. - anything that doesn't
>have a lacquer finish - surely could be considered a "hard surface!" Am I
>off base? How does one "wash down" a piano without using liquids? I can't
>imagine that the minimal amount of water/cleaner solution we use to clean
>soundboards is going to be equally effective on every other wood surface.
>I wonder what this rebuilder considers "outside surfaces" to be and which
>ones he would suggest should be "washed" and which ones shouldn't. All of
>the wippens have outside surfaces - would those surfaces *not* be washed
>down? What about damper heads? Underlevers and underlever tray? Wash down
>keysticks?
>
>Can someone shed some light on this stuff? Suddenly, I feel ignorant.
>
>Ron Torrella, RPT
>Piano Technician "And like that...he's gone."
>University of Michigan      - Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey)
>School of Music        The Usual Suspects
>734/764-6207 (office/shop)
>734/763-5097 (fax)
>734/572-7663 (home)
>
>
>