CAUT rebuilding vs. contract

[ATodd@UH.EDU]

   In a conversation with the Director of the School of Music yesterday,
an interesting topic came up in our discussion of what we were going to be
able to do about pianos when we move into our new building (under construction).   We're
evidently not going to have the money to buy a "lot" of new pianos,
so he was asking me about rebuilding costs, mainly for practice rooms and
teacher's studios (not piano teachers). The thought occurred to me that if
enough money could be found to rebuild 4-6 pianos a year, could we not use
that same money and hire another technician/rebuilder and be able to do more
than that in a year. By rebuilding, in this case, I'm referring to plate,
soundboard refinishing, new pinblock, dampers and action work and depending
on money, perhaps new keyboards.
   My question to you more experienced rebuilders, is this a reasonable
thought? We certainly need another tech here with 115+ instruments (mostly
older) to take care of. Maybe this is a way to get one. Could 6 or more
grands (almost all Steinway L's and 11 Bosendorfers) be rebuilt in a year's
time?
   In the new building, I will, FINALLY, have a shop large enough for at
least two grands (plus everything else), so a second tech who specialized
in rebuilding could do that almost exclusively while I do most of the tuning,
regulating, etc.
   This may just be a pipe dream, but he's going to be asking me more about
it and I would really appreciate some feedback from some of you. I realize
the cost of the contracted rebuilding job would enter into how many we could
have done, but I'm, very roughly, estimating $6,000 - $8,000 each for the
work mentioned above. I know the costs vary widely, as does the quality, but
I need SOME kind of cost figure to tell the Director. BTW, he's not,
unfortunately, a pianist so it's hard to make him really understand what
goes into a good rebuilding job.
   Any and all advice/comments would be appreciated. Very much.

Avery Todd, RPT (who would VERY much like to have a 2nd tech here)
University of Houston
atodd@uh.edu

P.S. I even mentioned possible future accreditation problems in the future
     if something isn't started soon.