smoke damaged pianos, reply

[Wimblees]

Thanks to Dave Swatrz for setting me staight on the effects of acid on
strings, and explaining that soot on or in the hammers does not change the
sound of the hammer.

However, removing the smoke smell, and polishing the case, does not remove the
rust and soot from the strings and the action parts. It is my understanding
that the purpose of insurance to to return the property that was damaged, be
it by smoke, water, or what have you, to the condition it was in before the
damaged. If smoke from a fire caused the strings and pins to rust, either due
to moisture or acid, then the only way to return them to their original
condition is to replace them. Removing the rust from the speaking length of a
string is not a recommended repair. The same thing goes for the action parts.
The same material that caused the strings to rust has caused the center pins
to rust, and has infected the pourous action parts with corosive material.
And, again, replacing the infected parts is the only solution to bringing
these parts to their original condition. 

Unless the action parts and the strings were not effected by the smoke from a
fire, and only the outside case collected the soot, a piano needs to be
completely rebuilt to bring it back to it's original condition. The problem,
unfortunately, occurs when the fire damages an older piano. I am currently
working on an older Steinway grand that was caught in a fire. Even though the
piano needed to be rebuilt anyway, the piano was still functional. The fire
caused the piano not to play at all. But it would be impossible to return the
piano to the condition it was in before the fire, so the only thing that can
be done is to rebuild it. 

But this situation is not restricted to older pianos. I just had delivered to
my shop a 10 year 7'4" Bosendorfer which was in a room where the ceiling
collapsed. The piano did not sustain any direct damage, but the customer knows
that plaster dust creeps into every crevice. So I have to unstring the piano,
remove the plate, clean under the plate, and then replace the strings and
felts. I also have to take each action part off the stack, and clean them. 

As I said in my orginal post, insurance companies need to be educated that
replacing parts is the only solution to correcting smoke damaged (or plaster
dust damaged) pianos. 

Willem Blees RPT
St. Louis