After a flood

[Don]

Hi James,

Pianos don't like rapid changes. I'd suggest that with modern glues that
there has been at least a years accelerated aging of this piano. For
"insurance" I'd add a DC system with top and bottom covers.

There will have been some permanent damage--for example where the strings
go over the bridge. Have a look at the hammer shanks they may have warped.
Of course, a full regulation may be needed.

At 07:14 AM 8/2/2008 -0700, you wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>I need some help from the collective experience of the piano list.
>
>I recently examined a two-year-old Knabe WGK-70 - a six-foot grand piano
>made by Samick.
>
>While the owner was away on a trip, a toilet valve on the second floor began
>to leak. The piano, on the first floor, did not come into direct contact
>with the floodwater, but it was exposed to very high humidity in a closed
>house for about two weeks. Restoration of the damage to the house involved
>drying out the house with fans and dehumidifiers. Thus the piano went from
>an environment of high humidity, to very low humidity, and finally a return
>to the normal humidity of southern California.
>
>I examined the piano ten days after "dry down." I found no damage to the
>piano. The pin block is holding the pins at normal torque. The soundboard
>shows no deformation or cracking. A pluck test at the mid-treble gave a
>sustain of over ten seconds. I looked for rust particularly where the muting
>felt touches the strings at the hitch end and did not find any corrosion.
>The action needs regulation, but is not showing any ill effects.
>
>As you might expect, the piano was wildly out of tune, being rather new and
>going though extreme humidity changes.
>It seems to me that this piano went through the annual humidity cycle of,
>say, Kansas, but compressed into a three-week time span.
>
>Having spent my piano technician career in southern California, I have not
>had the experiences of those who live and work in more severe climates. This
>leads me to ask several questions of those who do:
>	Does the analogy of a compressed annual humidity cycle make sense?
>	Is it likely that there is damage to this piano that will be revealed at
>some time in the future?
>	Or, finding no damage, is it reasonable to assume that the piano went
>through a stressful episode but came though OK?
>I would appreciate any insights from my colleagues - especially those east
>of the Rocky Mountains.
>
>Jim McCormac
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat

mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com	http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/

3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner