Stephen, I absotively, posolutely agree with Wim, one of my biggest, earliest mistake was to underestimate the damage on an insurance claim to put the repair with in my abilities. My verbiage now in this type of situation is that I can not make any warranty with regards to a repair that is any less than a complete rebuild. That should not be a total loss for a S&S M. I also assume the piano was in excellent condition before the disaster unless I know different, why assume anything else? Later when thing go wrong it will be your, uh, something or other. I also consider myself to be an ambassador for the client, they're the ones paying me. None of this means I would be dishonest at all with my assessment to the insurance provider. These people and the insurance company are welcome to solicit other opinions and they probably will, in the end, you'll fell good about your proposal for a complete restoration, even though you will sub out some of the contract. Fenton ----- Original Message ----- From: wimblees at aol.com To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 11:15 PM Subject: Re: [pianotech] Rusty Steinway M Stephen The insurance company will try to tell you,and the customer, that a lot of the damage to the piano was done before the flood. Don't believe it. The flood caused all sorts of problems that are not related to age. The rusty strings are only the tip of the iceberg. Even if there a little rust of the strings, the amount of water from the flood caused them to corrode to the point where they are breaking. Even the agraffs are breaking, which should give them a clue. Then there is the pin block and the soundboard. Because of the excess moisture in the air, they will eventually crack. It might take several years, but it would have been caused by the excess moisture. Then there are the action parts. The spring, center pins, felts, etc, will all have been effected in some way by the excess moisture. You're obligation to the customer is to insist that the piano needs to be rebuilt, including soundboard, pinblock, strings, action etc. The insurance company will fight this, tooth and nail, but they need to be educated. Your job is to do that. I hope the customer has flood damage insurance. They may need a lawyer, too. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -----Original Message----- From: Steven Hopp <hoppsmusic at hotmail.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Mon, 8 D ec 2008 5:04 pm Subject: [pianotech] Rusty Steinway M Hello, I was called to give my evaluation of a Steinway M that was in a home flood. The water reached a few to several inches deep in the room and lasted about 12 hours before clean-up started. The clean up crew at one point used dehumidifiers that ultimately pulled over 5 gallons of water from the air in the room housing the piano. Upon evalution I saw unbelivable rust on the tuning pins and the first 2 inches of the strings. OK maybe not unbelivable but really significant. Also one agraffe was broken. The customer seemed suprised by this and stated only that she could tell it was not the same as before the flood. The case is in fair shape with some spots needing refinishing from scratches. The difficulty is this is an insurance claim and I can not honestly say whether such a rust condition happened in the last year and was caused by the flood. I want to be honest and still assist my customer. My customer insits that it was not like this a year ago. Does anyone think this condition could happen that soon? I have pictures and would be willing to and am asking for help off list because my pictures a re large files and I think the administrator doesn't like them? I am also hoping to speak to someone in the central texas or eastern new mexico or Oklahoma area who might like to help me do the restoration. I am nowhere near qualified to tackle such a project. My contact information is as follows: Steven J. Hopp hoppsmusic at hotmail.com 432-770-7473 Many thanks for replies and interest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills. Get your Hotmail® account. = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to 350+ music, sports, & news radio stations – including songs for the holidays – FREE while you browse. Start Listening Now! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081209/3d8bcd54/attachment-0001.html>
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