Waterbound

[Annie Grieshop]

Thanks, Terry.  It's not a mess yet, and with such good advice, I might be
able to avoid the worst of it.  The biggest problem is that I don't know
what to expect or when.  Too much like a slasher movie for my taste........

So, I can put my darlin' BOU in the air without worrying about the bottom
sagging.  (My very youngest memory is of standing under the keybed, trying
to reach the keys on that piano....)  Two of the consoles are PSOs, so they
don't matter.  And I'll bet I can hoist the other two onto blocks, as well.
That is a much better idea than the dolly, actually.  And I'd guess the
grand will be OK as long as its casters are kept out of the moisture.

I've got a wet vac and two good dehumidifiers, as well as a woodstove in the
shop, so getting it dried out won't be a terrible problem, once the water
stops coming in.

I don't know the answer to the source question.  We've got so many layers of
ice and snow that what's melting near the building can't get away.  And this
is beautiful black loam country, so water is always on the move around here.
My first action this summer will be to ditch around the shop, and maybe even
lay tile so I can drain the whole area into what's eventually going to be a
pond.

At the moment, I'm trying to get anything extraneous out of the shop, so as
to have less to mess with when the water arrives.  (Too bad it's the best
storage building on the place.... <g>)

The good part about having such an amazing introduction to living here is
that it probably won't ever be quite this crazy again, as I'll be better
prepared.  And regardless of all of this, I LOVE being here!  My customers
are wonderful, and it's a great area in general.

Annie G.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Farrell [mailto:mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com]
> Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2008 1:24 PM
> To: Pianotech List
> Subject: Re: Waterbound
>
>
> Hi Annie - sounds like a mess! Sorry to hear about it. You can put an
> upright on a dolly for as long as you want. I wouldn't worry
> about it. Might
> be best to just put it up on blocks though - you might need the dolly for
> something else. Put some heavy plastic between a couple blocks on
> each side
> to prevent water from wicking up the wood.
>
> I would run, not walk, to Sears or some similar store and buy a good room
> dehumidifier. I highly recommend getting one with the "electronic
> humidistat". I've had two of them now and they seem to regulate
> humidit much
> better than the old type.
>
> Man, I don't know what the heck to do about your floor though. Is
> your shop
> that low compared to the surrounding land? Do you know where the
> water table
> is at? What is the water source? Maybe a nice deep ditch filled
> with gravel
> around the shop? Do you have enough ceiling height to simply put in an
> elevated floor? You could either fill it in with concrete or build an
> elevated wooden floor. Sounds to me like you definitely need to take some
> serious action though (but I think you know that!).
>
> Terry Farrell
>