[pianotech] pianos damaged by moving?

Paul T Williams pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu
Tue Jul 6 09:56:07 MDT 2010


Just a guess, but really really cold and dry to shockingly hot and humid 
during shipping?  Were they this bad right off the truck, or got worse 
since February?  Were they delayed in a shipping station someplace, or 
driven down directly?  Temperature changes drastically comes to mind 
first. Other than the finish, how is the action, strings, keytops?

Paul




From:
"David Heidel" <dbheidel at comcast.net>
To:
<pianotech at ptg.org>
Date:
07/06/2010 10:34 AM
Subject:
[pianotech] pianos damaged by moving?



I usually just sit back and read everyone’s postings, but now I need your 
help.  An insurance company has beckoned me to figure out what has caused 
the damage to 2 pianos that were moved from Alaska to Washington in 
February.  The owner claims these pianos were in perfect condition before 
the move.  They were loaded by actual piano movers onto a moving van. Both 
have Dampp- Chaser units on them.  In my short tenure (8 years) of being 
around pianos, I have never run across this situation before and could use 
some help in figuring out what might have caused the damage.  Could a 
combination of extreme cold and a 5-day move have caused this?
 
As a side note, the owner also has a Suzuki digital grand (Costco) that 
sustained no damage at all on the case (unfortunately). 
 
Hopefully, the pictures are good enough to see some of the damage. 
 
Piano #1 -  Young Chang grand, model G-208, serial # G 104337, built in 
1996.
The piano had 3 long cracks in the polyester finish on the lid, extending 
the entire width of the lid.  The cracks are located on the front, middle 
and rear of the lid.  The plate of this piano has hundreds of small cracks 
in the finish, located throughout the entire plate.

Piano #2 - K. Kawai grand, model KG-5, serial # 479922, built in 1970 (but 
looks newer – and I didn’t think Kawai used poly finishes back then).
The piano had numerous cracks in the finish, of various lengths and 
patterns, over the entire lid, going in all directions. The music desk 
also had cracks in the finish. The plate had cracks in the finish, as well 
as the finish separating from the cast iron.  The entire soundboard showed 
hundreds of cracks in it, giving the appearance of "cracked ice".  There 
was also one crack in the soundboard that was actually in the wood, 
extending for about 2 feet.  Also noted were cracks in the wood where the 
soundboard and the rim of the piano are connected.    There were 4 keytops 
that also had cracks in the plastic.

 
David Heidel, RPT
Heidel Piano Services
Spokane, WA


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