[pianotech] pianos damaged by moving?

[Paul McCloud]

I heard a story years ago about a shipment of pianos from Korea.  A whole container of pianos arrived with cracks all over the finish, and the buyer refused delivery.  There is a test called a "cold cracking test" which was apparently not done properly on those pianos.  The mix of polyester has to be done properly, otherwise that batch of pianos may have finish cracking.  As far as the cracks on the plate and other lacquered areas, it seems that extreme dryness and temperature shock has caused the problem.  It is surprising that the moving company would not have had this experience before, moving a piano during severe February weather.  I'm sure you'll get a lot of guys on here who live in cold country who can tell you what went wrong.  Here in San Diego, snow and extreme cold only happen when you want it to (drive to the mountains).
    Paul McCloud
    San Diego 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lou Novak 
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: 07/06/2010 9:02:57 AM 
Subject: Re: [pianotech] pianos damaged by moving?


First, I'd check with the technician that serviced the pianos in Alaska.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: David Heidel 
To: pianotech at ptg.org 
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 8:29 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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