I just simply tell them flat out that the piano has to set for a good year before we will know the full extent of the damages. There is no reason why the piano cannot be placed back into the customers home for use. It would probably be better for it anyway to be used and it would probably also be setting in a drier environment than the storage facility. (You did not plug it in and try the Disk unit?) 100,000 gallons??? That's a LOT of water dude! I suspect that when your year is up, you'll find a lot more rust thoughout the piano than is visible right now. You can plan on replacing the bass wires if the greenish substance was not there before. (No way to tell unless you've been servicing the piano in the past.) Possibly the dampers as you already mentioned and maybe even hammers as well as the year goes on.... Who knows, really, what might happen in the next year. The hammers could pop for all you know from the excessive humidity from all of that water. Or, not!... It's a wait and see period of time. Stop by periodically to check on things so you can keep a fresh memory of what was there NOW and what has changed or not changed, on each visit thereafter. Take LOTS of notes!!!!! I would not send them any estimates yet. As of yet, you do not know the full extent of all damages. While what you see today, may, be it... There could be other things too. That's why I suggest waiting. I've discovered that it takes time for all of it to show up. Besides, it looks better to just hold off and send in your estimate all at once. It is up to the customer to tell the insurance company that they do NOT want to settle on it for one full year. The insurance companies that I've dealt with are usually pretty understanding about such things as that. Jer Groot -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Rob McCall Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 3:48 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Water damaged piano So, does anyone have any proven methods of dealing with the insurance and the flood mitigation company that want solutions yesterday? The insurance company wants to pay it out, the owner wants their piano back, and the flood company doesn't want to store it. I have no problem telling them that it needs to sit for awhile to see what will come up in the next few months, but it would be nice to have some tried and true method, verbiage, or something to drive the point home. Or maybe I can send them an estimate for what I found, plus some sort of disclaimer or caveat to cover the issues (and my rear) that may (will) come up 4-6 months down the road? Regards, Rob On Oct 13, 2011, at 05:05 , Mike Spalding wrote: > Rob, > > Now that you've made a thorough inspection, thoroughly documented with notes and photos, the thing to do is wait through the dry season ( or longer if the insurance company will allow it) then re-inspect the piano to see if any new damage shows up. > > Mike
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