[pianotech] Water damaged piano

[J Patrick Draine]

Good posts from a number of folks, but I don't see why the piano owner
should be subject to months of waiting before they can be assured they have
a functioning musical instrument without a cloud hanging over it. I think
encouraging the insurance company to replace the instrument (or at least the
pre-claim value) is the most straightforward way to proceed. If the
technician sees potential value in the now problematic instrument, he could
suggest a "salvage value", and make an offer. If he's "lucky" he might come
out ahead (or a higher bidder might get "stuck" if he is overly optimistic
and things turn bad).
Patrick Draine

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 9:18 PM, Mike Spalding
<mike.spalding1 at frontier.com>wrote:

> Rob,
>
> Here's an excerpt from an inspection report I wrote in Oct. 2010 for a U1
> that was in a flooded basement. In this case, the insurance company was
> willing to wait 6 months to settle, and the piano remained in the owners'
> home. If you like it, feel free to lift the parts that work for you.
>
> "The piano was partially submerged (approximately 4” above bottom of
> knee-board, 8” above floor) during a recent flood.The owner minimized the
> damage by 1) immediately lifting the piano up on wood blocks, 2) cleaning,
> drying, and dehumidifying the room and the piano with2 room dehumidifiers.At
> the time I inspected the piano, the internal relative humidity of the piano
> was 55%.
>
> All damage from immersion will not manifest immediately; it generally will
> appear in 3 phases:
>
> 1Immediate damage from the saturation and swelling of the wood, such as
> rust, glue failure, finish failure.This is what my recent inspection looked
> at.
>
> 2Damage duringthe drying out process due to shrinkage of the wood,
> including cracks, glue failure, finish failure.It is too soon to see this
> damage, as the piano has not totally dried out yet.
>
> 3Damage during subsequent years, due to weakening of materials during the
> immersion and initial drying.In effect, this is a shortening of the life of
> the piano:repairs which might be normal during the latter years of a piano’s
> life simply come earlier.Fear in the market place of this type of damage
> will never go away – a piano that has been in water suffers a permanent
> reduction in its market value.The likelihood of some structural failures can
> be reduced by reinforcing some glued joints with screws or other mechanical
> fasteners, and replacing critical metal parts, such as strings or casters,
> which have begun to corrode.
>
> Because the piano still retains significant moisture, my recent inspection
> only covers phase 1 damage, which is minimal.The most significant findings
> are rusted strings and casters, and swollen wood.The detailed itemization is
> attached.My findings are completely consistent with the report by Xxxx Yyyyy
> RPT Dated 8-10-2010.At this time, no repairs are recommended.
>
> I recommend that the piano be inspected again in January or February, at
> which time the humidity in the piano should be at it’s seasonal minimum.At
> that time we can put together a recommendation of repairs to phase 1 and
> phase 2 damage, and preventive action aimed at phase 3.Alternatively, if the
> insurance company will allow, the piano can be observed for a longer period
> of time to see what additional damage might manifest."
>
>
>
>
> On 10/13/2011 2:47 PM, Rob McCall wrote:
>
>> 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
>>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20111014/0aa1a972/attachment.htm>