[pianotech] Water disaster

[tnrwim at aol.com]

Rob

That's really incredible. The organ is probably a complete loss, and will need to be replaced. The pianos, on the other hand, are salvageable. But only time will tell. 

A room in the music department at Alabama had a small closet in which the sprinkler system shut off valves are located. There is supposed to be a drain in the bottom the closet, but for some reason, it clogs up once in a while. On two different occasions, the water would overflow, and drain into the room, which has a tile floor. When the water gets over 2", the water then runs out into the hallway. 

This room used to be my office, but was converted into a practice room with 2 B's. When it happened the fist time, I just so happen to stop by, and was able to get someone to open the drain. But the second time, it happened over the weekend, and by the time someone noticed, water was poring into the hallway. The two pianos sat in water for at least 48 hours. Fortunately they sat on trucks, so the pianos didn't sustain any damage. But they did absorb a LOT of moisture. The actions and everything were OK, but it took about 2 years from them to dry out and get stable. 

But that was in humid Alabama. I suspect with humidity in the 8% - 10% range, your pianos will be dry by next week. But other than being unstable, I don't think the pianos will suffer any other damage. 

Wim



 



-----Original Message-----
From: Rob & Helen Goodale <rrg at unlv.nevada.edu>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>; College & University Technicians <caut-request at ptg.org>
Sent: Sun, Jun 3, 2012 11:26 am
Subject: [pianotech] Water disaster



We had a major disaster at the university last week.  In the recital hall workers are installing a complete audio/visual projection system.  As part of the system there is to be a giant retractable screen above the stage.  Just behind where the screen is going is a huge custom built pipe organ made in Germany that was installed just a few years ago.  Current value is somewhere around $400,000.  On either side of the organ we keep two concert D’s when not in use, and a Shigeru SK-6 sits along one side wall when not used.
 
A couple weeks ago some workers where assembling hardware getting ready to install the giant retractable screen.  Somehow in the process they bumped into a fire sprinkler.  No apparent damage, they just resumed their work and left.  Then over the three day weekend the sprinkler let loose.  At full force water poured from the ceiling.  A security camera recorded the event with water coming down so hard you could not see the organ behind it.  An alarm went off but of course it took some time for campus security to respond to verify there was a problem, then call and wait for the fire department to arrive, and then shut the water down.
 
The organ has suffered detrimental damage.  Water poured down through the open pipes, especially the trumpet resonators which flare out upward making them perfect funnels.  One of the Ds and the SK-6 had covers which were completely saturated.  After inspection it appears they were spared, there was actually dry dust inside.  The water just ran off the sides of the cover once it saturated like a sponge.  Only time will tell how the massive influx of humidity will have effected them but this past Friday all of the flanges in the D were loose with the hammers flopping around and a buzz.  The other D just happened to be gone at the time.  Due to another event it had been moved into the other music building for a week.  That piano lives in the hall, I don’t think we have moved it out in at least five years so by total chance it avoided the entire incident.
 
A local organ tech arrived on Tuesday.  When he opened one of the wind chests water came pouring out of it.  The console lid was so swollen it wouldn’t open and veneer is now pulling up.  At minimum the entire right half of the organ will have to be completely rebuilt, the tech estimated the cost to be around $200,000.  Next week a couple of the original organ builders are flying in from Germany to inspect it further. The wood floor on the stage has wide gaps between the boards and is starting to cup on the edges.  Humidity in Las Vegas is now about 8-9% so soon I would expect to see the real effects on the pianos as they completely dry out.  
 
And that’s the news from the UNLV Music Department.
 
Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV


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