[CAUT] Humidity Damage

[Ed Sutton]

Dear Professor McKeever,

Although it is probably impossible to predict and quantify damage from the 
one incident you mention, and most pianos have tolerated a few such 
incidents now and then, we can certainly confirm that regular extreme 
humidity shifts will produce many problems in maintenance and eventually 
degrade the performance quality as well as shortening the service life of 
the pianos. Imagine the situations in colleges which are turning off HVAC 
systems on the weekends to save money.

Perhaps the most valuable use of this incident would be to gain the ear of 
your school management and convince them to install on-site monitoring and 
to enforce consistent climate control in the music building, something that 
all musicians will appreciate.

Ed Sutton


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mckeever, James I" <mckeever at uwp.edu>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2011 12:51 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Humidity Damage


Many thanks to those who have replied concerning our humidity problems!

As Kent indicates below, it will be extremely difficult to prove that damage 
occurred specifically due to the humidity issues.

And long-term damage, probably impossible.

The historical instruments had some specific damage that I can "prove."  The 
modern pianos need an extra tuning, but nothing else is visible.

Here is what I have been told by one of the leading fortepiano builders and 
by a highly respected RPT (Steinway trained).  The older modern pianos, 
especially, could have suffered subtle damage.  Wood fibers could be damaged 
when high humidity caused wood to expand and vice versa for low.  Pins could 
be loosened.
Also, in actions, felt could be compressed by expanding wood, and not return 
when the wood shrinks, requiring regulation.

I am a career pianist, and not knowledgeable about any of this! I know when 
I like a piano, and can tell subtle differences in actions, and that's all! 
So I need to rely on the experts here!

Even if some of the above is true for some instruments, I can't prove it.

Further comments would be welcome.

Thanks,

James McKeever
University of Wisconsin-Parkside



-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Kent 
Swafford
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 8:58 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Humidity Damage

I agree with Fred's post, and question whether there is any basis at all for 
any insurance claim as a result of this episode. How could one document that 
soundboard cracks were not present before the current episode? Even the 
broken strings might have been avoided with "normal" pitch corrections known 
to be needed for harpsichords and other historical instruments when 
subjected to high humidity.

Kent Swafford


On Jan 3, 2011, at 8:45 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:

> In general, five weeks of 80% humidity followed by 2 weeks of 20% is 
> normal - not advisable, certainly not ideal, but conditions that perhaps 
> the majority of pianos in the midwest experience every year, except that 
> the periods of high and low are longer. Does this cause damage? Probably, 
> especially in repeated cycles. Is it quantifiable for insurance purposes? 
> Probably not, unless you have soundboard cracks. I guess I would say it is 
> unlikely that anything "major" will show up in the future due to this one 
> time occurrence. (The string breakage i the historic instruments was 
> probably from the pitch going extremely sharp, far sharper than in pianos 
> with metal plates)