<div>Israel</div> <div> </div> <div>Once corrosion starts, it can't be reversed. When mold attacks fibrous materials, like felts, it cannot be reversed. Bottom line: In addition to a new finish, new felts, strings and pins. <br> <br> </div> <div style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<br> Piano Tuner/Technician<br> Honolulu, HI<br> Author of <br> The Business of Piano Tuning<br> available from Potter Press<br> www.pianotuning.com</div> <br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Israel Stein <custos3@comcast.net><br> To: CAUT@ptg.org<br> Sent: Sun, 14 Oct 2007 3:55 pm<br> Subject: [CAUT] Mold spore damage<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_0_36f344c6-ecb1-4481-8f09-4e3872dc3bef style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff">To the list, <br>  <br> I recently examined a Steinway L - nice instrument, recently restrung and refinished - that spent a couple days in premises that were flooded. There is no direct water damage to the piano - but it did spend some time in a very humid environment, standing on water-saturated floors in fairly warm weather before the owners were able to move it out of there to a storage facility. The most obvious damage is to the finish - it pretty much cracked apart (looks like semi-gloss water-based nitrocellusose) in long, parallel cracks. Other problems include some surface corrosion on the strings, and totally gummed up action centers. <br>  <br> They had flood damage technicians test air samples from the premises, and they found a high mold spore count (a particular mold specific to water damage). This requires that the premises and all contents be "hepa-vacuumed". Eventually I am going to see their report and perhaps even consult with them - but in the meantime, does anyone know anything about "hepa-Vacuuming", how it's done and what horrible things it might do to the poor piano (or not)? <br>  <br> Thank you, <br>  <br> Israel Stein <br>  <br> </div> <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/index.htm?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000970" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div>