swiss cheese pin block pole barn cold storage

[Larry Fisher]

Yo,

I built a pole barn in Wyoming when I lived there.  I got the description
of how to build it from a friend, during a casual conversation, remembered
the basics and went for it.  The poles were power company rejects, or cull
(old and out of service type).  The trusses were the W type fashioned after
a truss formula I found in a book at the library.  I put in 6 thermopane
windows that were replacement glass for patio/sliding glass doors.  These
windows faced south and helped heat the place in a part of the country that
has 350 days of sunshine a year.  The walls were 1/2 plywood going one way,
and T1-11 going the other.  24' by 48' with a 10 foot ceiling allowed for
someone to bring a piano inside loaded on the back of a pickup.  (happened
a lot in that area)  I don't remember the cost, but it was far cheaper than
a monlythic slab (conventional foundation) since the frost line in that
part of the country was 6'.  I only had to sink the poles in 3' according
to the building code boys.  After the slab was poured, (flat, no footers)
the rest of the place went up in a week, with only a small handful of help.

I stored pianos out there without heat.  Temps in the winter reached well
below ZERO F.  The wind howled on a regular basis and so air tightness of
the structure was compromised daily.  I didn't dare move the pianos when
they were REALLY cold but then who in their right mind would be out there
in below ZERO weather anyway.  I had a Knabe upright (the one that requires
1" wood dowels inserted in holes in the back posts for handles to lift them
with), and few other assorted old uprights in various failing condition,
and a Kimball 5' grand.  I could find no added failures in these
instruments with the arrival of spring.  Wyoming has a very dry climate,
all year.  I had cracks in my knuckles almost all the time, and I feel I
have really tough hands.  Chap stick was a basic need along with sun screen
and wind screen.  I sold or gave away all the pianos when I moved here to
the PNW.  A tech in a neighboring town handled all the instruments I gave
away and he had no problem fixing them and selling them.  There were no
major glue failures, and the verneer was still in tact.  I had numerous
customers that kept pianos in similar environments in there mountain
cabins, sometime heating up the cabin during a winter visit for a few days,
then leaving once again letting the temps drop to whatever it was outside.
One I can think of was a player.  

I don't condone the storage of pianos in such environments, but it's
usually not as bad as it sounds.

Things to note about cold winter air in some parts of the world ..........

Sub zero temps freeze nasal hairs as you breathe in, running or exerting
yourself in these frigid temps can "frost your lungs" and make them ache
for days.

Leaving a piano out in the truck overnight and then bringing it in to the
house generated lots of panic as frost formed instantly on the finish.
We'd wipe down the finish not considering the moisture collecting on the
stings and t-pins inside.  Later we learned to leave the piano in an area
of the shop or attached garage that wasn't heated for a day or two first
before bringing it inside the house.  The temps in there were moderately
warmer than in the truck.  Also drier.

Sub zero temps do funny things to metal ........ it makes it really
brittle.  I've seen stick shifts break like pretzels, steering wheels
shatter, and door handles break.  Therefore moving a piano when it's been
allowed to reach this very low temperature, IS A BAD IDEA!!!

It seldom, dare I say NEVER, snowed when the temps were below zero.  All
the moisture was frozen out of the atmosphere.  You could arc weld from the
tip of your finger.  Cats and dogs hated to be approached because of the
impending ZAP!!  Piano stores would run humidifiers putting gallons of
water per day into the air of their stores to keep the humdity up, at the
expense of their window sills.  The moisture would condense on the windows,
and freeze or drip down to the sills, eventually rotting them away in 10
years.

I don't miss the cold.  I don't miss the frozen fuel lines in my car,
cracking vinyl, fearing vehicular failure when 20 miles from the nearest
highway, limping wounded cars home in the dark of winter winds over two
mountain ranges, fighting with churches that don't heat their sanctuaries
during the week, and most of all, I don't miss all the pianos (old and new)
that suffered so much from lack of humidity more than lack of heat.  The
crowns lost, the bridges split, verneers loose, entire sides of pianos
loose from the piano back, filler blocks between the back posts loose or
gone, and benches that are a liability suit waiting for a fat person to
park it.

As for the swiss cheese pin block piano thread that has bounced around a
bit on the list, you could fill these vacated holes with Epoxy and start
all over, this time with the original holes, using an even smaller drill
bit eh??

Lar


                                    Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water