In a message dated 7/25/00 10:28:40 PM Central Daylight Time, pneely@thegrid.net writes: << List I need info on evaluating smoke damage the piano is a Yamaha upright about 13 years old with a dampp-chaser unit on it good condition just smells like smoke. Pat >> If there is no soot on the inside of the piano, washing down the case parts with a strong detergent will do the trick. The fire control company might also want to put the piano to their oxidation room to get rid of the smoke smell. If, on the other hand, soot got inside the piano, the soot, which is very abrasive and corrosive, will have damaged the strings, and penetrated the felts and wood of the action. 13 years is not very old for a piano, but this kind of damage greatly reduced the life expectancy of the piano. While the outside might be made to look like new, the inside will have aged 50 years. If the soot did get inside the piano, I would recommend the piano be "totaled" and the customer get a new piano. Willem
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