Greg Just because the strings have not broken yet, doesn't mean they won't 10 years from now. But it's not just the broken strings. Insurance is supposed to pay to put the instrument back into as an original condition as possible. Without replacing the strings, there is still grit and soot under the strings and on the felts, which are also contaminated. Sooner or later, even if it's 15 year later, all that soot will do something to the piano. By then the insurance has been long settled, and the customer has to pay for the damage. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Greg Newell <gnewell at ameritech.net> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Tue, 5 May 2009 3:02 am Subject: Re: [pianotech] Smoke Damage Appraisal Diane and Greg, While this post / reply sounds very authoritative and all, I can tell you from personal experience that it may not always be the case. I own and am currently enjoying a Bosendorfer grand that had been through a house fire (husband decided to learn candle making). It was completely covered in soot inside and out and there are small areas where the poly and substrate popped off at the top of the leg, etc. I bought and cleaned the piano as best I could and have been using it daily for more than 6 years now. I also rent it out for special occasions and transport it myself. I have never had a string break or any other signs of things being “eaten”. Your experience20may vary but I don’t see the need for the extreme hype regarding this common problem. I’ve cleaned pianos for clients who’ve had a fire and they don’t seem to have any problems either, yet. Greg Newell Greg's Piano Forté www.gregspianoforte.com 216-226-3791 (office) 216-470-8634 (mobile) From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 4:37 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Smoke Damage Appraisal Diane Smoke residue on the strings does not always have an immediate effect. It might take three or four years for the acid from the smoke to "eat" through the metal. As I said before, the problem is not on the speaking length of the string. The problems are at the termination points. If you don't restring the piano now, strings will break later, long after the insurance is no longer covering the expense. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Diane Hofstetter <dianepianotuner at msn.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Mon, 4 May 2009 7:16 pm Subject: [pianotech] Smoke Damage Appraisal Greg, I am in the process of cleaning the most severely smoke damaged piano that I have ever had to work on. It is a Yamaha GH1. The piano body and case have been thoroughly cleaned by one of the shop guys and have been sitting in a room with an ozone generator for two weeks now, but still smell of smoke . I think it may be because there is smoke residue all over the floor from the cleaning process. Tomorrow we are going to work on it together. The boss doesn't want to restring the piano. It will be the first smoke-damaged piano that I haven't restrung. It will be interesting to see when I try to tune it, 1. whether strings will break and 2. How it sounds. The boss may have no choice. Meanwhile I have bead blasted the action and keys and have shaped the hammers. I have used TSP on the keyframe, and have set the action outside in the sunlight and fresh air for about 5 hours total (two times). The action smells just great now without changing any of the parts. Be sure when you give the church an estimate to plan on at least double your usual cleaning charge. Diane [pianotech] Smoke Damage Appraisalwimblees at aol.com wimblees at aol.com GregIt all depends on the pianos. On an upright, if the fall board?was closed, then most likely the only thing that needs to be done is for the case to be thoroughly cleaned. If the fall board was open, you will also?have to clean the keys, or maybe get new tops put on. Grand pianos, however are much different.?Smoke probably got inside, even with?the lid?down. Smoke is very caustic, especially on felts and strings. You can clean the strings, but that is not where the probl em lies. It's at the pressure points, like the bridge pins,?V-bar, at the tuning pins, etc., where the smoke causes problems. Which means the strings have to be replaced, along with the felts. You will also need to look closely at the action. If you see smoke damage on the hammers, it means all the felts have been "infected" with smoke. Which means all the action parts will need to be replaced. Hope this helps. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPTPiano Tuner/TechnicianMililani, Oahu, HI808-349-2943Author of: The Business of Piano Tuningavailable from Potter Presswww.pianotuning.comDiane Hofstetter Shopping for Mom? Save yourself a little time and money on AOL Shopping. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090505/80a4451c/attachment.html>
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