[pianotech] Piano cleaning after a fire

[Barbara Nobbe]

Hi Jack,  

I have not had the ozone done, but I am in the process of rebuilding a 1916
JC Fischer & Sons upright that went through a fire.  I did some research
while putting together my estimate for the insurance and found out the
following from the company who does the work.

The piano has to be contained in a sealed-off room or tent-like structure
that can be heated up to 80 degrees.  The heat expands the wood cells to
allow as much of the oxygen to escape.  Then, the ozone machine draws all
the oxygen out in order to get the smoke and fire smell out.  The machine
should ideally run for 2 days straight.  If the piano was not heated to the
high temperature, then the cells would not be at full expansion and thus,
the smell could return during the more humid months.

I seriously considered the ups and downs of this procedure.  I did not want
to return a rebuilt and refinished piano to the customer, only to have it
smell bad in the home.  Knowing that I was going to replace the pinblock and
refinish the cabinet, I contemplated that the worse of the damage done with
the ozone machine was going to be fixed anyway.  But with the 1 crack in the
soundboard already, and knowing that more would likely appear with the heat,
I opted out.  Plus, I figured that after replacing all the hammers and felts
in the action and sealing the cabinet with the new refinishing work, the
smell would not likely be as big of a concern after all.

Looking back, I'm glad to have not done the ozone.  It really worried me
about heating the piano to 80 degrees.  I already have enough issues to have
to fix without adding more fuel to the fire, so to speak. :-)

Barbara Nobbe, RPT
Pitch Perfect
Lexington, KY

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Jack Houweling
Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2010 1:40 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Piano cleaning after a fire

Does anyone know how ozone damages pianos?


Jack Houweling




> Contact David Swartz, RPT. He is a master at smoke and protein fire 
> damaged
> piano. I just had a small seminar with him last year. He did say not to 
> use
> ozone because it damages pianos. He also said 9D9 and Double O is good for
> protein. You might give him a call. he has handout for all of this.
> Randy Chastain