[pianotech] Humidity Damage

Barbara Richmond piano57 at comcast.net
Sun Jan 2 13:55:39 MST 2011



Greetings, 

Well...I can't make a statement about the invisible damage, but perhaps installing all the instruments with complete Dampp-Chaser Systems (with undercovers as appropriate) would be good insurance against the future damage from occurring. It would cost some hundreds of dollars per piano, but would be small change compared to repair costs. 

Barbara Richmond, RPT 
near Peoria, Illinois 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James I Mckeever" <mckeever at uwp.edu> 
To: pianotech at ptg.org 
Sent: Sunday, January 2, 2011 2:26:44 PM 
Subject: [pianotech] Humidity Damage 




Hello, 



The University of Wisconsin-Parkside has had extreme humidity issues the last six months. In the course of connecting utilities to our new building, our air handling equipment has been shut down without notice. During the summer, the humidity was 80% for at least five weeks, and this fall it dropped to 20% for at least two weeks. The damage to historic reproduction instruments is obvious—snapped strings and soundboard cracks. 



But our 30 modern pianos are a problem. I have been told that damage may not be apparent for a year or more, but the insurance adjustor wants to settle now. We have 38 year old Yamahas and Baldwin Hamiltons. Other pianos are a mixture of pianos newer and rebuilt from the last 25 years. 



I am in need of statements from technicians concerning the invisible damage that could have happened. I need to be able to propose a settlement which will take into account future damage. 



Thanks for any assistance you can provide me! 



James McKeever 

Professor of Piano 

Chair, Music Department 

University of Wisconsin-Parkside 

Kenosha, Wisconsin 

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