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Lewis,
<br>I have almost no experience with this situation but decided to give
my input anyway. I once saw a cheap used piano in a showroom that
had a mudline about six inches up the soundboard. It did not appear
to be damaged. I suspect a lot depends on how long it was in the
water. I saw another, an old upright, where the water had been up
over the bass bridge and apron, and it pretty well ruined them. Your
pianos that got only their legs or bottoms wet are quite likely rebuildable,
although there are a number of variables that will affect the difficulty
of doing the work.
<p>I am quite certain that all the pianos submerged for days are complete
goners. If a piano were extremely rare and valuable, it could probably
be rebuilt, but I would think everything would have to be new except the
metal components and maybe the legs.
<p>For the sake of argument, how would a piano be affected by water in
the <i>best</i> of circumstances? For example, if it were completely
submerged for one minute, then a piano technician were immediately at hand
to dry it out as soon as possible? My guess is it would still entail
a lot of time and expense, beyond the value of a new similar model.
<p>Regards,
<br>Clyde Hollinger
<p>Lewis Spivey wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hi List,
<p>Greetings from down under, not the equator but from Floyd's flood waters
in
<br>Eastern North Carolina, USA. While I am high and dry, hundreds
if not
<br>thousands of pianos in my area have been swimming without scuba gear.
Many
<br>have been completely submerged for days and while others have only
gotten
<br>their legs or bottoms wet. In my 25 plus years of piano service
nothing
<br>like this has ever been a problem. Do any of you have experience
with
<br>flooded pianos. Are pianos that have under water rebuildable.
Any help
<br>would be greatly appreciated.
<p>Lewis Spivey, RPT
<br>Eastern North Carolina, USA</blockquote>
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