<html> <body> David, Most strippers will affect the finish underneath.  A citrus stripper utilized to remove the paint will take the sheen off of the finish underneath, the stain too if left long enough.  You can then take a sponge (for staining) and sponge on a coat to restore the finish underneath.  Alternatively, you may be able to lightly sand off the paint with a medium sanding sponge and follow with a fine sanding sponge and then restore the finish. In any case you will want to figure how much you want to deduct from the price for your time or, if you are hiring someone, how much they are going to charge.  Time is greatly affected by how much ornamental woodwork you will have to deal with.  As I recall the U1 is quite simple that way. Other details to observe are: pin torque, cracks/no in soundboard, soundboard crown, hammer condition, action condition etc. Andrew At 09:35 AM 5/3/2004 -0400, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I looked at a used piano yesterday, a Yamaha U1 about 15 years old, Walnut finish.  It appeared to my (layperson engineer's) inspection in great shape, except the poor instrument had been amateurishly painted over with white paint "to match the decor."  (And one back top corner of the cover had been superficially knocked and poorly repaired.)  The white paint seemed like a sort of flat wall paint, and was described as "sponge paint."  It was painted on the outside only, and not around the keyboard or the inside of the keyboard cover.  The finish that was undisturbed seemed fine, and I could scratch the paint off with a fingernail.  The finish underneath had not apparently been prepared for repainting.   Is there any way of refinishing this without a total finish restoration?  How much should I factor this into the cost?  What if it takes a more extensive refinish job?  Who should I look for to do the work if I can't do it myself?   --David   -- David Wine 617.548.8694 david.wine(at)verizon.net</blockquote></body> </html>