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<TITLE>Re: pianos in freezing temps.</TITLE>
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Hello! I was called out once to evaluate a grand that hand been brought out=
here from back East, and was told that the piano had spent a winter in an u=
nheated building. The wood in the action all had an ugly gray surface,=
and was in need of action rebuilding. But the worst was yet to come. =
The main beams when viewed from the bottom had major splits running fr=
om one end to the other. I had called out another tuner to help me eva=
luate the instrument, and he said he had seen this before. What appare=
ntly happens is that the moisture in the wood freezes in extreme cold, expan=
ds in the wood, and splits the beam as if you had driven a splitting wedge i=
n it. The piano was a total write-off. Pretty sad but grap=
hic demonstration of what an extreme climate can do to a piano.<BR>
Patrick Poulson, RPT
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