Smoke damage

Ken Jankura kenrpt@mail.cvn.net
Sun, 11 Apr 1999 15:07:28 -0400


 
Clyde,
  A month ago I posed the same question, with a backed-up fuel oil furnace
as the culprit.  I received a reply from Dave Swartz at Majestic, and a few
others that said call it a loss for a piano of that quality (mine was a
50's Kohler & Campbell spinet). The church got repainted, new carpet, etc.
The restoration contractor said name your price as no other tech in this
area would even talk to him on the phone about the pianos. I went to see
and it wasn't all that bad (I had been expecting something from a horror
film). The fuel oil smoke did not have much of a smell at all, which is
probably why I decided I could deal with it.  I removed the action, pushed
the piano outside, and used a compressor and vacuum to clean the inside,
and wiped off the keys. A quick tuning and hammer resurfacing, and I'm sure
the people in the congregation are saying 'Ever since the smoke out, the
piano has never played and sounded better.' I am sure I lucked out on this
one, and had it been much worse, I would have written it off, but all told
it took about 4 hours.

Ken Jankura
 
 


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