Termites!

[pryan2]

Terry,

I had a piano (Baldwin 6 ft Grand) in Miami that is/was infested with
termites.  It is in the balcony of a church with a spiral staircase so the
piano had to be placed in the balcony  with a front loader fork lift when it
was put there during renovation last year. All the pews were removed at that
time.  Now it cannot be taken down for fumigation without removing pews and
cracking floor tiles with a fork lift.   The termite company will fumigate
any piano in their chamber for about $75 if you transport it there.   For
about ten times that amount they will come to the church and tent the piano
(only), but since they  use Vicane gas, by law, the church must be vacated
for 48 hours.  This is a Catholic church, open 365 days and so this is not
an option.  Instead of tenting the piano,  the termite company opted for
needle injecting a poison in the piano where they see termite "tracks."  We
are waiting to see if this will be successful.

The way we were told to check for active termites was to collect the
droppings.  If they were brown and dry, they were old and a sign of dead and
"former" termites, If they were white and moist, termite were still active.

I know of a tech who had a piano with suspected termites in his shop.  He
took it apart and sprayed everywhere with bug killer.  Ruined the piano (oil
based) and did not rid the termites.  Eggs hatched and it started all over.

Sorry for rambling on,  Hope this helps a little.

Phil Ryan
Miami Beach

----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2001 7:03 PM
Subject: Termites!


> Has anyone used any pesticide to tent and gas a piano for termites? Brand?
> Where to purchase? Effectiveness? Thanks. Anyone know how to tell if
termite
> damage is old, or whether the termites might still be active (besides
> waiting a year or two to see if the piano weighs less)? Thanks again.
>
> Terry Farrell
> Piano Tuning & Service
> Tampa, Florida
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
>
>