smoke damage

[Diane Hofstetter]

Hi Chris,

   Funny you should ask just now. I have to evaluate a fire damaged piano 
Wednesday.  We have done a number of such evaluations and several jobs for a 
cleaning service, but like everything else in our line of work, each 
situation is different.

   I have been able to clean and deodorize pianos that have minimal smoke 
damage, have had to declare others legally dead and have a piano that came 
back from rental that was in a home with cigarette smokers that I cannot get 
the smell out of no matter what I have tried.

   One Yahama console was in a home that had had a fire in the laundry room. 
  The owner had already had two cleaning services in to treat it and was 
still affected by the odor, she was super sensitive to odors and allergens.  
The only thing to do was to declare it a loss, because from her point of 
view it was.  She sold it to someone who wasn't bothered by the smell and 
the insurance company paid her the difference so she could buy a new one.  
So------what is totaled to one person may not be to another.

   This is what keeps our jobs interesting.  We take our set of objective 
facts and combine them with our customers' set of (subjective-objective?) 
facts and work together with them to come up with a satisfactory answer.  
Fun!  (Wednesday's job is a family heirloom, totally different situation 
from yours.)

   If you still need info from Majestic, I can send you a copy, let me know.

  Diane





Diane Hofstetter
245-M Mount Hermon Rd.#343
Scotts Valley, CA 95066
ph 831-438-6222
fax 831-430-9741
dianepianotuner@hotmail.com
>From: "Christopher D. Purdy" Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org To: 
>pianotech@ptg.org Subject: smoke damage Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 10:55:36 
>-0400
>
>List,
>
>I have been through the archives and have not found enough information to 
>prepare myself for an appt. tomorrow. Could some of you elaborate on your 
>guidelines in making an insurance assessment of a smoke damaged piano. I am 
>worried about long term damage, odor removal, corrosive effects of ozone 
>treatment, glue joints after the steam present, and anything else I need to 
>consider. At what point do I total the piano? This is a Baldwin that is 
>only several years

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