[pianotech] poly repair charges

[Cliff Lesher]

On Apr 1, 2009, at 11:51 PM, wimblees at aol.com wrote:

> This is for those of you who do polyester repairs.
>
> I am going to MARC in a couple of weeks just to take Ruth's class  
> on polyester repairs, because, according to the piano stores, and  
> the other tuners I know, there is no one on Oahu who does this kind  
> of work.
>
> I know how long it takes to tune a piano, and do most repairs, and  
> my hourly rate is based on that. But I know that poly repairs can  
> be completely unpredictable. Not only that,  people are not going  
> to pay an estimate fee for a scratch.
>
> So how do you charge for this kind of work? Do you have a minimum,  
> and then so much per hour after that? Or what?
>
> Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
> Piano Tuner/Technician

Ruth's course is good.  It sounds like you could do well by taking it  
and then providing the service in your area.

I charge $10 more per hour for polyester repair than I do for other  
piano work, time and material, plus tax.  To me, it's more  
demanding.  For example, when I'm with a customer looking at a gouge  
in a high-gloss, mahogany, grand lid and I've got to make it  
disappear, the pressure's on.  Add to this the fact that repairs  
sometimes don't go as predictably as planned and the pressure goes up  
a bit more.  Also, damage often finds very difficult areas:   
corners , edges, curves etc. where repairs demand some real  
ingenuity.   Plus, you're dealing with sharp tools, stinky liquid  
chemicals and dyes that can ruin many things if given assists from  
gravity and carelessness.  Finally, customers seem to  be more  
demanding when it comes to this stuff.  They may not know a wippen  
from an aliquot, but they sure know what an unblemished surface is  
supposed to look like.

Here's a story:  I repaired a chip in an vertical piano.  The chip  
was out of a rear, bottom corner, way back where no one would ever  
notice it even if the exposed substrate was "Magic Markered" to the  
same black color as the rest of the piano.  I filled, carved, sanded  
and polished.  When finished, I asked the customer to come have a  
look.  Both husband and wife came to the piano, set up two task  
lights aimed at the repair, got down on their knees, examined the  
repair with a large magnifying glass, and declared that they could  
still see where the damage had been.  To me, it was a good repair; to  
them, it sucked.  I suggested that they give a free bowl of soup to  
anyone (besides themselves) who ever noticed the repair.  They  
laughed.  I left.

Quite often, damage is the result of moving.  Repairs are covered by  
insurance.  Estimates are common and necessary.

So, I guess I'm saying that polyester repair isn't for the faint  
heart and this, coupled with the fact that there aren't too many  
people doing it, warrants the premium.  As an aside, I know two in my  
area who took the course but no longer do polyester.

Please keep this in mind when you're in that class, with no real time  
constraint;  filling, carving, sanding and polishing that tiny ding  
in the center of that flat scrap of polyester.  This is as benign as  
it will ever get.

Cliff Lesher
Winfield, PA