[pianotech] Water damaged piano

[Mike Spalding]

Rob,

Now that you've made a thorough inspection, thoroughly documented with 
notes and photos, the thing to do is wait through the dry season ( or 
longer if the insurance company will allow it) then re-inspect the piano 
to see if any new damage shows up.

Mike

On 10/12/2011 10:30 PM, Rob McCall wrote:
> Sorry for the lengthy duplication.  I just wanted to make sure 
> everyone who has offered advice from both lists got the update.
> ---------------------------
>
> Here's the update.  First of all, I did NOT plug in the Disklavier. I 
> learned my lesson years ago about water and electricity. Don't ask... :-)
>
> So it's a White 1990 G1R with the Disklavier and the DKW10 Control 
> wagon. Water damage took place during the last week of August.
>
> While the piano was on it's side, I inspected the glue joint around 
> the rim/soundboard, as well as all the ribs. Everything actually 
> looked pretty good on the underside. No separation, no watermarks or 
> staining.  It looked very clean.  From the best I can tell from the 
> water damage on the lid, the water hit the lid near the curved section 
> and was flowing away from the action.  The only water marks I can see 
> on the lid near the fallboard look like more of a sprinkle from water 
> splattering nearby. Not a direct hit. I was told the piano 
> was completely closed up before the water hit.
>
> I Inspected the legs, and the casters are rusted and it looks like the 
> wheels sat in about 1.5" of water.
>
> We put the piano up and I worked my way around the strings and plate. 
>  I couldn't find any indication that water had entered the entire 
> area.  While there were instances of rust on a few screws on the 
> outside of the case/legs, there was no visible indication of rust on 
> any of the plain wire strings or the inside around the plate. All 
> plate bolts where clean and dry and no sign of rust or water damage.
>
> I played the piano and it felt like a normal Yamaha piano.  Every note 
> played. They felt even and uniform.  Keys were level with each other, etc.
>
> I pulled the action out and inspected everything I could.  The keybed 
> looked completely dry and had no staining or indication of water 
> entering the action cavity in any great quantities.  The back action, 
> felt, etc. was clean and dry. The only moisture indication that I 
> could find, were the pins on the keyslip had rusted and took some 
> effort to get that part out of the piano, as well as the hinge 
> hardware on the sides of the fallboard.
>
> Other than that, there was a slight bit of rust on the long hinge on 
> the lid of the piano. After playing, I noticed a slight green color 
> transfer from the bass strings to the hammer felt at the strike point. 
> It appears like a small amount of water dripped through the long hinge 
> on the lid. I'd replace the bass strings and probably the bass damper 
> felt.
>
> The key drive unit in the back of the action cavity was clean and dry. 
>  No indication of any water getting down that far at all. I checked 
> under a couple of nuts on the thumpers (?) for moisture around the 
> threads and it was clean and dry with no rust. No stains, no water 
> lines, nothing...
>
> I also checked the pinblock for any delamination and there was none. 
>  I used a mirror and a bright light to look up at the bottom of the 
> tuning pins expecting to see some rust, and the underside of the 
> tuning pins were shiny and clean without any staining.
>
> My big concern has to do with the standalone control wagon of the 
> disklavier.  The pressed fiberboard on the back was clean and dry and 
> didn't show any signs of swelling around the edges, however there was 
> rust around the screws of the power supply, as well a lot of rust on 
> the wheels on the bottom. Along with a big sticker that said do not 
> expose to rain or moisture!  :-)
>
> I called Yamaha and they have a replacement power supply if everything 
> else checks out. The also have a replacement key drive unit although 
> that is pretty expensive. All the other parts for this Disklavier 
> model aren't available anymore.
>
> I took lots of photos and I'll post some of them here. If anyone wants 
> to see anything in particular, just let me know, I probably took a 
> picture of it.  :-)
>
> So my thoughts are to replace the bass strings, bass damper felt, 
> possibly rebush the keys, replace keyslip pins, replace all the wheel 
> casters, pedals and pedal rods, and the power supply on the Disklavier.
>
> Oh, last but not least, the finish on the lid.  There are no cracks or 
> delaminations anywhere and I couldn't find a nick in the finish 
> anywhere for water to get in.  It looks like a good cleaning and 
> polishing should take care of the finish.
>
> I know this is incomplete and I'd welcome all thoughts and ideas.  :-)
>
> Funny thing, Yamaha said to make sure it was dry but then just plug it 
> in and see if it works.  :-)
>
> Thanks!
>
> Rob McCall
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 12, 2011, at 09:20 , Rob McCall wrote:
>
>> Thanks for all the great advice folks!
>>
>> Quick update...
>>
>> I just talked with the flood company.  He says he doesn't know 
>> anything about pianos but he thinks it's a Yamaha baby grand. He says 
>> it's electronic. Upon further investigation, I determined it has a 
>> player in it.  Possibly a Disklavier system.  He told me that the 
>> piano was set up in the home with the lid closed when a water pipe 
>> burst directly above the piano and approximately 100,000 gallons of 
>> water dumped on to the piano and filled up the house.  When they came 
>> in, RH was at 99% in the home.
>>
>> A piano mover came and packed it up and it is now in storage on it's 
>> side at this company's warehouse. They are the insurance billers/ 
>> handlers.  I'm headed that way in about an hour to take a look at it. 
>> I'll know more in a while...
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Rob McCall
>