Restoring a Player Piano Immersed in Salt Water
By Richard Griffiths
Friends had a Pratt-Reed player in their home when the Teton Dam
broke and flooded the piano up to the middle of the keys. The piano
was wet for several hours before they could return to their house
where they promptly moved the piano outside and removed the front
panels. It took several days to dry the piano enough to scrape the
mud off of all the parts they could reach. Fortunately the flood was
in June, they were in a dry climate (Rexburg, Idaho) and the water
did not float the piano onto its back.
I completely rebuilt the lower player mechanism, including making
replacement parts where the wood was too badly damaged to be repaired.
They still have the piano and the player mechanism still works.
Don't give up on a player piano until you have torn into it and
carefully assessed the damage. It could be repairable or it could
be toast.
Richard E. Griffiths
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(Message sent Tue 6 Nov 2012, 06:01:29 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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