What To Do With A Smoke Damaged Piano

A piano is a delicate instrument even though it looks pretty solid and when it has been involved in or near a fire it will have sustained some kind of smoke damage. Smoke is a corrosive substance containing all kinds of toxic chemicals that have not completely combusted in the fire. Smoke also has a habit of invading anything it comes into contact with, getting into the pores and tiny fissures of anything and everything.

A piano is made of wood, metal, plastic and felt among other materials. During and following a fire the air temperature and the humidity in the immediate vicinity fluctuate wildly causing materials such as the wood in a piano to expand and contract. While this expansion is taking place the smoke from the fire finds its way deeply into the wood’s pores where it is trapped.

Other parts of the piano, moving pieces that are sensitive to changes in the atmosphere and in impurities in the air, are also affected. The metal pieces can corrode and the inner workings can become misaligned as the materials suffer from various kinds of smoke damage. Changes also take place in smoke affected rubber and plastic turning soft, pliable parts into hard pieces that are prone to cracking.

In short, the piano will slowly fall apart and the tuning will not be able to be maintained because in all probability the tuning pin block will be destroyed.

As with all other items that have been affected by smoke and soot damage avoid touching surfaces with your bare hands. If you want to attempt a basic clean up, you can remove any soot lying on the flat surfaces with a vacuum cleaner, making sure the nozzle doesn’t come in contact with the piano. Try to make an assessment of the damage that has already been sustained with a visual check and, if you have to touch the piano, do so while wearing gloves.

The best course of action is to call in a smoke damage restoration expert. If possible you will need a professional who has had experience with the remediation of precision instruments such as pianos. The critical point about the fire is the smoke line of the fire and where it descended to. If it descended too low and enshrouded the piano then no amount of restoration is going to save your piano.

You can find out about other kinds of smoke damage in unexpected objects here.