Rodgers' Piano Restorations
The Best Piano Rebuilding in the Business
9091 Ox Bow Rd.   North East, PA 16428
Because  I have a great deal of work to do, I am forced to concentrate my efforts on all matters which concern the tasks before me.   Sadly, the telephone has become a constant source of interruptions to the work schedule which consist largely of people seeking free information and telemarketers.   I lose between one and two hours each day to these people when I answer the phone.   Because of this, I have been forced to shut off phone communication so that I can better serve my customers.  In addition, the email spammers have become so thick that I am getting thousands of spams per day.  They are so thick that even spam busting software cannot stop them.  The spam has flooded my email so badly that I can no longer gain access to my own email.  Even after trying a change to the email address, the spammers found us again in a very short time.  Each time I try to access my email I simply get "timed out" because of all the junk that is in the folder.   Although I would love to be able to communicate via email, I have been totally blocked from that venue by these parasites.  If you wish to communicate with me, the best method at this time is to send a letter to the address listed above.  I know this seems slow compared to other rebuilders, but it will be well worth the effort since the quality available here is of the highest order.

Care and Maintenance of the Piano

The piano is a remarkably durable device despite its complexity.   However, there are certain steps that you can take to ensure that your piano will last the longest possible amount of time and perform at its best.

1)  Keep your piano out of direct sunlight.  Direct sunlight will cause a localized area of dry moisture content in the air.  In fact, bright direct sun can subject your piano or any other object it falls upon to conditions that equal or surpass that of the Sahara desert.

2)  Keep your piano out of drafts of outside air.  Just as direct sunlight can cause a dry area, air wafting in through an outside door or window can subject your piano to a sudden moist flow of air.  Pianos are made of wood and wood expands and contracts when the moisture content in the air around it changes.   The finish material that is on the wood cannot expand and contract as much as the wood can so your finish will degrade if the wood is asked to move too much.   Also the glue joints of your piano will eventually fail if subjected to extremes of moist or dry air.   In addition the tone of hammers can vary between extremes of humidity and the action can perform differently.  Sticking keys is one of the problems that crops up in moist environments.  Player pianos can develop leaks if the wood is subjected to extreme swings that cause the air chambers to crack open or the pouches to shrink.

3)  Keep the air around the piano clean.  Contaminants such as dust or cigarette smoke will build up on the piano in places that are too complex to be able to remove it without rebuilding.  After a time the sound board will become ugly with dirt and grime as well as the plate, keys, action, etc if the air in the room is full of these contaminants.

4)  Keep your piano tuned at least once a year.  If your piano is tuned frequently, the tuner doesn't have to move the tuning pins very much at all.  The less the pins and strings have to be moved the more likely they are to stay where you put them.  The result of this is that your piano will stay in tune better if tuned at least once a year.

5)  Have the hammers reshaped and replaced as they become worn.  Grooved piano hammers spoil the tone of the piano and can cause premature wear on the shanks and flanges (the hinges that they swing on.)  The grooves in a worn hammer mate with the strings like the teeth in a comb.  But when you press the una corda pedal these grooves are shifted on a grand.  When a badly grooved hammer strikes the strings in the shifted position it puts stress on the flanges as the hammer tries to slide sideways into the grooves.  On an upright, if the hammers are badly grooved and the action parts happen to become misaligned with use (not uncommon) then the same problem will develop.  In addition, if the hammers are reshaped and revoiced frequently as they wear then the technician is better able to quickly and cheaply restore them to a very good condition.  Hammers that have been allowed to get really bad are very hard to bring back, if they can be brought back at all.

6)  Have the action regulated about every five years to ten years depending on how much use it gets.  For a concert artist who plays his/her piano for eight hours a day, the action may need to be regulated several times a year to keep it performing at its best.

7)  A word about humidity control.  There is a system for humidity control made by Dampp Chaser that can help to keep the damage described above from occurring to your action, sound board and pin block.  These systems are excellent in preserving your piano and are available through me at very reasonable costs.  However, the ability of these systems to protect your piano is extremely limited.  The absolute best way to preserve your piano is to maintain a very even humidity in your home.  A humidity level of 42% is ideal for pianos.  It is also ideal for your other furniture - not to mention how great it is for your sinuses!!   By installing good quality humidity control into your home you can ensure that your piano will live long and happily.  Also, it is best to keep your piano away from heat sources, sunlight, outside doors, open windows, leaky windows or doors and outside walls that don't have modern vapor barriers built into them.

All you have to do is see a piano that has been kept for fifty years in a room that is very clean and never swings in humidity in the slightest to understand how important humidity and dust control are.  Such a piano will look nearly new.  On the other hand, I live in a part of the country that is famous for dramatic humidity swings through the seasons and it is more common than not for me to find pianos that have suffered terribly at the hands of father time.

8)  One last and very important point to make in the preservation of pianos.  Never try to move a piano yourself and never try to restore or refinish one yourself.  Pianos should be moved by professionals.  They are far too heavy, bulky and expensive to be moved by amateurs safely.  Also, piano restoration is a craft that takes years to perfect.  A poorly done, amateur refinish or restoration attempt will increase the actual cost of having it done later by a professional and will also reduce the fair market value of the piano.