Remedies for Older Pianos

The dry climate of Western Colorado can be very hard on pianos.  With older pianos there may be obvious signs that it is time either to restore the piano or to replace it.  

In some cases a piano can be revived by installing a climate control system to stabilize the humidity in the environment of the piano. Other procedures such as hammer shaping, voicing, key re-felting  and general action restoration may be recommended.

 Some important points to note are as follows:

    1. While pianos seem to like room humidity of 45% or higher conditions here are usually less than that. To determine your ambient humidity you may wish to obtain a device to determine the state of your piano’s environment by investing in a Hygrometer which can be found in the   Humidity Control Page.

    2. Climate control systems can prolong the life of a piano or and improve the tuning stability, but if the piano itself is worn out or won’t hold its tune after pitch correction and two or three tunings then it may need to be replaced  or fully restored.              

    3. Most piano manufacturers believe that the useful life of a piano is about 50 years.  After this time either major restoration work is needed or the piano should be replaced with a newer and better or fine older piano that has been properly restored. For further information see the Piano Rebuilding Page.

    4. If an older piano is worn out and won’t hold tune there isn’t much any tuner can do to bring it back to life unless in merits a full restoration.  Before buying a used piano or receiving one as a gift it is advisable to have the piano evaluated.  See piano evaluation on the Fees and Services Page.