Collection: Piano Restorations

Piano restoration is ideal for those who wish to bring a family heirloom back to it's former glory, or because they would like to preserve a well made instrument by a reputable piano maker. Sometimes, no matter how sympathetically attached a person may be, if the piano is made by a poor quality maker, or if it has issues such as an inability to remain in tune, then it should not be restored. No amount of restoration and reconditioning can improve the quality of a piano that is beyond the point of no return. It is only worth investing money in preserving a piano that already sounds reasonably well. We provide two types of restoration:

Basic Refurbishment (€900) Upright Pianos

The upright piano is professionally removed from your location free of charge providing it is on a ground floor. Unfortunately we don't remove where staircases are involved. Piano is brought to our Wexford workshop where it undergoes a basic refurbishment:

The wooden panels and all internal parts are removed for cleaning, air blasting, lubricating, re-centering, and repair. The internal mechanism, known as the 'action' may require new parts, most often these are springs, tapes, felts, and bushings. The strings, centre pins, bridges and soundboard are cleaned. If the keytops are in good condition, we clean and buff them, but if in poor condition, we replace them with brand new key tops and then level them.

The brass works and screws are removed, sanded, cleaned and buffed to a mirror shine. The brand name, if made of brass, is enhanced to stand out more. The piano is regulated and tuned twice to raise pitch. Pedals are regulated and re-padded to reduce noise during operation. Piano is placed on its back and the castor wheels are repaired and oiled to rotate freely. The back of the piano is cleaned. The outer case is oiled and waxed, with certain areas repaired, filled, coloured, or touched up. Upon completion, usually three days, the piano is returned to you which is included in the fee.

Simple to Complex Restoration (€2,500 to €10,000) Upright & Grand Pianos

Piano restoration and reconditioning involves replacing worn felt, leather, springs and centre pins in the piano’s action along with a thorough cleaning of everything else.

Sometimes a piano requires a bit more tender loving care. A full restoration or rebuild would generally involve replacing the tuning pins and strings of the piano, re-gilding the frame, possibly replacing the wrest plank too if necessary. Soundboards can sometimes split, bridges may come adrift or split too and on occasion the cast iron frame may have cracked and need repairing. This requires a lot more work, time and investment and so would only be worthwhile on a top quality instrument.

As regards the exterior of the piano, the original French polish may look a little worse for wear and so require re-polishing or re-spraying. This could be due to fading from the sun, exposure to moisture (spilled vase of flowers being a popular culprit), scratches or general abuse over its lifetime.

Although re-polishing of the casework will make no difference to the instrument’s sound it will undeniably improve the aesthetics of the piano. We can finish in gloss, silk, satin, in almost any colour.

The three German manufacturers, Steinway, Bluthner and Bechstein are universally recognised as the top makers of pianos and are generally always worthy of restoration. Top English makers include John Broadwood, George Rogers, Chappell and Challen, to name a few. The pianos manufactured from these makers were built by craftsmen to a high standard using solid, seasoned wood and many of which survived 80-100 years before the need for restoration. However these were expensive pianos back then, bought to be played as well as admired. By now they show a lot of wear and tear and at best they will need reconditioning.

Of course there are plenty of other quality piano makers, but these are a few of our favourites in terms of restoration potential. Sadly, many older pianos are not worth restoring. In the late 19th century there were 360 known firms making pianos in London alone. As a result of this, more people were employed in the piano industry in the UK capital than in any other manufacturing business. However, most of these firms built pianos quickly and cheaply to satisfy the mass market and they were not particularly good instruments to start with.

Please Whatsapp a brief description and clear images of your piano; as many images as possible, inside and out. Thank you.

Cathal O'Briain: 0871497607