Piano Restorations
All full piano restorations have frame removed, soundboard stripped, any splits repaired, soundboard sanded with course, medium, fine sand paper and refinished. The frame is rubbed down and resprayed both with paint and clear laquer for deep shine, and all frame screws/bolts are plated. Along with restring, new hammers, damper felts, dampers tops polished, piano keys cleaned or recovered and polished. Also action springs are replaced if needed. Then action regulation, which is a very rare skill to set up the fine expressive play and repetition of the piano.

The piano repolishing of the case is done with traditional french polish. The piano case has to be stripped of original finish, treated with methylated spirits, sanded with first course paper, medium and then fine paper. Suitable filler to fill the grain, then the skillful choice of stain for the right veneer type and depth of tone. We can supply and fit new grand piano tops, grand piano legs, desks, falls. desk ends, keyblocks

Full renovation of a grand piano to as new condition takes about four months. On completion of restoration the piano will need the same attention as a new piano in terms of regulation and stabilisation tuning. Westminster Pianos undertake free piano tuning for 12 months following such work. New piano strings need time under tension before the metal crystal structure develops to give long term tuning stability.

In addition to full piano renovation we can arrange to veneer pianos in any chosen wood finish. As well as full renovation we undertake hammer replacement, hammer re-shaping,piano keyboard and action repair. After such work the piano action will need key levelling, re-weighting, and facing of the new hammers to the piano strings. The latter operations are time consuming but is vital work which many technicians “overlook” because the average PIANO TECHNICIAN LACKS THE NECESSARY EXPERIENCE.

Westminster Pianos  take pride that when they renovate a piano they attend to everything that is wrong, but in addition  also have the experience to know what may require attention later of a kind that would mean earlierwork would be wasted. In the long term, partial renovation is wasteful of clients’ money. On completion clients get their piano back with it looking and sounding as good as, or better than it was when new.

The message is that if you intend to have your piano restored, be certain you have appointed the right person to carry out all the necessary work whether it shows or not. There is much more to renovating a piano than polishing and cleaning the case and fitting bright new piano strings.

Generally it is only possible to justify total piano renovation of selected models of premier makes such as Bosendorfer (except those with Vienna action and Model 213), Steinway, some Bechsteins prior to 1940 and Bluthner up to 7 foot size. Most other makes and models cost more to renovate than the value of the finished
instrument. There are however exceptions and it is important to take advice before scrapping any piano.
Historical pianos or those of sentimental value may also be lovingly restored.

The age of the piano is not critical providing the frame is not cracked. Although a cracked frame can be
mended it is rarely wise to do this. Quality, well designed instruments of 100 years old and more can be restored to look and sound as they were whennew. Some professionally restored craftsman built old pianos we consider significantly better than their modern new factory mass produced counterparts.

Piano owners should be vigilant in seeking piano repair and renovation work. To repair a piano properly requires skill, patience, dedication to excellence, resources and facilities, knowledge of piano design and above all integrity not to cut corners. Most pianos over 60 years old may be prone to progressive failure of the wrest plank (the wood blockinto which the tuning pins go). With the right equipment and knowledge, replacement is not a difficult job, but it is beyond the competence of all but a handful of repairers in the UK.

Oversize pins can be used, but applying useless chemicals to lock the pins should not be attempted. After such treatment economically viable repair of the piano is rarely an option. Older pianos usually suffer collapse of the dome of the sound board and/or fracture of the joints in the sound board and micro cracking of the bridge cap. To re-string
a piano without attending to these matters is total waste of money. It is not uncommon to find plastic wood filler covered with a liberal layer of varnish in a cracked soundboard to disguise the fact this work has not been done.