Have you already had the musical part of the piano restored? If not, you are approaching the thing in reverse.

Why do you want to restore the cabinet, only to later be told by a piano tuner to haul it to the dump?

I have seen this happen. As I write, I am waiting for a customer to call whom I know has had the cabinet restored, and the inside works are a rattle trap.

I shall have mercy on them and try to get the music back, but it may cost them far more than the beast is worth. Is there serious damage to the cabinet?

Is veneer falling off? Has it had serious water damage in the past?

If the thing is just ugly and black, and the varnish badly checked, don't worry-- it can probably be brought back.

But, if it looks like a trash pile, you are wasting your life to go to all the work to restore the cabinet. You have many many hours of tedious work ahead of you. Start with a piano that has some promise. If it does not qualify, but it is playing pretty good, use it for you or your student, and start shopping for a better piano-- one worthy of restoration. Make sure all the veneer is firmly attached. If the veneer on the ends of the lower bar, which holds the front casters, is damaged, that can be repaired. If veneer has worked loose, but it is all there, I will tell you later how to reattach it.

If it is a grand piano, are the lure, desk, and lid in good solid condition, and are they all there? You can tighten and restore them, but if they are broken up, you may have a hard time finding parts. We can usually find something to meet the need, but you should contact us before going on and starting the restoration. Grand lids can have ruptured wood at the hinges. This is very hard to repair. I have never even tried it.

A grand desk which is falling apart is highly suspect. Can your friend the piano tuner repair the desk for you? Also, check with a tuner to see if the brand of piano you have really has a good reputation. For example, if you first restore a Steinway, Knabe, Boesendorfer, Beckstein, Chickering, or Kurtzmann, these are well known high quality pianos. You should not toss out one of these pianos without making a try at restoration.

They may make good practice pianos, but beware of a full restoration until you have a second opinion. I mentioned Winter above. Before they got into trouble financially they made good full sized upright. But, their later grand and consoles were pure trash. One reason to paint a piano is seen in the photo at the right. Why are you restoring the piano? If it is a family heirloom, and you just have to have it back to perfection, that's a good reason. If you got it from a friend, it means very little to you, you have no budding pianist to inherit it, you are in for a let down. Try restoring an oak kitchen table of a hutch. When you are done, you will not have raised the value of this piano to cover the labor you put into it. So, you have decided you want to restore the piano, right?