I have a family friend who is downsizing and asked if I wanted their old piano. Its been down in their basement in storage for years and hasn’t been played or tuned during that timeframe. I have young kids that I would love to have learn to play, and this seems like a great way of getting a piano for them. Should I do it? Can I clean it up and make it playable on my own, or should I hire a professional piano restoration team instead. I played piano myself as a child, but that’s been years and I’m not sure I have what it takes to make this a do it yourself project and make the piano functional as well.

Some things are easy do it yourself projects. And some things aren’t. Piano restoration falls into the latter category. Here’s why.

First of all, a piano has many different parts, each that have to be in good working order for it to be a playable instrument. Sure, you can play a piano even if its wildly out of tune, but will you have an enjoyable experience when nothing sounds quite right to your ear? Its hard for anyone to learn or appreciate music in that situation.

The first determination is to find out what works and what doesn’t. Soundboards tend to dry out, shrink and crack as they age, especially if they are in an environment they aren’t well suited for and has varying temperatures and humidity levels throughout the year. Keys can be worn, strings can be broken or missing, rust can be set in place, glue joints can be coming apart. In short, there are many things that may be wrong, and if you don’t have the knowledge or skill to look for the underlying problem, fixing it is an impossibility.

Your first hurdle is often the moving process. It isn’t like a chair or table you can pick up and put in the back of a pickup truck and drive back to your home. Depending on the size of the piano, you could do serious damage to the piano or even to you, the movers, if you attempt it on your own. Piano movers are always recommended as they have the experience to get it safely from one location to the other.

Piano restoration can be something as simple as restoring the case in which the piano resides, to something complex like restoring the entire piano, inside and out. Cost varies depending on the amount of work that needs to be done, and the type and style of piano we’re working with. The only way to truly know what work needs to be performed is to view the piano itself.

Would your family friend be open to having a piano restoration consultant come out and look at the piano before you consider the move? It’s the only way to determine what value the piano holds for you and your family.