Our Rates

(Contact us for information about institutional contracts and music teacher discounts)

Click Our Services for detailed descriptions of these services. Washington clients add state & local taxes. Note that for precise estimates on repairs or complete restorations of your piano, we will need to conduct a thorough evaluation. Ask us to evaluate your piano and to provide you with a Report and Service Offer.

MINIMUM SERVICE CALL FEE
$40

For a "home visit" where we spend 1/2 hour or less time examining a piano, making repairs covered by our 1-year guarantee, or offering verbal advice, our minimum service call fee of $40.00 may apply.

PIANO TUNING and OTHER "on-the-road" SERVICES
$80+

For services performed "on the road" in our service area, we charge $80.00 for the first hour and $15.00 for each additional quarter hour.  A tuning on a piano that has been tuned regularly in the past (so that extensive pitch raising is not required), takes 1 hour  to 1 1/4  hours, resulting in a fee of $80.00-$95.00.  We charge a travel fee for service beyond 50 miles from our shop. If you are located outside our service area, we will try to arrange additional work in your area to make the extra travel worth our while. When this works out, we charge our long-distance clients a reduced fee for extra travel.

IF MORE THAN A TUNING IS NEEDED
 $80+

New pianos: Have you recently purchased your piano from a "discount warehouse" and has the piano not been serviced by a qualified piano technician either before or after delivery?  Used pianos: Has your used piano not been reconditioned, regulated, or tuned during the past several years? In either case, we will gladly tune your piano, but we might well recommend that additional work be done. For example, the piano may need extensive pitch adjustment, repairs or regulation work. We will explain the situation and quote a price before beginning the extra work. If it is possible to tune the piano in its current condition we will tune it and suggest additional improvements, to be done either on the same day or on a later date. If it is not possible to tune the piano in its current condition (e.g. tuning pins are loose, strings or hammers are missing, regulation is very defective), we will provide you with a full report and charge you for an evaluation. For a description of typical problems with new imported pianos that haven't yet been serviced by a qualified tuner-technician, click Initial Service of New Imported Pianos.

RECONDITIONING & REGULATING:
 $300+

Our "shop rate" is $50.00 per hour or $300.00 per day plus parts, and we estimate the cost of repair work on the basis of that rate, plus our travel costs, the cost of replacement parts and, if necessary, the cost of picking up and returning your piano. Our fee for basic action reconditioning work (including tightening action screws, reshaping hammers, and installation of new underkey punchings, installation of new bridle tapes, replacement of defective parts, lubrication of  moving parts) and a complete regulation (including hammer blow distance, key height and leveling, let-off, key dip, dampers, pedals, and installation of new underkey punchings) is $300.00-$500.00 for an upright (takes about 2 days), and $600.00 - $900.00  for a grand (takes about 3 days).  We will complete contracted improvements at the prices we quote, even if we spend more time than we estimate.

KEYTOP REPLACEMENT:  $250+

We charge $250.00 to remove a set of ivories, clean and sand the keys, and install a set of new plastic keytops. There will be an additional charge for regulating your piano after re-installing the keys, to compensate for different keytop thicknesses. These prices are reduced if keytop replacement is included in a refinishing or restoration project.

REBUILDING & REFINISHING:
 $1000+

Major repairs such as replacing complete sets of hammers, dampers, knuckles or keytops, restringing, repinning,  pinblock or bridge replacement, soundboard repair, are estimated on a case-by-case basis.

(1) TYPICAL REFINISHING PROJECT: Our charge for refinishing a piano and bench (including cabinet repairs as necessary) varies from $1000.00  for a spinet to $5000.00  for a 5-foot grand.

(2) TYPICAL UPRIGHT PIANO RESTORATION: Our charge for a complete restoration project on a vintage upright piano--including destringing, complete cleaning, dismantling, restringing, repinning, soundboard and bridge repairs and refinishing, action and pedal board reconditioning (clean, tighten screws, replace defective parts), installation of new hammer heads, new plastic keytops, complete regulation using new underkey punchings; complete cabinet repair, stripping, and refinishing; hardware polishing, reassembly, tuning--is approximately $5,000 for a vintage upright. Typical additional options: Replace pinblock, Replace bass bridge, Install new hammer butts, Install new jack springs, Install new wippens, Install new casters, Install new black plastic keys, Rebush keys at centers, Rebush keys at fronts. TO PROVIDE A PRECISE QUOTATION FOR RESTORING YOUR UPRIGHT PIANO, WE WILL NEED TO CONDUCT AN EVALUATION. To view a completely restored upright piano, call us for an appointment to visit our showroom!

(3) TYPICAL GRAND PIANO RESTORATION: Our charge for a complete restoration project on a 5-foot vintage grand piano--including destringing, dismantling, complete cleaning, restringing, repinning, soundboard and bridge repairs and refinishing; action and pedal lyre reconditioning using new hammer heads, new hammer  shanks, new hammer flanges, new damper heads, new plastic keytops; complete action and damper regulation using new underkey punchings; complete cabinet and plate repair, stripping, and refinishing; hardware polishing, reassembly, tuning--is approximately $10,000 for a vintage 5-foot grand. Typical additional options: Replace pinblock, Replace soundboard, Replace bass bridge, Install new wippens, Install new casters, Install new black plastic keys, Rebush keys at centers, Rebush keys at fronts. TO PROVIDE A PRECISE QUOTATION FOR RESTORING YOUR GRAND PIANO, WE WILL NEED TO CONDUCT AN EVALUATION. To view a completely restored upright piano, call us for an appointment to visit our showroom!

For restoration contracts valued at over $1,000, we expect payment of 25% at pick-up and the balance at delivery.

APPRAISALS & ESTIMATES:
$80+

It takes about 1 hour to conduct a complete piano evaluation, and our usual fee for an evaluation conducted in our service area is $80.00. In cases where additional work is required after our visit (e.g. an appraisal statement for the purpose of insurance coverage), we will charge for additional time needed to conduct research or prepare the forms. If you are a regular tuning client, we will, during a tuning visit, perform an evaluation of your piano and provide you with a Report and Service Offer at no extra charge. If, following our evaluation, we agree to purchase your piano, we will reimburse the amount you paid us for the evaluation.

"FOR SALE BY OWNER" AND "CONSIGNMENT SALE" CONTRACTS:
$100+

(1) "FOR SALE BY OWNER"--We offer to conduct a complete evaluation, to advertise your piano at an agreed-upon asking price, and to direct potential buyers to view your piano at your home. Our charge for these services, payable when we co-sign a “For Sale By Owner Agreement” is $100.00. If you sell your piano to a buyer we direct to your home, we will expect, in addition, payment of a 10% "finder's fee" on the purchase price. If you or the buyer authorize any improvements (other than tuning) before delivery, our finder's fee will be 5% of the purchase price. For more details, click "For Sale by Owner" Agreements

(2) "CONSIGNMENT SALE"--We offer to conduct a complete evaluation, to move your piano to our showroom, and to advertise your piano at an agreed-upon asking price. Our charge for these services, payable at pick-up when we co-sign a “Consignment Sale Agreement,” is $100.00 plus the cost of moving your piano to our showroom. After the sale of your piano, we will expect payment of a 20% commission on the sale price. If you or the buyer authorize any improvements (other than tuning) before delivery, our commission will be 15% of the sale price. For more details, click "Consignment Sale" Agreements