While the common homage to the Wizard of Oz’s “lions and tigers and bears, Oh My!” might be fun, these items are nothing to take lightly when dealing with a fire cleanup scenario. Each is encountered quite often in your average home and yet they are not average items to clean and move. Plus, all three can be very expensive and often are handed down from generation to generation.
Restoring “Father Time”
Let’s start with the grandfather clock.
The internal mechanisms of the clock will need to be cleaned and removed by a trained professional before the clock is moved. If you move the clock without properly removing and securing the weights and pendulum, you can badly damage the clock.
Use wood cream restorer, applied with #0000 steel wool, to clean the wooden surfaces of the exterior and interior of the clock.
Once the clock has been properly cleaned and reset into the home, have the company that prepped your clock come back and reattach the weights and pendulum. They will also need to re-time the clock once it is back in its final resting spot.
Restoration on Cue
Most of the time you will need to move the pool table from the structure or room it is in to clean it. To do this, you must be familiar with how to handle the slates and green. This will probably require you to hire a moving company with this type of experience. If you do not properly remove the slate and green, you will chip and tear it and this is very costly.
Once the slate and green have been removed, you can usually clean the pool table components with a mild degreaser and wood cream restorer on the wooden parts once again using super fine steel wool.
Hitting the Right Notes
Now let’s talk pianos.
A piano is often an item with more sentimental value than monetary. So, it is wise to handle them with gloves, regardless of their price tag.
First off, you will need to remove the piano from the structure. This will take a crew that knows how to move it safely. Pianos are heavy and awkward and are referred to as widow makers. So find a reputable company in your area to do this for you. You may think you can move it with ease, but they are very heavy and dangerous to handle.
Once the piano is safely moved, you will need a specialty company to clean the inside of the mechanisms. There are more than 2,500 parts to the inside of a piano and each will need to be cleaned and checked out. Almost all have an exterior made of wood and will need to be cleaned once again using wood cream restorer.
Just as with the grandfather clock, the piano will need to be tuned once it is moved back into its final resting place.
Know Who to Call
All three of these items are very heavy and cumbersome to move. If you are not very experienced with moving them you can easily cause secondary damage to flooring and walls as well as the item itself. Have an arsenal of pre-qualified, dependable and reputable companies to call on when you encounter one of these items on a fire job.
Your clients are counting on your expertise when handling their precious belongings. Sometimes that expertise is knowing when to call in an expert to help you help your client.
