Why We Can’t Offer DIY Piano Restoration Advice (And Why It’s Nothing Personal)

At Sykes & Sons, we’re genuinely touched by how much interest our website has generated over the years. Every week, we hear from piano owners, enthusiasts, and curious DIYers who’ve read our articles or browsed our workshop pages and want to learn more about what we do. It’s wonderful to see that so many people are passionate about these remarkable instruments and the craft of restoration.

Sometimes, those messages come from people hoping to tackle a restoration themselves. They might have a family piano that’s seen better days or an auction find they’re eager to revive. We absolutely understand the appeal. The idea of bringing a piano back to life with your own hands is a deeply satisfying one.

But there’s something important we need to say clearly: we can’t offer detailed advice or guidance for DIY restoration work. It’s not because we’re being secretive or unhelpful, but because it wouldn’t be safe or professionally responsible for us to do so.

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Safety Comes First

Piano restoration is not light domestic work. These instruments are substantial structures of hardwood, iron and tensioned steel. Even a modest upright can weigh over two-hundred kilograms. Without proper lifting equipment and experience, a piano can shift or fall with serious consequences. We have seen instruments damaged beyond recovery through mishandling. In each case, personal injury was narrowly avoided.

Beyond the mechanical hazards, there are the chemical ones. We work strictly under COSHH regulations because many of the substances used in restoration are hazardous by nature. Industrial lacquers, stripping agents, catalysts, and cleaning solvents can cause chemical burns, eye injuries, or respiratory damage if used without the correct protective equipment and extraction systems.

Some of these materials are so tightly controlled that private individuals would require an Explosives Precursors and Poisons (EPP) licence to possess them.

These are granted by the Home Office, and only after background and health checks are carried out to ensure the applicant’s suitability and awareness of the risks involved.

In our workshop, every one of these products is used under controlled conditions, with professional PPE, secure storage, strict handling protocols, and detailed record keeping.

These are not items that can safely or legally be used in a domestic setting.

Professional restoration frequently involves working with historic finishes. Many older pianos were finished with nitrocellulose lacquers, shellac-based coatings, or early pigmented paints. In some cases, particularly in early and mid twentieth-century instruments, these finishes can contain lead or other hazardous compounds.

Even the dust produced during sanding and refinishing work can be harmful, containing fine particulates or residues that can irritate the lungs and eyes. Without proper extraction and protective equipment, this kind of exposure can cause lasting damage.

We have written an article on dust extraction in our workshop, which you can read in full here: Our Workshop: Dust Extraction

So when someone asks how to do this work at home, we cannot in good conscience provide advice that might put them or their family at risk. The reality is that piano restoration demands far more than patience and enthusiasm.

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The Difference Professional Equipment Makes

Even with the best intentions, DIY setups can only go so far. The tools we use are designed for industrial precision and long-term reliability. They’re calibrated to work within fine tolerances that protect the structure and finish of every piano we handle.

Consumer-grade tools, however capable they may seem, aren’t built for that level of control. A well-meaning attempt to sand or refinish a piano case can easily remove original veneers or distort delicate edges. We’ve seen many instruments that have suffered damage this way, and sadly, correcting that kind of work often costs far more than professional restoration would have in the first place.

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Respect for the Craft

Restoration is also the accumulation of judgment.

Some of our processes have been developed slowly, through study, failure, refinement and experience. They are not shortcuts or tricks. They are solutions shaped over time. While we are committed to sharing educational insight, there is a difference between explaining principles and issuing instructions.

It would not be responsible for us to provide step-by-step guidance on work that demands direct inspection, measurement and context.

True restoration is rarely about intervention. More often, it is about restraint. Knowing what not to disturb is as important as knowing what to adjust.

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Not Gatekeeping. Just Good Ethics

We have enormous respect for anyone who wishes to learn. Craft begins with curiosity.

But a piano is a complex mechanical and acoustic system. Small alterations can have structural or tonal consequences that are difficult to reverse. Without seeing the instrument in person, we cannot assess its condition, its tolerances, or the implications of a proposed change.

Offering remote restoration advice would place both the instrument and its owner at risk.

And that is a responsibility we cannot take lightly.

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Our Purpose

Everything we publish is intended to deepen understanding and appreciation of the piano as a living mechanical instrument. We believe informed owners make better decisions. Those decisions help preserve instruments for future generations.

If you have contacted us seeking DIY guidance and received a polite refusal, please know it is not personal. It is simply a boundary drawn in the interest of safety, craftsmanship and the instrument itself.

The piano must always come first.