Piano repair in Houston
A sticking key, a pedal that no longer responds, a note that buzzes or has gone silent: most piano problems are mechanical, and most of them are fixable in your home. I bring the tools and the new parts that fixed the most common troubleshooting, and for anything larger I assess first and quote before I start.
I have repaired pianos in university practice rooms, concert halls, showrooms and family living rooms for over two decades. The approach is the same everywhere: find the cause, not just the symptom, and leave the instrument better than I found it.
What I repair
- Keys. Sticking, slow or uneven keys; broken key tops; key restoration to address both the cosmetic and the mechanical side.
- Action and hammers. Worn or broken hammer shanks, flanges and springs; hammer reshaping; replacing hammers when the felt is beyond voicing.
- Regulation. Adjusting the thousands of parts in the action so every key responds with the same touch, repetition and power. This is what makes a piano feel “right” under the hands.
- Strings. Replacing broken bass or treble strings, and full restringing when the set has aged.
- Pedals and trapwork. Squeaks, lost motion, sustain that will not release, a soft pedal that does nothing.
- Pinblock and tuning stability. When a piano will not hold a tuning because the pins have loosened, I diagnose whether the pinblock can be treated or needs replacement.
- Cleaning and general maintenance. Interior cleaning, removing decades of dust from the soundboard and action, checking for moth and moisture damage.
- Finish touch-ups. Chips, scratches and corner damage on polyester and lacquer finishes, repaired so they disappear into the surface. (Trained in polyester and lacquer touch-up, 2025.)
- Humidity control systems. For pianos that struggle with Houston’s climate, I evaluate, recommend and install a humidity control system fitted inside the instrument. Which system suits your piano depends on the instrument, so we confirm the details by phone.
- Electric and digital keyboards. Unresponsive or sticking keys, dead notes and other faults. I assess the instrument and tell you what it needs and what it will cost before any work begins.
Assessment first, then a quote
Tell me what you notice, and if you can, send a short video or a photo. Some problems I can price over the phone; most I would rather see. I assess the instrument, explain what is happening and give you a written estimate. You decide.
If the fix takes a few minutes and I am already there for a tuning, it is usually included in the tuning fee. I would rather do that than send a bill for a five-minute adjustment.
Regulation: the repair that nobody knows the piano needs
Pianos rarely break all at once. They drift. Felt compresses, wood settles, screws loosen, and over years the action slowly stops doing what the manufacturer intended. The keys feel heavy or uneven, fast passages get muddy, soft playing becomes unreliable. Regulation brings all of that back to specification. On a well-built piano it can feel like getting a new instrument, at a fraction of the cost.
Self-playing piano systems
I also turn acoustic pianos into self-playing pianos: I am a certified installer of the QRS PNOmation player system, which moves the real keys and pedals from a playlist on your phone. Read about self-playing piano systems →