How Long Does Piano Restoration Take?

Piano restoration timelines vary enormously depending on scope. Regulation and voicing can be done in 1–2 visits over 2 days. Full restringing takes 4–8 weeks for new strings to settle. A complete museum-quality restoration including soundboard replacement and case refinishing can take 3–6 months. Here is what each stage involves and how long to realistically expect.

Quick Restoration Work — 1–3 Days

• Regulation: 1 full day (4–8 hours) at your home. Upright regulation can be done without removing the piano. Grand regulation may require 2 visits.
• Voicing: 2–4 hours, often done on the same visit as regulation and tuning.
• Deep cleaning: Interior and exterior cleaning of an upright: 2–4 hours. Grand: 4–8 hours.
• Sticky key repair (humidity): 2–4 hours depending on how many keys are affected.

Medium-Scope Restoration — 2–8 Weeks

• Hammer replacement: Fitting new hammers: 1–2 days work. Initial voicing: a follow-up visit 2–4 weeks later after initial break-in.
• Key covering replacement: Keys removed, recovered, and refitted: 3–5 days including drying and acclimatisation time.
• Restringing (treble only or tenor + treble): 2–4 weeks including ordering steel strings and settling pitch after initial stringing.

Full Restringing — 6–12 Weeks for Pitch Stability

Complete restringing involves replacing all strings including custom-wound bass strings. Bass strings must be wound to order — typically 2–6 weeks lead time. After stringing is complete, the piano requires 3–4 pitch raise passes over 2–4 months before pitch is stable enough for a precise A440 tuning to hold. The total elapsed time from starting restringing to having a stably-tuned instrument is typically 3–6 months, though the piano is musically usable (if slightly pitchy) sooner.

Full Restoration — 3–6 Months

A complete restoration — new strings, new hammers and action parts, new keytops, soundboard repair or replacement, pinblock replacement, and case refinishing — is a workshop project. Most of the work is bench work done at the workshop rather than in your home. Timeline: 3–6 months from start to final voicing and tuning visit. The piano may not be available during this period. For major restoration projects, the piano is collected, restored at the workshop, and returned.

What Takes Longest — New Strings

The single biggest time factor in piano restoration is new string settling. New steel wire must stretch into its final tension over many months. No matter how skilled the tuner or how good the strings, a freshly restrung piano will require multiple pitch raise sessions before it holds A440 reliably. This is physics, not workmanship — rushing it does not help.