Is a basement wine cellar a suitable place for a Piano?

[john90]

The basement is half underground, and has a concrete floor. Within the cellar area is a wine cellar built from clay bricks and with a wide steel door. There is at least 2 meters all around the outside of the wine cellar, to the walls of the basement, which forms a general storage area.

The piano is a Steinway Model S, 1954 or 1955, which presumably used PVA adhesives in construction rather than animal glues?

What is a suitable humidity for keeping a piano like this at?

[keys60]

It really sounds like a damp environment down there and I would have to say no. Is the cellar being used for storing wine? Sounds like a conflict of ideal environment if it is.
If you use a good dehumidifier and keep the humdity low, mabye 35-40%, you might get away without swelling and warping the wood too much. I would put a floor covering under the piano too. Cement cellar floors always seem to emit too much moisture. You could develop rusty tuning pins, flange pins, steel strings, bridge pins, warped keys, soundboard, sticking action parts.

I came across an S in a house a block from the ocean. It was a 1989. Had to be repinned and restrung already due to the rust from the damp environment. Ok. I guess we can throw a little salt air in there too.

 Honestly? I cringe when I read the description of your cellar with a nice little Steinway down there.

[silverwoodpianos]

The basement is half underground, and has a concrete floor. Within the cellar area is a wine cellar built from clay bricks and with a wide steel door. There is at least 2 meters all around the outside of the wine cellar, to the walls of the basement, which forms a general storage area.

The piano is a Steinway Model S, 1954 or 1955, which presumably used PVA adhesives in construction rather than animal glues?

What is a suitable humidity for keeping a piano like this at?

Not the readings in this room for sure. Mold, mildew, and oxidation, will be prominent and visible in a short period of time.
45%-55% is best....

[Bob]

That's pretty scary, the idea of sticking an instrument in a room that's far from ideal.  I read the post and thought it might work -- and I suppose it might if the temp and humidity were controlled.  Maybe it's more of pulling the humidity out of the air.  I read it and thought it would be nice and cool for the piano.

I suppose temperature might not be the issue.  It would be a huge issue if the dehumidifier stopped working though.  That's a lot of money to mold/mildew/rust like that, not to mention sentimental value.  It's probably not much of an option to move an instrument that size out quickly either if the environment became out of control with a busted dehumidifier.

[quantum]

Not unless you want to junk your piano. 

Wine cellars are very damp environments.  They are meant for wine and food storage. 

I placed some wood in my wine cellar floor to lift some objects off the concrete.  Within a year the underside was covered in mold.  Perfect environment to grow such stuff. 

[john90]

This basement is not as bad as it sounds, and perhaps not a very good area for wine. It is half below ground level, but there is a dug out walkway 1m wide, all the way around the house, so there is no actual soil against the basement walls. In this 'wine' room the previous owner built, brick walls, 2m in from outside walls, there are no spiders, no flaking paint, no dust or mould. As soon as I saw it I thought it looked like a practise room.

I will measure the natural humidity with some electronic max min temp/humidity meter through December before putting anything in there. I will try a few around the house.

Thanks for alerting me to the dangers. I had no idea that humidity would be so important.

John.