I think I've mentioned before that the house I currently live in is shared with a spirit. His name is Todd, he was the teenage son of the previous owners and died at the hands of a drunk driver. This is the only house Todd ever lived in, so it just seems natural that he remained here. Todd has a wicked sense of humor, as we found out shortly upon moving in. He likes to turn things on and not let us turn them off. First it was the lights. DS was only 4 when we moved in here and would complain that he couldn't turn off the lights. At first, I thought he really couldn't turn them off, but soon found out that although he flipped the switch, the lights would just come back on. And sometimes they'd go off and on over and over again. Then it was the TV. We'd turn it off, and it would come right back on. When he refused to let me turn off the vacuum cleaner, I called the electrician. Although the XDH was a great electrician, I just knew there was some hidden problem and a "real" electrician would find it. Nope, there was nothing, the wiring was perfect and he had no problem turning things off. Then we started hearing noises in the attic. I thought for sure we had squirrels or birds up there, so I sent the XDH up for an inspection. Nope, no squirrels, no birds. But whatever was up there was running the length of the attic, making enough noise sometimes that the dogs would pace the length of the hall, following the noise, the hair standing up on the back of their necks, growling. One day I came home from work to find one of my dogs sitting in the front lawn. I was shocked, couldn't figure out how he got out, all the doors were closed and all the animals were inside when I left for work. When I entered the house, the cats were both there, all the doors were shut, but my other dog was gone. I searched the neighborhood for her, couldn't find her. Later that evening, my neighbor came over and told me that she was sitting in her dining room when she saw my cat in her backyard. She picked up the cat and came over to return here when she noticed the door to my driveway was wide open. We never use that door since it opens into my laundry room, and then into my kitchen through another set of doors. She had her husband come over and go through the house, thinking that we had been burglarized, but he didn't see anything out of place. So they put the cat back in and shut the door. I told her one dog was missing, and then started telling her about the strange things that were happening, hoping she'd be able to tell me if the previous owners ever had any problems. Her husband just looked at her and said "sounds like Todd never left, he always had the house lit up and everything on...remember?" Then they told me about Todd. Well, I had a little talk with Todd. Told him that I would gladly share this house with him since it was "home" to both of us, and that I liked a good joke as much as the next person, but he was not to do anything to harm anyone, and if my electric bill soared sky high, he was going to be in BIG trouble! I guess I had enough lectures when I was a teen that I knew how to dish out a good one, his pranks lessened after that. Todd still pulls a good prank every once in a while, like making loud rock music pour out of the stereo during a hurricane when all the electricity is out, or driving DS nuts by turning the lamp off and on repeatedly when he's watching a good show. And some days he'll drive the dogs nuts by open and slamming shut the cupboard doors. His best one was putting a bunch of easter basket grass above the drop down steps to the attic...when DS open it up, all the grass tumbled down on his head! I had tears rolling down my face at that one! I guess he's like any teen and just needs some attention sometimes. What's really neat is that the first spring we spent in this house, the dogwood tree in the front yard bloomed. That dogwood tree was planted by Todd's soccer team as a memorial to him, and it had never bloomed. Todd's parents wanted to remove the tree and take it with them, it was hard for them to say good-bye, but decided to leave it as long as I would let them hang a bird feeder on it. Well, when that tree bloomed, it was magnificent. I called them to tell them and they rushed right over, took numerous pictures, and stood in the yard crying. They took it as a sign from Todd that it was ok to say good-bye. In the 9 years I've lived here, that tree has only bloomed twice, and both times his parents have come to see it. Maryanne

I wouldn't assume anything. Our previous house was built in 1963 before I was in the family. Stud spacing was totally random in the bedrooms. Spaced in odd feet not inches. One of the carpenters had the nickname "One Nail." Can you imagine why? A quick look costs $zero. See if the floor joists are regularly spaced and relatively close together and if there is subflooring so the load is distributed. Wide spaces like 3-4 feet might indicate a possible problem with possible roller breakthru if construction involved shortcuts on sub flooring. Sub flooring in the '30s would probly have been 2X8. With adequate sub flooring - no problem. If the piano is on rollers the floor load at each roller would be locally concentrated and quite high. Like 100 lbs on each roller over maybe 1/2 inch is 200psi. Not psf - psi.

Once you move the piano over, get something that starts about 6-8 inches above the piano with the top of the art about 6-8 inches below the lowest edge of the ceiling, straight up from the edge of the piano, on the right. Tape it out on the wall with painters tape to check the size.

Thanks all! The musician is a kid and while he will have to test and approve any piano, his decorating tastes are still developing. So the musician won't get whatever the musician wants. (I'm picturing glossy red or blue lacquer.) (I just realized that a matte red would look pretty good!) As far as sound quality? The old piano sounds fine for practicing. It may not sound like a professional piano, but it sounds spectacular for a piano that is only 18 inches deep. The issue is that the kid is just ready for a more advanced instrument. Our home is not really suitable for a real piano but what else can ya do? (lkplatow, no photos at the moment, but it is this model: piano although the one advertised here does not have the proper bench. It looks nicer in person. Still, this is not a fancy instrument! But it is cute and sleek and you can serve food on it (I don't.) and you actually CAN cover it with a single scarf. (I did, until someone started playing it.) I should mention that this one is priced at least $6700 too high!)