A member of our staff took home an old piano that was sadly beyond repair (insect damage). We had previously disassembled the piano and he recycled it. It's now serving as a planter while pumping out 2000 gallons of water/hr as a fountain!


Any guesses about the piano?

I do not know the make, but it has waterfall keys!

That's gorgeous, and really creative.

That is just lovely. I am now inspired to compose an Ode to Tuberous Begonias by the Waterfall.

Now I understand what Handel was thinking.

Judging by the flowers, it must be a Growtrian .

But then again, the pool indicates it is a Basindorfer .

Since it doesn't have the bird logo, it can't be a Gullbransen .

Maybe it is a KaWa-Wa .

I'm sure its plumbing is from Kohler .

I'm just curious. How much Seiler was used to create that landscaping Everett? Let's all Sauter over and I'm sure that it will Shimmel in the sunlight.

(Please forgive me, Please)

Well done, Marty.

I would add that this outdoor display appears to have been built by a Forster,

and probably an August one at that,

since it seems to be fashioned of Broadwood.

It's lovely though. I can just hear the birds Chickering away.

I bet they'll Pleyel Sohmer long in that fountain.

I have to wonder... how does the water get back into the piano? Maybe pipes underground going up through the legs?!

Either way, it's really quite pretty, thanks for sharing!

If the lyre were still attached, that would be a great way to pipe the water back up!

The pipe runs up beside the front left leg. The legs are not original and the lyre had already been recycled.

I think it's excellent. I want one!

It looks like a pretty old instrument with the squared tail.

Should not have shown this to my wife. Now she wants one. And she knows just which piano to do this to.

I love it! Very creative!

Rick, if you're reading this, just one more reason for you to get another piano!

Well if the legs are not original, the lyre is gone,there is no music rack, you can't see the plate (which i am sure has been removed) then how can we guess?

...BTW, my guess is a 1930's Baldwin - but the legs are leading me there.

Y'all are all wet. That's obviously and Ivy and Pond piano.

Sam

The music must be flowing.....

insect damage you say?.. easy, it's an Antzman & Co.

Is this what musicians are talking about when they say "They are in the flow"?

hmm the image file is named "steinwayfountain2.jpg" so maybe it is a steinway?

Aha!

If it is indeed a Steinway, by watering it down this will dilute the quality of the brand……

It was a Steinway B from the early 1880's. Termites went all through the beams, the belly rail, the original legs and other parts of the piano. We kicked the project around several times over a decade, but in the end, there wasn't enough to save.

As a fountain, the piano was sealed and painted, fiberglass laid in the keybed and over the keys, so the water rushes over the clear fiberglass. The piano had already been torn down, so plywood was added to hold the plants. There's lots of drainage to slow the deterioration, but at some point it will return to nature.

Some of you may have seen this image before of anonymous piano art in California.

It's amazing how strong are feelings are for pianos, even their imagery gives us the hope of all possibilities.

I really like that piano converted to a fountain and planter. Nicely done!

I'm going to call the tree-through-the-piano picture Photoshopped. There are too many straight edges and flat curves that have been carved out of the piano (and against the grain of the wood too!). The black spaces around the tree really give it away.
Also, the piano has plants growing directly under it in the shade, but not a few feet in front of it? Unlikely.
I think the camera lenses used have different focal lengths too, and the scale doesn't match up - the tree is probably much larger. And I don't want to think about how hard it would be for a tree to grow through another piece of wood.


The waterfall piano looks wonderful. I hope it lasts a very long time. Did you put any additional exterior coating on it after the paint?

The whole piano was first coated in water sealant. I've seen planters made out of wooden row boats last for decades, but they they don't have any laminated wood...ultimately, we'll see how this project fares.

that is an absolutely beautiful artwork.

i love it.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! ♩♪♬♪♫♩

I thought only Hammond organs had waterfall keys.

Kathy says we have to do this in our yard in Maine!