Rebuilding a piano:  what is to be gained?
There is talk now about the economy getting better but I don't think anything dramatic will happen very soon.  I still see empty commercial spaces everywhere and not much incentive to lease by the owners.  I have never been a commercial property owner but if I were I would think it would be better to have a space occupied rather than empty.   If the lease is price is below the cost of owning I would still think it would be better to have some income than to bear the total cost .
     I am planning to open a rebuilding shop in the coming year and am looking for a space for rebuilding.  When a good rebuild is done one gets all new working parts in the piano action.  When you do even some pretty extensive repair and regulating you still have new and old parts in the piano and when you regulate you have to regulate to these variations of response to playing the instrument.  You also have uneven wear taking place in the piano.  Old parts are continuing to wear at a greater rate than the new parts. 
     If your goal is an even touch this makes a good regulation impossible.The chief benefit is that with everything new you can do a very fine regulation and the piano will operate like a new piano for a long time.  You also have both new strings and new hammers so the piano will really sound like it was new for a very long time.
     When I talk to someone about a rebuild I can also compare the cost of a rebuild verses a new piano of the same size and the new piano is several times the price of the rebuild.  I have to conclude that most have never seen a very good rebuild so my challenge will be to educate my customers about what I know to be the affordability of the rebuild.