How quiet should I be when my piano is being tuned?

The rule of thumb is: the quieter your house the better your tuning will be.

You wouldn't stand in the light of a jeweler repairing your watch. So should you plan to keep the noise to an absolute minimum when your tuner is working. If you want to do some housework and you're unsure if it might bother your tuner, just ask. Many tuners can work perfectly well despite minor background noise while they're tuning in the bass and tenor areas, but might request that you temporarily turn off the clothes dryer while he or she is tuning the high treble.

Most experienced professional piano tuners have tuned pianos during carpentry, vacuuming, TV, orchestral sound checks and even while other tuners were working in the same room. But no tuner can do his or her best work under those conditions.