The Upright
Ah, the good ol' upright. A solid choice for a player of any level.
What sets the upright apart from grands is the vertical position of the strings and action (the part of the piano that moves when you press keys). They are standing "upright", if you will. Upright pianos are among the most common of household varieties, largely due to the relatively little space that they take up. They are also probably the easiest to repair.
Now here's where things get a little tricky. You should be sure not to confuse an upright with...
The Spinet
As you can probably see from this picture, the spinet is shorter than the upright above. Developed in the 1930's, the spinet was created for saving space and saving money by making a more compact action with shorter strings. Taking the action out of a spinet requires special preparation and care, so if yours needs work on the inside, please let me know before I arrive.
If you have the choice between getting a spinet or an upright, my recommendation would always be the upright. Spinets are fine instruments for the occasional dabbler or beginning student, but the shorter strings and smaller frame come at the cost of sound quality. Also, in an effort to further reduce the cost of the instruments, many models contain components made of plastic or brass instead of wood. These do their job for around 20 years, but after that they are all going to fail.
The Grand
When you're talking sound quality, nothing holds a candle to the grand piano. The lengthened strings allow for greater reverberation, and the horizontal position make it much easier to lift the lid and expose the entire soundboard, unlike that of an upright that remains covered even with the lid open. The two issues most people have with grands are, predictably, cost and space. Even baby grands eat up floor space, and there aren't many households that could hope to contain a full-sized model.
The action of a grand piano is easy to pull out in theory, but can be incredibly disastrous if done incorrectly. If at all possible, I would attempt to do any repairs I can without removing it.
Types I do not (or cannot) work with
Electric
I understand that electric pianos and keyboards are an attractive option when buying for a new or uncertain player. My own first piano was a Casio. However, the fields of piano maintenance and electrical engineering have very little overlap, and I'm afraid there is nothing I can do for these pieces.
Square Piano (or box)
If you're not sure whether or not your piano is a box piano, then it probably isn't. These pieces are quite uncommon outside of museums or historic buildings. While I might be able to tune one of these, there is almost no way I could repair one. The reason for this is that the box piano was developed before the standardization of modern piano parts, so even if I knew what was wrong with the piece, there is virtually no way I could get a hold of replacement components. They may even be totally unique to that piece.
Box pianos are also (frankly) not very good instruments. They were a product of the Victorian era, and built with looks in mind over functionality. If by some chance you are debating purchasing one of these instruments for the purpose of playing, I would highly recommend you give this type a miss.
Harpsichord
Again, it's highly unlikely that a consumer would own one of these instruments. The fact of the matter is that, from a mechanical standpoint, the harpsichord is essentially a different instrument entirely. Where a piano is played by striking the keys with a hammer, the harpsichord operates on a "plucking" motion. This method means that all notes will be the same volume regardless of how hard or soft the key is struck.
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