Pianos are the quintessential moving nightmare. They are massive, heavy, delicate and expensive instruments that require the utmost care and attention during a move. When moving your piano, you have two choices: hiring a piano mover or doing it yourself.

Hiring a Piano Mover

You can move your piano yourself, but it is highly recommended that you hire a piano moving specialist. Here’s why:

Pianos are heavy – small, upright pianos and spinets weigh about 300 – 500 pounds; babygrands weigh up to 1,000. You put your own health at risk when you attempt to move such a heavy, awkward piece of furniture without experience.

Pianos are expensive – One bad bump, scrape, or drop can cause permanent damage to a piano. What you pay to piano moving specialist is far cheaper than replacing most pianos.

These two reasons alone should be considered whether you are moving a piano down the street or across the country. It just takes a second to pull a muscle or scrape the wood paneling and you’d be regretting that you didn’t hire a professional.

Finding a piano mover – The Internet, yellow pages or your local piano store are great places to begin when looking for a piano mover.  When you contact piano moving companies, ask the following questions:

• How long have they been in business?
• Do they contract out their work or use company employees?
• How much will it cost to move a piano x-amount of miles?
• Are they licensed, bonded, and insured?
• Are they a full service company: packing, crating, and shipping/storage?
• Is there a fee for stairs? How much per flight?
• Can you have the names of references?

Do It Yourself Piano Move

If you intend to move your piano yourself, here’s what you’ll need to do:

Get the proper tools – you’ll need:

• A 4-wheel dolly, expandable if you can
• Moving pads/blankets
• Ratchet straps
• Shrink Wrap – it protects the wood from moisture
• Plywood to use as ramps over door entries, gravel, curbs, etc
• A moving truck with a retractable ramp

How to Move Your Piano:

• Remove the legs from spinets and grand pianos to prevent breakage
• Make sure the lid is down and locked
• Lift one end of the piano so it’s in tilt position, have someone slide the dolly underneath the middle, lower the lifted side and the piano should be resting on the dolly
• Move the piano sideways on the dolly
• Lift with your legs, not your back
• Move the piano to the truck and place it on a blanket so that it is not scratched.

Return to: Specialty Moves

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