Can regular movers move an upright piano?
In most of the cases the answer is no. Regular movers most of the time don’t have right tools and expertise to move such a heavy and fragile instrument like piano. Most upright pianos weight from 180-300 kg. Depending on the model and make year of the piano – weight might vary.
Right tools to move upright piano – trolleys
Piano movers use special heavy duty piano moving trolley that can handle the weight of piano and gives movers stable platform to move piano to the van or in the house. Simply lifting and carrying upright piano is not a reliable choice as its very heavy and while carrying piano one can damage not only the exterior of the piano but also detune piano due to flexing wood.
Piano moving ramp
If piano is being moved from house to house its quite often there will be few stairs in the house or entering the house.
Specially at the entrance its quite difficult to manoeuvre big and heavy piano safely when Irish door are quite narrow and most of the time you have only few millimetres of “play” between sills and simply carrying piano increases the risk of damaging the instrument. It is quite often during the move, movers face different heights within the house between rooms where ramp is a must to make piano move safe.
Move upright piano – straps
If piano is going from apartment to apartment or needs to go up the stairs in the house, there are two ways to do it.
One way is to use special piano trolley and go step by step or use special piano straps to carry piano.
The difference between carrying piano with hands and special straps is balance, while straps going through the middle of the piano frame it gives extra stability while carrying heavy piano. If simply carrying by hand there is way bigger risk of loosing balance or damaging piano while it will start to swing.
Piano – wheels/cups
The more pianos you move the more you get information about small details that might ruin the move. One of the most common problem one can face during the piano move is putting piano in the corner of the house as you can’t simply lift piano in the corner. The only way is to push last few centimetres.
Most people think its ok just simply push piano because piano wheels are pretty good, but in most cases there is big risk of damaging floors, because of the weight of the piano. We always recommend to put special cups under the wheels or peace of carpet on each wheel to make last push softer specially on wooden floor.
Right tools to move upright piano – small things
Small details before any move of upright piano. Always check low front board if its not loose, as its quite often loose and might fall when you lift piano. When securing piano to the wall in van always check if straps not pushing pedals. Never secure piano over the piano legs. Piano legs are quite fragile that holds all piano structure. Secure piano by frame. Before move always check top board of the piano and hinges making sure its secure and wouldn’t fall during the move.
