Tips to move a piano.

Many people wonder how to move a piano. The interesting thing is when you see professionals do it, it almost looks easy but you have to use a little bit of knowledge about how to move pianos. This article is going to show you the inside of how a piano is moved. First, all parts of the piano are padded, this assures that if there’s any motion in the truck there will be no wood hitting wood or metal, the pedal base, the lid, the board, everything is wrapped. Take extra precautions wrapping the entire piano and shrink wraps so the finish won’t get damaged, in any way this is really important with satin finish pianos, because it’s a porous finish and the sweat from the hands can damage the finish. Wrap blankets all around the piano and keep them on there with straps, these are just simple strategies to keep the wrapping on there. Next the intelligence of leverage comes in, you’d think you may be sore after moving a piano, but the secret is by using leverage there’s only brief moments when you have to exert real force. Most of the time we should use our brains instead of our backs. You can use a 4-wheel flat dolly and what’s called a grand board which has a lip that holds the piano in place, the piano is going to be strapped on the grand board and that way it can easily be rolled on the four-wheel flat dolly.

Now to get the piano up onto the grand board, you just need to flip one side of the piano onto the grand board. The piano is going to lay down on one of its sides and then the legs can be removed and carefully wrapped to be carried separately on the move. There are generally bolts used on the pedal base and the legs sometimes are bolted in, but more often there is a lock system so make sure you have a large rubber mallet. The locks need to be banged to the outer part of the piano to lock in place and they can be held in place with sliding wooden brackets. Everything is now strapped and secured, make sure not to wear no belts or zippers or buttons or anything that could possibly scrape the piano. In the truck take great care to make sure that the piano is not moving and that it’s padded at all points, leave the piano on the grand board during the whole trip, the piano should never touch the floor of the truck and just strap it in tightly against the wall. Whether you’re moving a piano across town or across the country, the method is exactly the same.

Once the piano arrives at its destination, carefully unwrap it while it’s still on the ground board on the four wheel dolly, reattach the legs and only attach two legs, one from each side. In the case of heavier pianos don’t reattach the pedal base yet, with heavier pianos you do not want to attach the pedal base while it’s still on the dolly, because they are not strong enough to withstand the weight of the pair hundred years ago. Pianos did not all have robust pedal bases that could support part of the weight of the piano, but on modern pianos this method can work just fine and save a lot of back-breaking work by utilizing the leverage. Next just roll the piano right up and now you can put on the remaining legs, the piano is nearly ready to play, it just needs to be unwrapped and voila perfect piano move. If you want to undertake moving a piano, well you better have the right equipment, good back, some friends, some beverages and snacks, or better yet hire yourself some professional piano movers, it’s a job not to be undertaken lightly.