Hiring Piano Movers to Move A Piano Cross Country

Pianos often are big financial investments, especially if you get a concert grand or baby grand piano.  Even a decent upright can cost thousands of dollars.  Since they are so large, heavy, and fragile moving them can be even more expensive and require special precautions to do so safely.  The main thing you have to decide is whether or not the hire special piano movers.

There are various reasons you might be wanting or needing to move your piano.  You might want to put it in a different room or on a different story of your home, moving across town or relocating across the country.  Whatever the reason finding good piano movers instead of doing it yourself  might be the best solution, even though it can cost you quite a bit of money.

The number of reasons you shouldn't move your piano yourself are expansive. The first reason you don’t want to do it yourself is because of the painstaking labor that you will have to put into it. Yep, this can literally be a painful process. Moving heavy objects can make you throw out your back if you do it improperly and at best make your legs sore for a week afterwards if you do it right.

Have you ever tried to move a piano? Pianos can weigh anywhere from 400 pounds to over a thousand pounds. That is about the same size as a cow or a bull. Would you ever think, “I am going to go over to that cow and move it to the other part of the pasture?” I’m pretty sure you haven’t but on the off chance that you did you probably would try to ask for help from your friends too, who don’t want to help you, by the way, but probably will if they are nice. If you can somehow manage to put it on a dolly you might be able to move it easier.  But what if you are trying to move it up a flight of stairs? My piano is on wheels which means I could move it fairly easily if I didn’t have to lift it up and had it on hard floors when I roll it. When the store I bought it from delivered it the movers were very happy they would not have to move it up or down any stairs.

 The second reason you don’t want to move a piano yourself is because you don’t want to damage it. Even if you and your friends are capable of moving it yourselves do you know how to transport it without doing any damage to it or have the money to replace or fix it if it does get damaged? Of course, you might not have the money to buy professional movers either so it’s kind of a gamble either way.

Moving a piano locally is much easier and less expensive than moving it across the country. Most stores that sell pianos can at the least recommend someone who can move it for you. This isn’t too expensive and the cost will vary depending on where you live and where exactly you want it moved to. Usually it would cost at least $100 or so.

A lot of local companies are not outfitted for a long move so you will have to find nationwide movers who can specifically move a piano. (Finding state to state movers also requires some cautions). This is going to be MUCH more expensive and end up costing you thousands of dollars. Although some regular moving companies can and will move it for you, they will charge extra and they may not do any better of a job than you could of done yourself. Remember large companies have many different movers that handle their own unique set of jobs. Every one of their individual experience levels with moving pianos will vary.

Finding movers that specialize in transporting pianos is clearly the safest route. They understand the ins and outs of the instrument and what special precautions to take while transporting it. Another advantage is that they are highly specialized and their whole business is focused on moving pianos. If you were going to install an alarm system would you want to hire someone who only installed alarm systems or would you hire anyone who has experience in installing anything? Of course, you would want some with the experience and knowledge of what you need done.

It is important to remember that not all companies that move pianos will be the same. Some are going to be more professional, courteous and experienced than others, just like any other business. Ask around and try to get reviews from people that have used these companies and see what they say. Also, asking the company what precautions they use, what type of insurance they have and how they plan on moving your prized possession will be helpful. Just like a household moving company they should give you a bill of landing that says that the company will make any repairs if they damage it.