If you are the proud owner of a grand piano, you undoubtedly make some divine music. There is just one problem with this situation. When you have to move, the piano needs a lot of extra help to go with you. Hiring a piano moving company definitely helps, but you may have to disassemble the piano completely. Here are some reasons why.
The Weight and Location of Your Grand Piano
A full-sized grand piano weighs 1,300 pounds. A thirteen-hundred-pound piano located in a spot in your home that does not have large enough or wide enough doorways is impossible to move without taking it apart. Even if the legs are removed, the sound board is so massive and heavy that it will not fit through or be hoisted on a piano dolly that can carry its weight.
Sections of the Piano Are Easier to Move
Now, if you take the piano apart, you have the lid to the sound board, the legs, the box of the sound board, the keyboard, the tensioned strings mounted to a wood board, and a few other odds and ends. Each of these pieces is easily more maneuverable through the door space you have and significantly lighter by itself. The piano can also be reassembled just as easily as it was taken apart. Just make sure you have hired an expert piano builder to assist with the disassemble and reassemble of the piano.
Pieces Are Easier to Get up and down Flights of Stairs
If you live several stories up in a penthouse or large loft, getting a grand piano down to the ground floor is a nightmare. It does not fit into a standard elevator and it still will not fit in a freight elevator either. Its odd shape prevents it from doing so. Likewise, getting the piano up several flights of stairs could take the better part of a day.
However, if you completely disassemble your piano, the individual pieces can fit into either a standard elevator or a freight elevator. They are also lighter and the piano movers can carry them up or down the stairs more quickly than if they were attempting to move it in its entirety (sans legs, of course). In the event that either your old home or your new residence does not have any sort of elevator, you definitely want to make this move as simple as possible to avoid damaging your piano.