Piano moving advice needed

In My Humble Opinion
1

I need to move an upright piano off a hardwood floor to finish the floor and then back again after the job is complete. The distance is about 15 feet. The piano does not need to be rotated. It is a straight shot into the kitchen from the dining room.

I do not have a lot of strong backs here. I have considered raising it about six inches somehow to get it on a dolly. I have also considered raising it enough to get one inch waxed boards under it and slide it. I think this is the preferred method.

I still have to figure out how to raise it.

Any advice?

2

Well, first off, do not hire Laurel and Hardy.

3

Your baby may need to be tuned up again after you move it. Other than that, sorry, I have no clue.

4

If the floors are good and slick you might try using something like plastic under the part that’s farthest from where you’re wanting it, and something like a sturdy rug under the closest part. That way you could just push (or drag) it across the floor. I did something similar with a huge TV that was too heavy to lift alone.

5

One thing you can do is tip the piano and put it on a dolly.

To do it right you need a dolly and three guys of average strength, and a fourth person to position the dolly.

One person needs to be the leader. This is teamwork.

A blanket should be placed beneath the bottom edge of the side of the piano that’s going to remain on the floor and bear the weight of the piano.

If the piano has removable legs remove them. They should just twist off. They’re not designed to bear the weight of a tipped piano.

have one guy stand at one end of the piano with the blanket underneath. This person will stabilize the piano.

The leader says “lift with your legs, not your back”

Have the two other guys at the other end lift their end of the piano. The leader goes “1, 2, 3, lift!” or some such thing. Coordination of power is extremely important here.

What you do now is have the 4th person put the dolly underneath the piano (at the halfway point), and tilt the dolly up so it’s flush against the bottom of the piano. Piano and dolly should both be tipped similarly. Two of the dolly’s wheels will be off the ground.

What happens now is that the piano is lowered, while the dolly person is holding the dolly in place, and the stabilizing person basically spots it so it doesn’t go rolling away from the people lowering it. If the piano rolls away from the lifters a back injury is likely.

Now you have a piano on a dolly ready to roll!

Like Zeldar, if I have to move something heavy on my hardwood floor, I’ll just tip it or rock it and throw towels under the corners and slide it around.

If it’s one those big old center-cut oak jobs that are as heavy as granite you should probably just call a piano mover.

6

First, I’m assuming it doesn’t have wheels… :wink:

I’m going to agree with mack, just reiterating that you won’t actually tip the piano all the way over, you’ll just tip it enough to get the furniture dolly under it, then set it back down, at which point the piano will be sitting on the dolly. Depending on how the piano is made - if there’s a broad base on the bottom (about where the pedals are) that looks like it could support the entire weight of the piano, one dolly in the middle would do it. If it looks like the load-bearing sections of the piano are actually on the two ends (where the legs are), you could use two small dollies, one on each end. That might add one more person to your “crew.”

Since you’re refinishing the floor anyway, you could also just get some really thick plastic sheet stuff (like a dropcloth or something) and just drag it accross the floor. At that point you’ll see if it does any damage to the floor and decide on a different approach when you put it back. There are also those gliding disks that they sell in hardware stores that are specifically designed for people with hardwood floors - you’re supposed to put them under the legs of sofas and things such that when you scoot the furniture around it glides accross the floor without scuffing it.

I’d bet Eva Luna is correct in that the twisting of the frame that you’ll be doing may put the piano out of tune. Good luck!

7

My only advice on moving a piano is: Don’t. :smiley:

/unhelpfulness

8

I worked for a year in a piano store and I watched the guys move those things every day. Tip it up onto a dolly, as described. (The long way, the obvious way, of course.)

Your piano might want to be retuned in its new location after a couple of weeks to settle in. Although it’s still in the same house, changes in relative room temperature and humidity can cause a piano’s tune to settle. Give it some time to settle and have it tuned up.

FISH