A piano is not furniture. It is a few hundred pounds of tensioned steel and soft wood balanced on three legs, and it is usually the item people care about most. We have been moving them in Morris County for generations.
Most damage during a move does not happen because someone dropped it. It happens because it was tipped the wrong way, dragged on its casters, or set down on an uneven surface and left there. The weight is not distributed the way it looks like it should be, and the legs on a grand are not structural in the way people assume. That is the whole argument for using movers who have done it before. Not strength, technique.
What Makes A Piano Different
Weight in the wrong places
An upright typically runs from around 300 to 800 pounds, a grand considerably more, and almost all of it sits toward the back and the harp rather than evenly across the base.
Fragile in unexpected ways
The case takes knocks better than the pedal lyre, the legs, or the action inside. Cosmetic damage is the visible risk; a knocked-out action is the expensive one.
Casters are not wheels
They are for repositioning a piano a few inches on a hard floor, not for rolling it across a room, and certainly not down a ramp.
Doorways and turns
A piano that came into a house thirty years ago may be leaving through a door that has since been reframed, or past a bannister that was not there before.
How A Piano Move Actually Goes
Uprights and spinets
Wrapped in moving blankets, secured, and taken on a dolly or board with enough people to control it on stairs. More manageable than grands but far heavier than they look, and stairs are where things go wrong.
Grands and baby grands
Partially dismantled for transport: the lid is secured, the pedal lyre and legs come off, and the body travels on its side on a padded skid board, strapped down. Reassembled and leveled at the other end.
Digital pianos and organs
Lighter, but the internals do not tolerate flexing. They travel best supported flat and fully padded rather than carried by the ends.
A grand moved upright on its own legs is a grand at risk. Dismantling is standard practice for a reason.
Stairs, Turns And Tight Access
This is the part worth talking through before moving day rather than on it. A straight flight is manageable. A turn at a landing, a spiral, or an exterior stair in bad weather changes the crew size and sometimes the approach entirely.
Morris County has a lot of older homes: the Victorians around Morristown, the Hapgood houses in Mountain Lakes, the lake houses around Lake Hopatcong. None of them were designed around getting a grand piano out of the front room. Tell us what the access looks like when you call. Photographs help enormously.
Other Specialty Items We Handle
The same principle applies to anything heavy, awkward or irreplaceable:
If you are unsure whether something counts as specialty, mention it. It is a shorter conversation before the move than after.
After The Move, And Storing A Piano
Let it settle before tuning
Give it a few weeks in its new room so the soundboard and strings adjust to the humidity there, then have it tuned. Tuning it the day it arrives means paying to do it twice.
If it has to wait
Pianos are wood and felt. They respond to humidity swings by going out of tune and, over long enough periods, by cracking. If storage is part of your move, say so and we will talk through the options rather than leave it in a garage. See storage services.
Piano Moving FAQs
Can you move a grand piano?
Yes. Grands and baby grands are partially dismantled for transport, then reassembled and leveled at the other end. Tell us the size and the access and we will bring the right crew.
How much does it cost to move a piano?
It depends on the type of piano, the floor it is on, and the stairs or turns involved. A ground-floor upright with a clear path is a very different job from a grand coming down a turned staircase. Describe it when you call and you will get a real number. Our guide to what a move costs explains how the pricing is built.
Do I need to have my piano tuned after moving?
Yes, but not immediately. Let it settle for a few weeks so the soundboard and strings adjust to the humidity in its new room, then have it tuned.
Can you move a piano up or down stairs?
Yes, and stairs are exactly why crew size and technique matter. Straight flights are routine. Turns, landings and exterior steps change the approach, so describe the staircase when you call.
Do you move pool tables, safes and antiques too?
Yes. Gun and fire safes, antique furniture, grandfather clocks, pool tables, large mirrors and artwork, aquariums and heavy exercise equipment are all handled the same careful way.
Licensed, Insured, And Local
We are a licensed and insured New Jersey moving company operating out of Dover since 1888. For a piano in particular, insurance is not a formality. Ask any mover you are considering to confirm they carry it, and be wary of anyone who gets vague about the question.
Tell us about the instrument
Type, roughly how old, which floor, and what the stairs look like. That is enough for a real estimate.