Piano Movers in Tucson

A piano move is billed by the hour like any other local move, and the crew size is what changes. Most upright pianos need a three mover crew at $160 to $200 per hour. Grands and anything going up or down stairs usually need four movers at $220 to $260 per hour. The truck, the skid board, the pads and the straps are included in that rate, and travel time and fuel are quoted for your job. If the piano is the only item, the job is usually short, and we confirm the figure in writing before you book. See our Tucson moving cost page.

You can, and it is the most common way pianos get damaged and people get hurt. An upright typically weighs 300 to 500 pounds and a grand considerably more, the weight sits high and unevenly, and the casters on most pianos are decorative rather than designed to roll a loaded instrument across a floor. The risk is not only the instrument. It is backs, fingers, door frames, stair treads and tiled floors. If you are set on doing it yourself, at minimum use a proper piano board, straps and four able people, and clear the route first.

The piano is wrapped in quilted moving pads, the lid and fallboard are secured so nothing can swing open, and it is strapped to a padded skid board that carries the weight instead of the legs or casters. Grands are taken off their legs, laid on the board on their side and moved that way, with the legs, lyre and pedal assembly wrapped and transported separately. In the truck it is secured upright against a wall with straps and load bars so it cannot shift in transit.

Yes. A grand or baby grand is partially disassembled for the move: the legs come off, the lyre and pedal assembly is removed, and the body travels on its side on a padded skid board. That is standard practice and it is how grands are moved safely through ordinary doorways and stairwells. Everything is wrapped, labelled and reassembled at the destination. We need to know the make and approximate size at survey so we bring the right crew and equipment.

Usually yes, and it is the part of the job that decides the crew size. Stairs with a turn or a narrow landing are harder than a long straight flight, and a spiral staircase may not be possible at all. We look at the tread width, the turns, the handrail and the headroom at survey and tell you honestly before the day rather than discovering it with the piano halfway up. In some Tucson homes the practical route is a patio door or a window rather than the staircase.

Almost certainly, though not immediately. Moving itself knocks a piano out of tune less than the change in environment does. Let the instrument settle in its new room for a couple of weeks so it can adjust to the temperature and humidity there, then book a tuner. That matters more in Tucson than in most places, because the difference between dry desert air and a room that is air conditioned all summer is real. Ask your tuner what they recommend for your instrument.

Away from direct sunlight, exterior doors, heating and cooling vents and anything that swings the temperature around. In Tucson that usually rules out a wall of west facing glass and a spot directly under an air conditioning vent. An interior wall is the usual answer. Decide before move day and tell the crew, because the moment to place a piano precisely is while four people already have it on the board, not afterwards.

Two to four weeks is comfortable, and more at the end of the month or during summer. A piano move needs the right crew size and the right equipment scheduled together, so it is not a job we can reliably add to a run at short notice. Tell us the type and make, the floor at both ends, the staircase and doorway widths, and whether there are steps outside, and we will size the crew to it. Same week slots do come up, so it is worth calling.