About the author
Chris Terry
Editor, Encore Editorial
Chris Terry edits and publishes at Encore Editorial. He has spent years covering business finance and consumer markets, with a focus on making complicated cost decisions easier to think through.
A piano is not a couch. It is heavy, oddly balanced, easy to damage, and often worth more than the rest of the room combined. That is why moving one has its own price, separate from a normal household move.
A local piano move commonly runs about $150 to $600. A long-distance move usually lands between $700 and $2,000 or more, depending on distance and the instrument. Uprights sit at the lower end. Grands cost more because they often have to be partly disassembled and crated. Price the rest of your move in the moving cost calculator.
An upright is heavy but compact, so two or three movers with the right equipment can usually handle it as one piece. A grand is a bigger job: the legs and pedal assembly often come off, the body goes onto a padded skid board, and the whole thing may be crated. More labor, more time, more money. A baby grand is easier than a concert grand, but both cost more than an upright.
General movers can move a piano, but specialists have the skid boards, straps, and experience to do it without cracking a leg or scarring a floor. For an instrument worth thousands, the small premium for a specialist is usually money well spent. Ask whether the quote includes proper insurance for the instrument, not just the standard per-pound coverage that comes with a regular move.
Pianos almost always need tuning after a move, since the trip and the change in humidity knock them out. Budget for a tuning a couple of weeks after the piano settles into its new home. It is not part of the moving quote, but it is part of the real cost of relocating the instrument.
Before anyone quotes you, measure the piano and every doorway, hallway, and stairwell on both ends. Pianos get stuck in spots that looked fine by eye, and a surprise at the door can turn a routine move into a crane job. A good piano mover asks for these measurements up front. If one does not, ask why, because the path is half the work.
A local piano move generally runs $150 to $600. Long-distance moves usually fall between $700 and $2,000 or more, depending on distance and the instrument. Uprights cost less than grands, which often need partial disassembly and crating.
A piano is heavy, awkward, and easy to damage, so it needs specialized equipment and trained movers. Stairs, tight doorways, a crane for window access, and the instrument's value all push the price up well beyond moving an ordinary piece of furniture.
They can, but a piano specialist has the skid boards, straps, and experience to do it safely. For an instrument worth thousands, the specialist premium is usually worth it, and you should confirm the quote includes proper coverage for the piano itself.
Almost always. The move and the change in humidity knock a piano out of tune. Plan to have it tuned a couple of weeks after it settles into the new space. That cost sits outside the moving quote but is part of the real total.
Chris Terry edits and publishes at Encore Editorial. He has spent years covering business finance and consumer markets, with a focus on making complicated cost decisions easier to think through.