No matter which material was used to lay floor topping in your apartment, moving a piano across it is one of the most challenging tasks within any moving project. If your rooms have floors made of hardwood, the mission turns out to be even more complicated.
Yet, there are workable strategies by High Stream Moving piano movers to cope with the challenge without leaving a scratch on your flooring. Plan the whole undertaking this way:
- You prepare the room where the piano should be removed and find the optimal way to move it.
- You find people who will lend you a hand with the move.
- You prepare the piano to make it safe for moving.
- You ensure that only engaged people are present on the scene and lock your kids and pets in a secure place.
- The piano is transported along the chosen path.
The scheme is pretty simple. Yet, each stage requires thorough preparation.
Step 1. Prepare Your Room
The worst situation possible is to try moving a piano through a space full of obstacles. Your first mission is to clear the closest path from your piano location to the door. The fewer blocks are on the chosen pass, the easier the entire operation will be. It is also reasonable to measure the pass you wish to use to carry out the moving procedure. Make sure your chosen way is available. If not, find another solution.
An effective method of making the move of heavy furniture smooth is to spread plywood or an even blanket. This may quicken the whole process and make the piano slide through the room without distressing consequences for your floor.
You might need to protect other furniture and even walls in your room as well. Use thick blankets and similar things to cover the juts at risk.
Step 2. Engage Helpers
Obviously, you won’t be able to move a piano alone. So, you can hire a team of professional movers, which is the most efficacious way. Pro movers always have specific instruments necessary to move heavy furniture. While you can have one idea of how to cope with the mission, they are sure to have several of them.
Experienced movers can analyze the complexity of your exact case, offer the optimal strategy, and successfully implement it into reality. Another solution is to ask people around you for assistance. You should work out a clear plan, then, and act in a well-coordinated way. You might need a dolly, caster cups, and other instruments. All this should be prepared beforehand.
If kids or pet animals are at home, you should provide security to them, too. Ensure they are locked in some secure area and cannot intervene or injure themselves while you are moving the musical instrument. You may not think of that, but a surprisingly emerging dog or kid on your way may cause damage to your floor even if all the other aspects of the move are thought out well!
Step 3. Prepare the Piano
The piano itself requires some preparation. Besides the floor and the musical instrument, you should take care of your room’s furniture that may be hit or scratched during the moving process. So, do the following actions to make your piano easily movable:
- If you have a dolly, consider placing the piano horizontally along it. This will distribute the instrument’s weight more reasonably. Thus, rolling the thing across the floor won’t be so unsafe.
- You can use thick counterpane-like materials to cover the piano to soften a possible bang.
- Fix the piano with the help of straps or strong tape so that it won’t be unsteady and risk falling on the floor or striking against other pieces of furniture in your apartment.
- In case you use caster cups, make sure they clip on tightly and won’t fall off the piano legs.
If choosing between dolly or caster cups, pay attention that both methods are workable, but caster cups might be less noisy.
Step 3. Key Rules to Move a Piano
Now, the instrument is ready to be transported. To make the process seamless, consider taking these extra steps:
- If you employ caster cups, soften their surface by sticking bolsters made of felted cloth or a similar material.
- If there’s a carpet on your floor, protect it against damage (as well as against damaging the piano legs themselves) by placing plywood on the carpet.
- Fix the piano lid so that it does not open or flap.
- Engage at least four helpers to hold the instrument at each corner and control the piano legs.
- Do not try to lift the piano from the floor. Instead, raise it a bit only to make it slip more smoothly.
- No matter if you use dolly or caster cups, make stops to let everyone have a rest.
You see, the procedure may surprise you with many nuances. So, the most recommended solution is to hire skilled movers to remove the piano from your home securely.