Pianos are large, complex instruments with an incredible number of moving parts. Musicians relocating to a new home or looking to store their pianos in a climate-controlled unit off-site should never attempt to move them without professional help. Read on to find out about four of the most serious potential consequences of attempting a DIY move.
Damage to the Instrument
Pianos may be large, but they’re also quite delicate, and some models contain more than 12,000 parts. Given that most pianists aren’t experts in the piano repair, it’s not worth risking damage to the piano if it gets dropped or banged around by inexperienced movers. Broken keys and damaged castors can create some headaches, but a damaged soundboard can render a piano unplayable. It costs a lot more to repair a piano or buy a new one than it does to hire piano movers, so check out pianomoversoftexas.com instead of attempting a DIY move.
Risks to Personal Health and Safety
Not only are pianos large and heavy, but many models are oddly shaped. This combination makes them dangerous to move without proper equipment and training. Pulled backs, strained muscles, and even broken bones and hospitalizations are more common than some consumers might think.
Any pianist who has attempted to move his or her instrument across a room without sufficient manpower and equipment can attest to the fact that it’s a difficult ordeal, so just think about how easy it would be to drop the instrument on someone’s foot or even get pushed down a flight of stairs while trying to navigate it through the front door and into a moving truck. It’s not worth the risk.
Property Damage
Professional movers always come up with a well-developed exit strategy before they so much as put a piano on a moving dolly. Failing to plan for how to get the instrument through narrow doors and hallways, around turns, and downstairs can leave musicians dealing with damage not just to their instruments, but also to their walls, floors, balusters, and other architectural features of their homes.
Pianists who own their homes will have to pay for the damage out of pocket. Those who rent apartments or houses can say good-bye to their security deposits. When they hire professional piano movers, musicians don’t have to worry about property damage since the movers know exactly what they’re doing, and, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong, they have liability insurance to cover damages.
Down-Time While Finding a New Piano
Professional and hobby musicians alike need to practice if they want to progress in their careers, learn or compose new songs, or just keep up the same level of proficiency they’ve devoted years of their lives to develop. If their pianos become damaged during a move, musicians won’t be able to practice or write music. This can be a substantial setback whether pianists are still learning or rely on their musical abilities to make a living.
The Bottom Line
Hiring piano movers may be more expensive than attempting a DIY move, but it’s always worth the money. Professional movers treat every client’s instrument with the respect it deserves, and they have access to all the equipment they need not just to get it out of the house safely but to transport it across town, or even across the state, without risking damage.
Afton Jackson says
We’ve recently decided to gift our son a grand piano as a reward for performing well in school and I want to make sure we get a smooth delivery. It helped a lot when you stated that getting a professional moving service can help with getting a piano through narrow doors because we plan to place the piano in the living room so we can always hear our son perform but our living room is right in the middle of the house which may take some time to navigate to by ourselves. I’ll be sure to find a piano moving service before we decide to buy our son his gift. Thank you. www.bigpaulsmoving.com/piano-movers