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Five Things To Do To Prepare Your Piano For Moving

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If you own a piano that you are considering moving, you have probably already made a sizable investment in its purchase and upkeep. Some high end instruments such as a grand piano can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $80,000 and others have memories attached to them that are priceless. The last thing you want to do is to jeopardize your investment by not taking the proper steps to ensure the safety of your instrument prior to the move. Here are a few steps that you will want to ensure you do in order to make sure the move goes as smoothly as possible. 

Measure, Measure, and Measure Some More

One of the first things you will need to do is to figure out how you are going to get your piano out of the home you are leaving and into the home you are going to. The width of your doorways versus the width of your piano will determine whether or not it will be able to be moved upright, or whether it will have to be turned on its side. 

The last thing you want to do go through all the trouble of getting your piano to the doorway of your new home only to figure out that it will not fit through it. By measuring your doorways and anything else that may be in your path, you will be prepared to overcome these hurdles. 

Disassemble Any Removable Parts

If your piano has any parts that can be safely disassembled prior to the move you will want to do so. Some of these may include your lid prop, lyre, music stand, page retainers and more. By removing these, you will help to ensure that they are not damaged or lost during transit.

Carefully remove them and pack them, along with any hardware you remove along with them, in a box together. Consider placing the related hardware in a sandwich bag and taping it to the piece it belongs to. This will keep you from having to hunt this down in the box once you arrive at where you are going.

Secure Your Keyboard

If your piano has a lock on your fall board, you will want to make sure that you lock it prior to attempting the move. This will keep it from coming open, banging up and down, or becoming damaged during the move. If left unlocked, you run the risk of one of your movers grabbing it in error during the move. This could not only put your piano at risk of damage, but could put your mover at risk of injury. Make sure that you pack the key in a place you will remember. 

If your fall board does not lock, place a thin layer of fabric in each end and secure it tightly with shrink wrap. Resist using any type of tape, as the adhesive will have the potential to pull the finish off of your wood. 

Pad and Wrap Your Piano

If you are loading your piano onto any type of moving truck, it is essential that your piano is padded and wrapped well. This will keep your instrument from incurring any type of incidental damage or scratches that could be caused by your shifting load during the move. Although you can use wrapping tape to secure your padding or blankets, make sure it does not come into contact with the actual instrument.

Know Your Limits

Probably one of the most important steps you will take is knowing what you will and will not be able to do during your move. There may come a time in which you need to call a professional moving company. In all reality not only will they move your piano safer, they will probably be cheaper once you figure in the time that you and your friends have involved in your attempts to do it yourself. Just remember, your ultimate goal is to ensure that your piano gets to the new location in one piece.

For more tips, check out sites like http://www.extremepianomoving.com.


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