What you get
- Padded piano board and proper straps
- Route measured before anyone lifts
- Grand legs removed and protected
- Walls, floors and stairs protected first
- Tuning advice for after the move
Why a piano is not just heavy furniture
Even a modest upright can weigh about as much as three adults, and a grand can weigh a good deal more. Most of that weight sits in a cast iron plate inside, under huge string tension, wrapped in a wooden case that scratches easily. The legs of a grand were built to hold it up in a room, not to survive being dragged across one. Tilt it wrong, or let it swing, and damage may hide inside the action where you only hear it later.
So we do not treat it as a big sideboard. We use a padded piano board and straps, with enough people for the job, and one person calling each lift and each turn. It is quiet, slow work, and that is the idea.
Stairs, lifts and the awkward corner
The questions start at the door. How wide is the corridor? Does the service lift have enough depth and weight capacity? Check that with your building management, since a lift plate rarely tells you everything. Is there a turn on the staircase? Is there a step at the villa entrance that nobody has ever noticed? Measurements and a few phone photos save a lot of trouble.
- Upright pianos: moved upright, wrapped in blankets, with keys and pedals protected.
- Grand pianos: legs and lyre removed, then the body wrapped and strapped on its side on a board.
- Digital pianos and stools: lighter, but they still get proper wrapping, and the stool does not go missing.
- Stairs: planned step by step, with the route cleared and floors and walls protected first.
Heat, humidity and where to put it
Wood and felt respond to climate, and the UAE has plenty of it. Try to avoid a piano sitting in a hot truck or on a sunny pavement in summer, so we keep the outdoor time short. At the new home, place it away from direct sun and away from the air-conditioning vent's constant blast, which many owners only think about after a season of trouble.
Tuning after the move
Your piano will probably drift out of tune after a move and a change of room. That is normal and does not mean anything went wrong. Most tuners suggest letting it settle in its new place for a couple of weeks before they visit, so book yours for then and enjoy some slightly imperfect practice until it arrives. Send us the make, the model if you know it, and both addresses, and you will have a written quote before work begins, across any of the seven emirates.
