Piano Moving Cost Calculator

It starts from a typical local move for your piano type, then adds what actually makes a move harder: stairs at each end, whether there is a usable elevator, distance, disassembly, a long carry from the door, and any special equipment. The labor part is adjusted for mover wages in your state using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. It is not a quote — no formula can see what your staircase looks like.

Concert grands, and uprights taller than about 60 inches, usually need a larger crew and sometimes a skid board or a crane. Pick "Concert Grand" and the matching equipment above and the estimate widens accordingly. For anything that has to go through a window or over a balcony, treat the figure as a starting point and get the mover to look at it — that job is priced from the access, not the piano.

Grand pianos are routinely taken apart for transport: the lyre, the pedals and the legs come off and the case travels on its side on a skid board. Uprights normally move whole. Disassembly and reassembly are skilled work and are usually a separate line on the quote, which is why this calculator asks about it rather than assuming.

Yes, or someone you trust should be. Movers need decisions on the spot about routes, doors and where the piano lands, and you want to walk the instrument with them at both ends before signing anything. Take photos of the case and the legs beforehand — if something does get marked, that record is what settles it.

Almost certainly, but not immediately. Moving jostles the strings and the change in humidity and temperature at the new location moves them further. Most technicians suggest letting the piano settle for two to four weeks in its new room before tuning, so you are not paying to tune it twice. Tuning is a separate trade and is not included in any moving quote.