A piano concentrates several hundred pounds into a tall cabinet with a high center of gravity, which is why it behaves nothing like the rest of the furniture in the room. Premier Movers treats piano moving in Jacksonville as a specialty job: the instrument is measured, the route is planned and the equipment is chosen before moving day rather than improvised on arrival. As a licensed and insured Jacksonville moving company, we move pianos on their own and as part of full household relocations. Send us the details and we will tell you exactly what the move involves.
Why a piano is not moved like furniture
Weight alone is not the problem. A piano carries a cast-iron plate, a soundboard and around two hundred strings under enormous collective tension, all packed into a cabinet resting on casters or legs that were never designed to be shoved across a threshold. Tip it and the entire load transfers to whichever corner is lowest. The predictable failure points in an amateur piano move are the legs, the casters, the pedal lyre and whatever the instrument lands against on the way down.
| Piano type | Typical size | Typical weight | What the move involves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spinet | 36 to 38 inches tall | Around 200 to 300 lb | Moved upright on a dolly, wrapped and strapped |
| Console | About 40 to 43 inches tall | Around 300 to 400 lb | Moved upright, extra hands for any stairs |
| Studio upright | 45 to 48 inches tall | Around 400 to 600 lb | Four-wheel dolly and straps, piano board for stairs |
| Full upright | 48 inches and taller | 500 lb and up | Strapped to a piano board for any stair work |
| Baby grand and grand | 5 to 7 feet long | Around 500 to 800 lb | Lyre and legs removed, laid on a padded skid board |
| Concert grand | Up to about 9 feet | Up to around 1,000 lb | Full disassembly, skid board, large crew, clear route |
Manufacturer figures are the reliable ones. Steinway lists its 5 foot 7 inch Model M at 560 pounds, the 6 foot 11 inch Model B at 760 pounds and the concert Model D at 990 pounds. If you can find the make and model, you do not need to guess.
What we need to know before quoting a piano move
A model number is usually faster than a tape measure, because manufacturers publish exact weights and dimensions. Where that is not available, careful measurements and photographs do the same job.
- Make, model and serial number, and the overall height, width and length
- The floor the piano is on now and the floor it is going to
- Number of steps, the turn at each landing and whether there is a usable railing
- Doorway, hallway and elevator clearances along the whole route
- Flooring at both properties, including thresholds and any tile edges
- The distance between the instrument and the closest point the truck can park
- Exactly where the piano will sit at the destination, cleared in advance
- Photographs of the piano and of the complete route, not just the instrument
CLIENT REVIEWS
What Jacksonville Clients Say
Rated 4.8 on Google by hundreds of families and businesses.
Had a great experience with Premier Movers. They came highly recommended from a friend who has used them for multiple moves. Communication before the moving date was great. Everything went smoothly on moving day. They carefully wrapped everything, and did a great job getting everything set up in our new place. Hope I don't have to move again anytime soon, but would definitely hire them when I do.
Jacob and Chance were absolutely fantastic! Their service was efficient, quick, and incredibly friendly from start to finish. They worked like a well-oiled machine and made everything smooth and stress-free. If I could give more than five stars, I definitely would! Highly recommend this crew!
Premier Movers were GREAT. From first contact to move completion was 72 hours. It was a HUGE RUSH over a HOLIDAY WEEK! I am so grateful for the excellent service. I was unable to be onsite! Premier Movers had to set up the pick up and the delivery via their driver and helper. It is amazing to me how very smooth it went. You just do not see this level of professionalism these days.
One of the best moving companies we have ever used and we have moved 23 times around the country. They were on time, careful with our furniture and made sure we were comfortable with everything they moved. They moved our hot tub very professionally. They had all the tools and equipment necessary. We couldn't have been more pleased. Thank you so much!! We will use you again!! Highly recommend to everyone!!
We had the pleasure of working with Jacob, Jacob, and Nas for our recent move. I couldn't recommend them more! Hiring movers is stressful and it's awkward to have random people in your home handling all of your belongings but these three really made the experience less stressful and relieved the awkward feeling quickly. They were friendly, professional, and extremely efficient!
Premier Movers is an honest company. Everything they said they would do they did. True to their word. The price they gave was exactly what was given to me. No surprise charges. The movers Noz and Chance were respectful to my belongings and worked very hard. They came on time as well. Moving day was stress free! I will definitely use them again when I relocate.
How an upright piano is prepared
The lid and fallboard are secured, the casters are checked, and the pedals, corners and finish are padded before anything moves. The instrument is blanket-wrapped and secured, then tilted onto a four-wheel dolly for level routes or strapped to a piano board where there are stairs. The straps carry the piano, not the crew’s grip.
How a grand or baby grand is prepared
The music desk comes off and the lid is closed and locked. The pedal lyre is detached, the piano is lowered onto a padded skid board resting on its bass side, and the legs are removed. Every component is wrapped and labeled separately. At the destination the process runs in reverse, and the instrument is set back on its casters in its final position.
Can a piano go up or down stairs?
Often, yes, but the answer depends on the staircase rather than the piano. What matters is the width of the treads, the turn at the landing, the height and placement of the railing and whether there is room to control the descent. Stair work is done with the instrument strapped to a piano board rather than carried, and it takes more people than a flat move, because the load is controlled from below while it is guided from above.
Do not assume a staircase is workable simply because the piano came up it years ago. New railings, new flooring, a remodeled landing or a different route through the house all change the available clearance. Photographs from the top and the bottom of the stairs, plus the number of steps, will usually settle the question before anyone arrives.
The crew and the equipment behind a specialty move
Premier Movers has served Jacksonville and Northeast Florida since 2020, has completed moves for more than 2,000 clients and holds a 4.8 rating on Google. Specialty work is handled by trained, uniformed, background-checked employees with the equipment the job calls for, the same approach the company takes to safe moving and hot tub moving. The company is fully insured, registered under Florida Mover Registration IM 3668 and operates under USDOT number 3914973. When a piano is part of a larger move, mention it during the first inventory conversation so the instrument is planned into the crew and the schedule instead of being discovered on moving day.
What Florida humidity does to a piano after it arrives
The move takes a few hours. The climate is permanent, and in Northeast Florida it is the greater long-term threat to the instrument. A piano is mostly wood, and wood takes on and gives up moisture as the relative humidity around it changes. The soundboard swells and shrinks, string tension follows, and the tuning drifts. The Piano Technicians Guild points owners toward a steady relative humidity in the low forties. Jacksonville averages about 53 inches of rain a year, concentrated in the summer, with roughly 77 thunderstorm days in a normal year and dew points sitting in the sixties for months at a time. The distance between those two figures is why placement matters more here than it does in a dry climate.
- Keep the instrument inside conditioned space. A garage, a screened porch or a storage unit without climate control will do more damage over one Florida summer than the move ever could.
- Place it away from exterior walls, from windows in direct sun and from the direct path of an air conditioning vent.
- Let it settle before tuning. Technicians generally want the piano to acclimate to its new room first, so the tuning appointment is usually scheduled a few weeks after delivery rather than the same week.
- Expect to tune after any move. Retuning after a relocation is routine and is not a sign that something went wrong.
If the instrument needs somewhere to sit between homes, climate-controlled storage is the right environment for it. A standard unit in this climate is not.
Pianos are rarely the only thing moving
Most piano jobs sit inside a larger project: a house sale, a downsizing, a new floor going in, or a church, school or studio reorganizing a room. Premier Movers can handle the instrument on its own or fold it into local moving and residential moving, with packing services for the fragile contents around it and storage services when the dates between properties do not line up. Other heavy items in the same home, such as safes and pool tables, can be scheduled on the same visit rather than as a second job.
We move pianos throughout Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, including Mandarin, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park and St. Johns. The full list is on our service areas page.
How piano moving is priced
Local work is priced by the hour, based on crew size and what is being moved, and a piano affects both. The factors that move the number are the instrument’s type and weight, the stair count and landing space, doorway and elevator clearance, the distance between the piano and the truck, the floor protection required, and whether the piano is travelling alone or with a household. Florida law requires the written contract and estimate, signed and dated, before any moving or accessorial service begins, so what you agree to is itemized in advance. Estimates from Premier Movers are free, you pay only for the services you use, materials are billed separately from labor, and discounts are available for off-peak dates and flexible scheduling.
