Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Buying a rug to place under a (grand) piano

The placement of my piano is such that the potential rug purchase is purely to help buffer the sound from my piano to my neighbor living in the apartment directly below mine.

Originally I was thinking of getting a rectangular rug just large enough to fit under the three piano legs. Now I'm wondering if I should get it long enough to be placed under the piano bench, too. Or will the rug get worn out disproportionately where one's feet are, i.e., between the middle of the piano bench and the pedals, from all the movement back and forth?

Just curious if anyone has any particular insights here.

Unless you are buying a fairly expensive rug I wouldn't worry too much about the part of the rug you mentioned. I would choose the size more based on what you think will look better. A part of the rug that might get more wear than the place you mentioned would be under the bench legs. I would use those plastic things you can put under furniture legs to help prevent wear in that area.

Okay, thanks. I don't plan to buy a particularly expensive rug, it's more that it will kind of be a hassle to get the rug placed under the piano, i.e., I will need to recruit one or more people to raise the piano, while I, and maybe one other, place the rug underneath. So, if by getting a larger rug I might need to replace it more often I would like to try to avoid that.

Right now I have a small rug under the bench, mainly to protect the floor from getting scratched. (There's also the added benefit of keeping my feet warmer when I'm not wearing shoes :)) I guess I'll stick with that and then find another rug to go under the piano. Admittedly, it might not look so "finished" but I don't think one large rug is going to look any better necessarily, given the way this particular room is arranged.

My rug underneath the piano is less than width of the piano and only long enough to extend a little beyond the pedals. For my tastes this looks fine(and, of course, avoids any difficulty in placing the rug under the legs).

If the objective is to shield a downstairs neighbor, it would be better served by having the piano's legs on the carpet. It would be better for the player if both piano and bench were at the same height, and therefore both on the carpet. It would also help control sound to have a decent-quality pad under the carpet, though even at best, this will see limited success.

It may have more PR value than sound control value... but that is worth something.

Only a very cheap and horrible carpet would wear excessively under the bench legs or pedals in a shorter time than several years, or more. Dirt is not wear.

Good point about the person playing the piano being seated at the same height as the piano, i.e., both piano and bench should be on the rug.

Do you say that having a rug -- with a pad underneath -- won't be so effective in reducing sound, based on personal experience?

Consider the Piattino caster cups for "through-the-floor" sound reduction. Work well for me.

If all you want is to have the bench move without scratching the floor, there are felt discs with adhesive that you can use to put on the legs of the bench. Then you can scoot the bench around with ease and not scratch your floors.

This would only apply if the bench is not adjustable and the rug underneath the piano is incredibly thick.

Another option is to create a custom shape out of modular carpet squares - such as those made by the Flor company.

You can create a very custom size (non-rectangular) to cover only the exact area needed. Obviously a bit non-traditional, but I used this solution in a previous apartment, and liked the way it looked.

Right. That thought also crossed my mind. Thanks for noting this.

Edit: Include referenced quote.

Great idea. I had thought it would be nice to have a custom rug, one that fit the exact outline of the piano, but I thought the cost, not to mention hassle, would be excessive. I never thought of using carpet tiles!

Flor offers different materials and textures. I guess thicker is better, both for sound insulation from my neighbor as well as acoustics in my apartment. On this latter point, would a nubby or uneven carpet texture be preferable to a flat weave?

Edit: Delete section about issues with Flor adhesive stickers, after reading on the website that the stickers don't attach to the floor.

Carpeting the room - or that quadrant of the room - along with a heavy rubber underpad, would help for sound. You could still use caster cups for the legs, and a small area rug under the pedals to prevent carpet wear.

But it depends on how serious you are about soundproofing, or how difficult your neighbor is. You could do much more than buy a rug or carpet a room.

Eh, I guess I'm compelled to place beneath the piano a rug large enough to have the piano legs, and caster cups, resting on it. As this will require additional help to lift the piano, etc. I would like to do things in a thoughtful enough way. Hence, if a particular type of rug would be better at absorbing sound, I would like to know that. But if I go with the FLOR tiles idea suggested earlier, it doesn't work with an underpad; the rug tiles need to be placed directly on the floor.

So, in answer to your (implied) question, I'm not motivated to soundproof at all cost or anything as my piano playing is well within the building's guidelines. Besides, I only average at most an hour a day. I do feel obliged to have the piano with caster cups on a rug, ideally a set-up that will help to reduce sound reasonably significantly. Beyond that, I don't feel the need to go crazy trying to reduce the sound output.

The way that I put my pianos on the carpet was to put the carpet in place, but rolled up against the piano legs. Then I lifted one leg at a time and unrolled the carpet underneath each one, rolling it up against the next leg. It is not real difficult to do. If you are just doing a small carpet, start by placing the carpet under the piano and lifting each leg. Just remember, it is easier to move the carpet than it is to move the piano.

I learned to lift pianos by putting my bent knee under the piano and then straightening my leg. I do not need to use my arms at all. Legs are a lot stronger than arms. Sometimes I sit on a sturdy chair and lift with my foot.

I can't imagine that; I'd like to see that in-person some time!

A number of years ago I bought through an ad in Sheet Music Magazine a rubber pad to place my heels on when I play. Mine is beige, to semi-match my carpet, but I think it came in other colors. Sorry...I can't remember what to call this pad to google it. It works pretty well. The carpet underneath the right heel, especially, does tend to pack down, but at least it doesn't get filthy dirty.

Thanks, that's helpful information. Assuming I ever get this rug / cup arrangement in place I will keep an eye to make sure the rug doesn't lose its appearance, before it's too late to do something.