Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Okay, so where can I find rubber castor cups for my piano

I was thinking about getting some castor cups to protect my fragile floor boards when my new piano arrives next week. Okay, I read about rubber ones, but had a look on ebay they all plastic? does it matter what material they are made of? I don't want to buy from the shop they have quoted me $80 for 4 cups.
Or am I able to slip the castors over onto the plastic cups later or do I have to get them before the piano arrives?
I wanna look after the piano and my nice floor.

many thanks

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=piano+caster+cups

Many, many choices. I use the Eison cups with the anti-noise foam on the bottom. It makes a huge difference in the amount of action noise transferred through our hardwood floors to the room below. The rest of the cup is wood.

I would HIGHLY recommend getting the cups before your piano arrives. You pretty much need to lift the legs to get them on the cups. Amazon can get them there before next week for sure

Hi Chrispy,
thanks very much for your reply. ONE BIG problem, the piano arrives on Monday so I have 3 days to find these online or buy from local shop pay $80! which i don't even know if they are that good. I did a quick search, I can get this in AUS. But the earlier would be next Wed, so still late. So my next Q is, so is there any point to have any cups at this point? I live in a house, no upstairs or downstairs.

https://www.amazon.com.au/NUZAMAS-U...228&s=musical-instruments&sr=1-1

Given I won't be moving the piano around against the wall, would it be okay to get an IKEA rug or something to prevent scratches from moving the stool?

thanks!!

Let'sPlayIt
What piano did you decide on ? Remember to post pictures ?

Lady Bird, I ended up getting k300, however the one am receiving will be coming out of the warehouse, so i haven't heard it yet. but the tuner will tune it. the deal was simply too good to turn it down and am happy. no point to get the best piano and cant play well. LOL
I am hoping I don't have to use the castor cups given I haven't got them.

I would not recommend using a rubber-like product on a wood floor, especially with the weight of a piano on it. Over time (even just a few weeks), a chemical phenomenon known as plasticizer migration could result in the rubber discoloring your flooring with ugly stains. The same problem can occur when consumer electronic devices with those little black feet on the bottom are placed on fine wooden furniture.

you absolutely right just thought about this myself, it could melt and stain my floor.
now guess I should get plastic ones? I think wooden ones are the safest. but since theres s small chance i can get them in 3 days, my Q is will thr floor be okay if i wont move the piano.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can get wooden caster cups in one day

Thanks but checked earliest they cab do is 3 oct to aus. We aint in the states. Sooo slow.

Here's what I use under my piano casters but on top of a rug:
https://www.amazon.com/Piano-Caster...;qid=1569499194&s=gateway&sr=8-5

I would *not* recommend these to go directly on the wooden floor though, because they have rubber on the bottom, and as mentioned above, you don't want rubber supporting a huge weight directly on the wood. If you end up with carpeting, then these could go between casters and carpet.

As to your questions: you will be fine without caster cups for a few days, but definitely plan to get them if you don't want to damage the floor in the long term. Maybe arrange for someone to come and help you when the caster cups arrive.

Re moving the piano bench: if the bench is sitting directly on the floor, get some felt pads to go on the bottom of the bench legs and that will protect the floor and make it easier to move the bench. If you end up with an area rug, be sure that all four of the bench legs can sit on the rug when the bench is moved out to play. Then, if the bench is going to be on the rug while you play, you'll want to get something like super sliders, both to protect the area rug and to make it easier to move the bench around.

And most importantly: congratulations!!!

If you can't get the cups in time, cut castor sized pieces of plywood and ask the movers to put them under the feet. Then you can take your time shopping for what you want. The next time you have a party, ask a few strong guys to lift each end while you slide the casters underneath.
I was able to lift my grand myself because it's easy to get a small hydraulic jack under the frame and lift straight up. You can't do that with an upright, but you might be able to make some kind of pry bar that reaches under the bottom so you can lift it yourself if you don't have anyone around to help.
Also, if your floor is really fragile, you might think about putting down pieces of thin plywood (we call it luan over here) so they can roll the piano on the plywood and not on your floor.

Would like to know if my upright will be put on a rug and pad, will castor cups still be necessary? My floors are also hardwood. Thanks.

I would use the cups just because if you move the piano you'll never get the indentations out of the rug. If you use the cups, after a few months of vacuuming it will be hard to tell where the piano was. But to answer your question, I don't think a piano could hurt a floor if it's on top of a rug.

WLH, I want to say no, you probably don't need caster cups with both a rug and a pad... But maybe someone else can chime in?

Also, IIRC it matters what the floor is made out of.... I'm trying to remember which it was, but I seem to recall someone (on here maybe) saying that some kinds of pine are softer than maybe oak??? Having said all that, I have no idea what our floors are, the only thing I know is that they are original to the house and were refinished maybe two years before we bought the place. Under my grand, I have caster cups, then a thin-ish area rug and a 1/4 thick felt pad.

The thing to consider if you use castor cups - they raise not just the piano, but also the pedal height. My previous grand, when it arrived complete with castor cups installed caused considerable ankle and leg pain from the higher pedals. After a couple of weeks of pain, I ended up getting rid of them - and it still to a long time for my ankle and knee to come good.

People have since suggested putting a pad under the heel, and bench to raise them all the equivalent of the castor cups.

Good point. I won't be buying an expensive rug, and it will only be for the piano. If I move the piano off the rug one day, and if it's too indented, I think I will just throw the rug away. Thanks.



I don't know what my floors are either, but I suspect it's just plain old oak. In that case, I think a good rug and pad will be sufficient.

I have a small black doormat (folded twice so that it's not very large but has a little bit of extra height than it would laying flat) in front of the pedals that my heel sits on and that solves the height problem for me. It also doesn't look bad b/c of the design of our rug.

Congratulations you have chosen a very good
piano! Wishing you lots of happy playing ! Nice
size piano too ! Lovely tone !

I will find a dead horse to beat, but I'm not a fan of foam or even felt pads for under caster cups. Piano's are far heavier than other furniture and tend to get moved even less. Over time, and under pressure, the foam will deteriorate or adhere to the floors (and likely both) causing exactly the problem you are hoping to avoid. With luck, you can peel them off. If not, you'll have to scrape off the foam and leave 4 nice circles in your floors finish.

For protection, I recommend lucite or hardwood cups with no backing. Inexpensive plastic cups are often still suitable for small to medium-sized uprights (like the K300), but borderline for most grands. For sound decoupling, the suggested cups are cheaper than the properly designed options, but that comes at a future cost.

We rarely put upright pianos on caster cups.

What are those options?