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I’ve tried searching the forums and found some rather old posts on this topic but wasn’t successful in finding anything recent. I’m going to be moving from California to Florida and that means so begins my anxiety around moving the love of my life, my Bosendorfer 214VC. I’ll be reaching out to my piano technician as well as the store where I purchased said piano for mover advice. However, I wanted to inquire here as well. On this site, I saw Modern Piano Movers and Walters Piano Movers come up in old posts quite frequently. Anyone have recent experience moving their piano across the country? There’s a possibility I might need to put it in storage as well if the home where I’m moving isn’t ready by the time of my move. Needless to say, I’m terrified even thinking about this move. Thanks in advance for any personal references, recommendations, etc.

There is also Keyboard Carriage, but they don't do residential delivery. I found them to be less expensive than the other two I tried, even when I factored in the additional local delivery costs. This may work for you since you may need to store it in a commercial location so you can move out on time, or to wait for you to be ready to receive your piano in FL. If you give them a call, they can tell you who can do the local pick up from CA, their price for CA to FL, and their local drop off contact in FL (unless they can take it to your storage facility directly.) The local piano (CA or FL) delivery people may be able store your piano more safely (climate controlled) than a non-specialized self-store facility, if they are a hub for local dealers.

If you have a good relationship with your local selling dealer, Kelwai’s suggestion may be a good way to go.

What about storing the piano in CA and delivering once you have a house?

I mean...

A piano mover near me in AZ has climate controlled storage in Arizona, they store the piano there, you sell your house, move, and whatever, get a house and move in, then the piano movers deliver.

Maybe there’s something in CA?

I used Schafer Bros Piano Movers a couple of times....not sure how good they are nowadays - I used them back in the early 1990s

https://la411.com/listing/schafer-bros-piano-movers

I'd ditto the idea of storing it locally. The dealer I bought from stored my piano for free when we were decorating our house. Maybe your dealer could do the same thing, or for some nominal charge if it's an extended period of time. They might also be able to help with the moving logistics. I would think all piano dealers have movers they work with on a regular basis.

Yes, the dealer from whom I bought my Estonia 190 used Keyboard Carriage, and the cost of transporting the instrument from Philadelphia PA to Vancouver BC was only $800.00. Visit their website ( www.keyboardcarriage.com ) for specifics and limitations about pick-up and delivery.

Regards,

P.S. That was in 2005. No idea what the transport costs might be today, but KC could certainly inform you.

Marvelous ideas! Many, many thanks to everyone! I’ll know more in the upcoming week if I’ll need to store the piano temporarily. Never even thought about storing it locally, then having it moved … that sounds like an excellent idea. I’m going to call my dealer tomorrow to inquire about movers. I wasn’t sure if they would know a mover that does cross country moves instead of just local deliveries. I want to allow myself enough time in advance so I have a well constructed plan. I’ll still stress out over this move though!

If only we could have the fuel prices of 2005 again!

I feel your stress, as I literally am in the midst of going through the same thing, moving from California to Chicago. My C. Bechstein was picked up last week, as I wrote about in the "piano has left the premises" thread below.

I'm using Modern - I decided a single moving company taking responsibility door to door (and they also have storage capability as well) made sense for me. I was impressed (so far). Piano will probably be delivered late July.

Good luck!


Yeah - those days are looooong gone. I wish it only cost me $800!!

Don't forget to inquire about their "insurance" as well, so you are able to compare the different company's offered liability coverages. You will likely want coverage on your Bosendorfer beyond their basic $/lb coverage. Depending on the season, be prepared to wait 1-2 months for them to schedule the move from between your two local storage facilities. Your local movers can probably do it within a couple of weeks.

Yeah! I paid $350 for a ~20 mile local move about a year ago.

This is good advice. Also check with your current insurance to see if the move is covered. I have Heritage, and called them. Their coverage covers my move, so I didn't need to make use of Modern's insurance (which is a minimal flat coverage limit as a start, and goes up from there).

And yes - it can take a while to get a spot if they are booked up, so it's best to inquire early.

I was quite literally just reading your thread re: your move! Your prep work was quite impressive - I don’t know how to do all of that but I called my piano technician to ask. If you have the time to keep that thread updated between now and delivery, please do! I’ll keep my fingers crossed it’s an easy and smooth move for you and your C. Bechstein!

I also use Heritage and knew a move was in my future, just unsure when. Never hurts to just confirm that it’s insured during transport. My jaw dropped when I read it can take months to move a piano! I’ve got couple months but not much more than that. I’m so appreciative of everyone’s feedback - one could really find themselves in a bind!

Here's another alternative.

Have the piano moved with your house belongings (i'm assuming the use of a semi container or large box truck) and hire local piano movers to load and package the piano into the regular movers truck. This way your only adding a small fee to the overall move. and your having experts handle the piano. And once you arrive at your destination, again hire local piano movers to unload and unpack. I know Mayflower allowed us to do this all the time because regular movers don't really like or are setup for piano moving.

-chris

Thanks! I'll post pics on the other side of this adventure. They told me 45-60 days from pickup for delivery, which would put it around July 24 - August 8. Right in the midst of a humid Chicago summer.

The other thing that may be helpful to do is to take pictures before the movers come and after the piano has been packed by the movers and ready to leave your door. This way you will have proof of how well (or not well) the piano was packed. On my piano, I noticed that there was some damage on the underside by the straps/buckles used to hold the moving blankets onto the piano from a previous move. A little flat black touch up paint made it less obvious, but the dents are still there. Some pianos have beautifully finished undersides, so you might as well try to preserve this and say something before it goes out your door, if you see there is insufficient (i.e. no) padding under the straps/buckles. It may be worthwhile to also ask how many movers they are sending, and if they are planning to do a "lyre tilt". This may be fine for a baby grand, but with a 7'er or larger, it would make me a little more nervous. I would be willing to pay for another moving person on site if it meant they wouldn't need to do a lyre tilt, especially on a performance grade piano like a Bosendorfer.

ABSOLUTELY!! I will take a copious amount of pictures and video before anyone places a finger on my piano While I despise people who tell others how to do their job, I'm afraid I will be a bit of a "helicopter parent" when it comes to them padding up my piano. I'm sure I won't be the first ... or the last Thank you for telling me to ask about how many movers and the lyre tilt - I made sure to put that in my requests. I reached out to Keyboard Carriage and Walters so we shall see what they say ...