Piano Movers in Philadelphia, PA

A piano is heavy, awkwardly balanced, and expensive to damage – not a job for a rented dolly and good intentions. Universal Moving Services handles upright and baby grand pianos with equipment built for the job: piano boards, skid boards, and professional-grade straps, run by a crew trained specifically in piano handling rather than general furniture movers improvising.

Philadelphia adds its own difficulty on top of a piano’s normal weight problem. Rowhomes mean narrow stairwells, tight turns at landings, and doorframes that weren’t built with a 500-pound upright in mind. We’ve moved pianos out of third-floor Fishtown walk-ups and down the switchback staircases common in South Philly rowhomes, and we plan the route before anyone touches the instrument.

Our piano moving process

• Pre-move assessment of stairs, doorways, and turn angles
• Upright pianos secured to a piano board for controlled carrying
• Baby grand pianos disassembled – legs, lyre, and pedal lyre removed and padded separately
• Furniture dollies and ramps for level ground; stair-specific handling for flights
• Careful re-leveling and reassembly at the destination

Piano types we move

Crew chief Sean O’Brien has led enough of these jobs in rowhome stairwells to know exactly where a turn will bind before the piano gets there – that planning step is what keeps a piano move from turning into a wall-gouging, finger-pinching ordeal. We never rush a stairwell turn to save time.

Tuning is not included in a piano move, and any reputable mover will tell you the same: a piano typically needs a tuning check a few weeks after relocation regardless of how carefully it traveled, simply because of the change in humidity and temperature between locations.

Good to know: Piano moves are quoted separately from a standard household move, based on piano type, stair count, and distance from truck to final placement – even if it’s happening alongside a full residential move.

Doorway width matters as much as staircase angle. A baby grand’s body is wider than most interior doors once the legs are off, so we measure the actual clearance before deciding whether it travels through a doorway flat, on its side, or needs a threshold removed temporarily. Guessing on that measurement is how door frames and piano rims both end up damaged.

If you’re relocating out of state and the piano is coming with you, we coordinate piano handling as part of the same interstate move rather than booking a separate specialty hauler. And if the piano is staying behind temporarily while you settle into a new place, our short-term storage option keeps it climate-controlled until you’re ready. Get a free quote and tell us the piano type and stair situation so we can staff it right.