Chicago Piano Movers | Professional Piano Moving Services

🎹 Every Piano Type Is a Different Job

A 300-lb spinet and a 1,200-lb concert grand share a name and almost nothing else. Uprights stay vertical and get pivoted through door frames rather than taken apart. Grands come apart first — pedal lyre and legs removed and padded separately, hardware labeled, lid secured — then travel on their side on a padded piano board.

🎼 Thousands of Chicago Pianos Moved

Our Chicago piano movers have handled thousands of instruments across the city — tight apartment stairwells, high-rise freight elevators, music schools, churches, and private homes. That volume is why the assessment call is short: the crew has almost certainly already done your building type, your stair turn, and your piano.

⭐ Professional Service

Our trained movers arrive on time, handle your belongings with care, and treat your space with respect from start to finish. Floor runners and door-frame protection go down before anything comes out.

💰 Transparent Pricing

No hidden fees or surprise charges. What we quote is what you pay, with stairs, floor count, and access already factored in — there is no separate fee added on the day.

📏 We Measure the Route, Not the Room

The room a piano ends up in is rarely the hard part. The hard part is the turn at the bottom of the stairs, the depth of the landing, whether the front door swings in or out, and whether a banister has to come off. Tell us about those on the phone and the crew shows up sized correctly.

🅿️ A Straight Shot from Tailgate to Door

On roughly 99% of our moves no permit is needed — we park out front, in the alley, on a side street, or in a loading zone. Piano moves care less about the space than the line: we want the shortest, flattest, most obstruction-free path from tailgate to door. If your block is a narrow one-way with no alley, we file an enforceable CDOT permit ourselves.

🏢 Freight Elevators Have Calendars

High-rises and vintage courtyard buildings both come with rules. Most towers want a freight elevator reserved in a set window and a certificate of insurance on file before the truck arrives. We can provide the COI, but the elevator slot is the building’s to give — book it early and the whole day gets easier.

⚖️ Crew Size Is Set Before the Day

A ground-floor upright is usually a three-mover job. A grand, or anything involving a flight of stairs, is four or more. We decide that in advance instead of sending two people and improvising, which is how instruments get damaged and backs get hurt. Heavier instruments and harder paths need more hands, and that is the main thing that moves the price.

💵 What Drives the Price

Two things move the number: how heavy the instrument is and how hard it is to get it out. A spinet on a ground floor is the simplest version of this job. A grand adds weight, length, and disassembly, and every flight of stairs, tight landing, or long carry from the curb adds either more movers or more time on site. Distance across the city matters far less than what stands between the piano and the truck. We quote each move individually once we know the instrument and the access, so the figure you get is built around your building rather than an average.

📅 When to Book

Piano moves do not follow the first-of-the-month rush that fills our apartment calendar, so midweek and mid-month dates are often open on short notice, and same-day or next-day piano moves are frequently possible. The constraint is rarely our truck — it is the building’s freight elevator calendar, a dealer’s delivery date, or a tuner you have already scheduled. A week of notice is comfortable for most uprights, and more is worth having for a grand in a building with a reservation system.

🎹 Upright Piano Moving

Spinets, consoles, studio uprights, and full uprights, roughly 300 to 800 pounds. These move vertically, tipped and pivoted through door frames rather than taken apart. Player pianos and antique uprights live here too — the extra mechanism and older, softer finishes just mean slower hands and more blanket.

🎼 Baby Grand Piano Moving (5′ to 6′)

At five to six feet, the baby grand is the most common grand in a Chicago condo. The lid gets latched, the pedal lyre and legs come off and are padded separately, and the body travels on its side on a padded piano board. Reassembly at the far end is part of the job, not an add-on.

🎵 Grand Piano Moving (6′ to 7′)

Six- and seven-foot grands are heavier and, more importantly, longer — length is what decides whether a stairwell turn is possible at all. We check the diagonal of every landing and doorway before quoting. Same disassembly as a baby grand, more crew, and a route planned in advance rather than found on the day.

🎶 Concert Grand Piano Moving (7′+)

Nine-foot concert grands are the hardest moves we do and the ones we plan hardest. Extra crew, proper rigging, and often a route that avoids stairs entirely. These usually live in schools, churches, and studios, so we coordinate with whoever controls the loading entrance well ahead of the date.

1. Assessment

We ask what the piano is, what floor it starts and ends on, how many stairs are involved, how the doors swing, and whether either building has an elevator to reserve. That settles crew size, equipment, and the quote before anyone is standing in your living room.

2. Preparation

The keyboard lid is closed and secured and the top lid latched. On grands, the pedal lyre and legs come off with the hardware bagged and labeled. Everything is blanket-wrapped and corner-protected before it moves an inch.

3. Transport

The piano goes onto a board or dolly, strapped at its balance points, and out along the route we already walked. In the truck it is strapped to the wall rather than simply set down — a piano free to shift is what ruins a soundboard.

4. Placement

Legs and lyre go back on, the piano is set exactly where you want it, and casters and level are checked. Every blanket and runner leaves with us, and we will tell you roughly when to line up a tuner.

🏢 Apartment Moving

Studios through multi-bedroom apartments, walk-ups and high-rises alike, with stairs and elevator access priced into the quote from the start.

💼 Office Relocations

Desks, files, and IT moved around your business hours, with loading docks and freight-elevator windows coordinated with building management.

💪 Labor Only Load/Unload

You supply the rental truck or container, we supply the muscle and the loading strategy. Ideal when the truck is already booked.

⚡ Emergency & Last-Minute

Same-day and next-day crews for broken leases, failed closings, and movers who never showed up. No rush fee for the short notice.

🗿 Specialty Item Moving

Safes, gym equipment, aquariums, sculpture, and oversized art — the awkward, heavy, or fragile things a standard crew turns down.

🎓 Student & Dorm Moving

Dorm and off-campus moves around Loyola, DePaul, UIC, and the University of Chicago, sized for a room rather than a household.

🛋️ Furniture Delivery

Single-piece pickups and deliveries from showrooms, warehouses, and marketplace sellers, carried inside and placed rather than left at the curb.

🧓 Senior Moving

Downsizing and senior-community moves at an unhurried pace, with patient crews and coordination around closing dates and family schedules.

🖼️ Furniture Staging

Staging inventory moved in before the photo shoot and back out after closing, scheduled around listing dates and agent walkthroughs.

🏙️ Local Chicago Movers

Full-service local moving across Chicago and the surrounding Illinois suburbs, serving city neighborhoods since 2018. Free, upfront quotes.

How much does moving a piano cost in Chicago?

There is no flat price for a piano, and any piano moving company that quotes you one over the phone has not asked enough questions. Cost tracks weight and access — an upright on a ground floor is the least involved job, a grand up two flights the most, because heavier instruments and harder paths need more hands. Tell us the piano type, the floor at each end, the stairs, and whether there is an elevator, and we will quote it before the day.

How far ahead should I book a piano move?

Piano moves miss the first-of-the-month crunch that fills our apartment calendar, so a week of notice usually gets you the date you want and same-week is often possible. Build in more time if a freight elevator has to be reserved, since that window belongs to the building rather than to us. Dealer deliveries and tuner appointments are the other two things worth scheduling around.

Where does the truck park, and do I need a permit?

Almost never. On about 99% of our moves the crew parks out front, in the alley, on a side street, or in a loading zone. What matters for a piano is the line rather than the spot — a short, flat, unobstructed path from the tailgate to your door. On the rare narrow one-way with no alley access, we file an enforceable CDOT parking permit ourselves — it is handled on our end, and there is nothing for you to apply for. Our guide to Chicago moving permits and truck parking has the full picture.

What if the piano will not fit through the door?

We measure first, so this rarely becomes a surprise on the day. Uprights tilt and pivot through most standard door frames, and grands are already partly disassembled by the time they reach one. When clearance is genuinely short we can pull a door off its hinges, remove a door frame or a banister, or route through a different entrance. If none of that works, you hear it during the assessment — not after the piano is already in the stairwell.

Will my piano need tuning after the move?

Almost certainly, but not immediately. Moving unsettles the strings, and the larger factor is the new room’s temperature and humidity. Give the piano two to four weeks to acclimate before you have it tuned, or you will end up paying for the same tuning twice. We are happy to point you toward tuners we have worked with.

Can you move a piano in winter?

Yes, we move pianos year-round. In cold weather the priority is limiting how long the instrument is exposed, so the truck is positioned as close to the door as the block allows and the piano stays wrapped until it is inside. Expect a longer settling period before tuning after a winter move, since the piano is adjusting to a bigger temperature swing.

Are you insured for piano moves?

Yes — liability coverage is included on every job rather than sold as an upgrade. If your building needs a certificate of insurance naming it as additional insured before the freight elevator is released, send us the requirements and we will get it issued.

Do you move pianos in the Chicago suburbs?

Yes. We move pianos throughout Chicago and across the surrounding Illinois suburbs, from Evanston and Oak Park out to Naperville and Schaumburg. Suburban piano moves are quoted the same way as city ones, with the drive between the two addresses accounted for in the estimate rather than added on afterward.