It is surprising the amount of pianos that are stored in storage facilities each year!
There are countless reasons as to why somebody would need to keep a piano in storage that are often overlooked until you have the need for it yourself: downsizing houses, remodeling your current house, keeping family heirloom pianos, moving out of state, or any other reason that would merit a facility.
If you are moving your piano into a storage facility, there are some things that you need to consider before you are ready for the movers to come and take it to the facility.
Here are 5 tips on preparing your piano for a storage facility.
Take Notes
Take detailed notes of your piano and the condition it’s in. Do a full walk through inspection, just as if you were buying a house and wanted to make sure you knew of all the nicks and scratches. This way, whenever you decide to take your piano out of storage you will know what to expect and will notice if anything doesn’t seem like it’s in the condition that it should be. Make a copy for yourself and for your storage facility.
Clean Your Piano
Depending on how long you plan to have your piano in storage, you will want to give your piano a nice good polish and cleaning before it’s moved to the facility. If your piano isn’t in tip top shape or condition going into the facility, it won’t be coming out of the facility in great shape either. If you use your bench for storage, make sure your music sheets and other items out of there before potentially losing or misplacing them.
Prep Your Piano
Along with cleaning your piano is prepping your piano. A lot of people have picture frames, candles, and other décor that they leave on their piano. You will want to have all of this removed before the piano movers arrive. You also want to make sure your house is ready for movers to come in and to be able to maneuver your piano out and into their truck in one easy go.
Piano Moving Supplies
If you are moving your piano on your own into a storage facility, then you will want to get the proper supplies in order to store it. For example, straps are needed to keep the piano from falling open while moving pads are used to protect and prevent dust from settling on the piano. If you are using a professional moving company, then you won’t have to bother with situating your piano and properly storing it.
Hire Piano Movers
One of the best pieces of advice that we can give is to first hire moving professionals that can move your piano for you and to store it in a climate controlled storage facility. Having your piano stored properly and in good care can make all the difference when you are ready for your piano to come out of storage. They are delicate instruments and a climate controlled facility is really beneficial for the care of your piano in the long-run.
Hopefully these tips will help you prepare for moving your piano into storage. If you have any questions or are seeking professional piano moving services, contact West Coast Moving & Storage today! Providing trusted services in the Northwest since 2004, we can also prepare you a free moving estimate.
It seems like a couple of straps are what my uncle might need for his piano. Since he lives on the third floor of his apartment, it would be a good idea for him to use those. His plans are to move his piano out and take into a storage facility that he’s renting out.
I like the recommendation to clean the piano before putting it in storage. I’m looking to have my piano stored for the time being and I think it’s important that it remains in good shape. I’ll have to make sure to clean it and find a facility that’s clean itself .
Looks like I got some work cut out for me before I inherit the family piano. there’s no room in my apartment so I’m looking for a storage. I hadn’t been aware that it needs to be cleaned and prepped before storing it away.
Great information about piano storage! I like that you pointed out that it would be smart to hire a professional piano mover. I know that I would personally ask help from friends, but it seems like that is asking for trouble. It seems like hiring professionals really is the safest option for both you and your piano.
My parents recently offered to give my husband and me their piano. We don’t have room for it in our house right now, so these tips for putting it into storage are really helpful. It will be a pain to clean it up and document every scratch, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Now, I just need to find a storage facility where it will be safe.
Thank you for all these great information for helping our loved ones move. One thing that really stood out to me is that you say to give yourself time to prepare for the piano storage. Thank you, keep it up!
Excellent and honest post. I found this much useful information, as to what I was exactly searching for piano storage information. Thanks for such post and please keep it up.