Pianos and specialist moves

A piano weighs between 200 and 350 kilos and is worth more than the van, so it is a job for people who move them every week rather than people who have seen it done. Two of our crew do nothing else on a Thursday. The same applies to a gun safe, a marble table, a seven-foot mirror and the fridge that will not go through the door it came in through.

Uprights go on a piano trolley with the castors off the floor, strapped, and down steps on a skid board with two of us below and one above; a flight of stairs adds £40 and we ask for a photograph of the stairs before quoting. Grands are taken off their legs, wrapped, and travel on a skid; from £420 with three crew. We tell you if a piano will not fit the route before we try, and a piano that has to come out of a window needs a lifting team, which we arrange and quote separately.

Safes, American fridges and anything over 150 kilos go on a stair-climber. Large glass and marble travel in A-frames. Antiques and art are blanket-wrapped and boxed if they are worth it, and cover above the included £10,000 is £12 per extra £1,000, arranged the week before. Send photographs and a rough weight and we quote within the day.

What is included

• A crew who move pianos every week
• Piano trolley, skid board, stair-climber, A-frames
• Stairs priced per flight, from photographs, before the day
• Grands taken off their legs and re-assembled
• Extra cover arranged for valuable items
• A straight answer if it will not go

What it costs

Upright piano £180 added to a move, from £240 on its own within Cardiff, stairs priced per flight. Grand pianos from £420. Safes, art and large glass quoted from photographs. Including VAT, fuel within 30 miles and £10,000 of cover. The vans page has the four sizes and what each holds; the estimate page turns bedrooms into a figure.