Over forty years we have moved museum artefacts, pump engines for canal boats, and a rocking grand piano. Pianos are the item people most often try to move themselves and most often regret. An upright runs to a few hundred kilos with the weight sitting high and towards the back, on castors that were designed for repositioning a piano within a room rather than for taking it anywhere. A grand is heavier again and cannot travel on its own legs.
Britannia Fleet moves uprights, baby grands and grands across Liverpool, Merseyside and further out into Sefton and West Lancashire.
A typical job of this kind
| Service | Piano removals |
| Instruments | Upright, baby grand and grand |
| Area | Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and surrounding towns |
| Booked as | A standalone job, or as part of a house move |
| Assessed by | A survey of the instrument and the route at both ends |
| Experience | Over 40 years of specialist and awkward loads |
Why a piano is not just heavy furniture
The weight is unevenly distributed and it is high up, which makes a piano want to tip rather than slide. The case is usually polished and marks easily. Inside, the action and the strings are under considerable tension and do not enjoy being jolted. Damage to a piano is often invisible on the day and obvious a fortnight later, when it will not hold its tuning.
The castors are the trap. They look like the answer and they are not.
The route matters more than the piano
Most piano jobs are decided by the doorways, the turn at the bottom of the stairs and the width of the path, not by the instrument itself. We look at both ends before quoting. Where a staircase or a doorway will not take it, the plan changes rather than the crew improvising on the morning.
Uprights and grands are different jobs
An upright generally travels upright, protected and secured. A grand is prepared differently, because it cannot sit on its own legs in transit.
After the move
A piano needs time to settle in its new room before it is tuned, because temperature and humidity change how it sits. Booking a tuner for the same week is usually a wasted visit. Ask your tuner what they recommend for the specific instrument.
Where the piano fits in a house move
If you are moving anyway, the piano is planned into the same job rather than booked as a separate visit. That is nearly always cheaper than treating it as its own project, and it means one crew is responsible for the whole day.
Beyond pianos
The same crews handle other loads that do not fit a standard van. Museum artefacts, exhibition pieces and heavy machinery among them. Operations Director Mal Fleet Jr, a Class 1 HGV driver and Transport Manager with full forklift qualifications, supported the relocation of the bee exhibition from World Museum Liverpool to a museum in Ontario.
If you have something unusual, the answer is usually yes, and the survey will tell you how.
Accreditations
- Member of the British Association of Removers
- Independently audited against BS EN 12522, the British and European standard for domestic removals
- Active member of the Britannia Movers Group, the UK’s largest network of family-owned removal companies
- Established 1972, still family run, and now second generation
Get a piano quote
Tell us the type of piano, both addresses and whether there are stairs at either end. Call 0151 482 0432, email sales@fleetremovals.co.uk, or use the quote form.
Related pages
Piano Removals | House Removals Liverpool | Removals Crosby | Removals Merseyside
