Peter,
I don't know if Larry F or the other folks who have been commenting on his comments have any disagreement with things I've said, but, from my point of view, most of the input has been fairly consistent. You've explained, in response to my last post, that your own role in this has become more pro-active, for which I hope you're being adequately compensated.
I was originally just asked for advice in storing the piano in its final location. However, my client has now asked me to oversee the outgoing move.
As such, it no longer is adequate that:
All I know about the moving company is that they assured my client that they are very experienced moving pianos. YOU need to have as much documented assurance as you would want/expect to have if you were moving a priceless possession of your own. It might be helpful to get an extremely detailed list of what Larry (or anyone else) might expect to know about the entire situation (and the movers), even if you need to pay something for that. Many of the ideas have already been touched on. For example:
- how far is it moving?
- when (time of year) is move taking place?
- what conditions will piano be subjected to in transit (transfer, extended period in hot/cold truck, over the mountains in 20" of snow, etc.)
- why is piano to be stored on side? conditions in that venue (home)?
- piano should be set up upon delivery and checked by a reliable technician, even if it is to be subsequently stored on side. Otherwise, you/they have no way of knowing if something
did happen, en route, (unless it's oh so obvious). That technician should not
have to supervise the set up, if the movers are qualified to be doing it in the first place.
- the issue of 'why a skid' with regard to long-term effect on finish has been previously discussed, but maybe you need to revisit that
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David Skolnik
Hastings-on-Hudson NY
914-231-7565
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Original Message:
Sent: 09-13-2014 12:50
From: Peter Stevenson
Subject: Storing Grand Pianos on their Side
Hi David,
I'm not sure you've entirely understood some of the posted responses to your question
This could well be. I'm trying!
First of all, how active a role are YOU playing in the actual arrangement? Are you intending to oversee/supervise this process? You articulate your expectations, but I'm not sure we ever determined whether the mover in question has any expertise in moving pianos.
I was originally just asked for advice in storing the piano in its final location. However, my client has now asked me to oversee the outgoing move. All I know about the moving company is that they assured my client that they are very experienced moving pianos. As far as I know,
there are no companies that specialize in cross-country piano moving in Canada. My understanding in talking to other technicians and dealers in British Columbia is that it is common to use companies like this for long-distance moves.
Why would they want to do that? As long as they know what they're doing, and set the piano with the lip of the lid over-hanging skid.
Perhaps I was not being clear. The scenario I was trying to describe was having the piano moved with the lid on, on the skid. Then when it arrives in its resting spot, it gets taken off of the skid and the lid removed.
What were you thinking it should sit on? And what made you think that the recommendation of a skid was specifically related to the presence of the lid?
This is exactly my question to the list. I understand the basics of piano moving, but I am trying to get an idea of what is important and what is not important regarding storing the piano. If there are other reasons for storing the piano on the skid board, I would love to hear them.
You, or your client, should firmly establish the credentials of the movers to handle this aspect of the operation long before they're coming through the door, with or without skid in tow.
Let me explain one more aspect of my situation. I live in a city of 80,000 people, 500 miles away from the nearest big city. The local piano movers who "specialize" in pianos don't really know very much about piano moving. Although there is another technician who comes in once in a while, I am the only full-time technician who lives here. So as far as I can tell, I and whoever is going to be picking up the piano here are going to have to be the experts.
That said, if the piano is going to end up being taken off of its skid board for storage, then there will be a piano technician on the other end to help with that process as well.
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Peter Stevenson RPT
P.S. Piano Service
Prince George BC
250-562-5358
ps@pspianoservice.com