What you're actually lifting
An upright piano weighs between 180 and 350 kilos depending on age and size — an old overstrung upright is at the heavy end. A baby grand is 250 to 400, and a full concert grand can exceed half a tonne.
The weight is not the whole problem, though. It is where the weight sits: the cast iron frame and the strings put most of the mass high up and towards the back, which makes an upright far more likely to tip backwards than any other piece of furniture.
That is why pianos injure people. A wardrobe tipping is a nuisance; 300 kilos of piano tipping onto a stair is a serious injury. Three people minimum, a proper piano trolley or skates, and straps — not a sack barrow and optimism.
- Upright: 180–350 kg
- Baby grand: 250–400 kg
- Concert grand: up to 500 kg+
- Weight is high and to the back
- Cast iron frame does most of it
- Never fewer than three people
The route matters more than the piano
Measure doorways, the turn at the bottom of the stairs and any half-landing, and remember an upright is moved on its side or its back rather than upright through a tight space. The tight point in a tenement is usually the close door, not the flat door.
Stairs are the genuine hazard. Down is worse than up, because gravity is doing the work and stopping is what fails. Anything more than a few steps with a piano is a job for people with the right equipment, and it is not false modesty to say so.
Legs and pedal lyres come off most grands, and the lid comes off many uprights, which buys useful centimetres. On a grand the standard method is to remove the legs and move it on its side on a proper piano board.
Three hundred kilos and a turn in the stair?
That's a job for equipment and a crew, and it's one we do routinely.
Is it worth anything?
Be prepared for the honest answer: most old uprights are worth nothing, and many are worth less than nothing because moving them costs more than they will fetch. The second-hand market is flooded and digital pianos have taken the beginner market entirely.
The ones with value are quality names in good condition, anything recently reconditioned, and most grands. If yours might be one of those, a piano technician's opinion before you dispose of it is worth the call-out — as is checking whether the case is anything unusual.
Schools, churches, community centres and care homes do sometimes take instruments, but only playable ones, and they will generally not pay for the move. A piano that will not hold tune is not a donation, it is a disposal with extra steps.
What disposal involves
A piano is not one material. The frame is cast iron and goes to metal recovery; the strings are steel; the case is timber, usually veneered and often treated; the keys are plastic or, on older instruments, occasionally ivory; and there is felt, leather and brass throughout.
That mix is why a piano is not a recycling centre item in practice — very few will take one, and getting it there is the same problem as everything else. Breaking it down is genuinely worthwhile though, because the iron frame is substantial and the metal has real recovery value.
We remove uprights and grands across Scotland, break them down where they will not come out whole, and separate the metal for recovery. Priced by volume with the carrying included — see piano removal.
