Melbourne can give you four seasons in a day, and piano moves happen in all of them. Rain, heat and cold all affect a piano, so the weather is part of every plan we make.
What happens if it rains on moving day?
Light rain is usually fine. The piano is wrapped in padded covers, and the time it spends outside between the door and the truck is short. Heavy rain is different. Water on a piano case, or worse inside it, is something to avoid, and wet paths and steps make the move itself less safe.
So when it pours, we wait. One family wrote that it was raining on their moving day, but the crew waited it out and moved their baby grand with great care. Another customer described heavy rain on the day of their upright move, and said the job was still done professionally with no hassles. A short wait is a small price for a dry piano.
Heat
On hot days, the inside of a vehicle gets very warm, and long exposure to heat is hard on glue joints, timber and finishes. That is why we drive a piano straight to its new home rather than leaving it sitting in a truck or a depot.
Cold and damp
Cold on its own is less of a worry than sudden change. A piano carried from a cold truck into a heated room will adjust over the following days, which is one reason tuning should wait until it has settled.
Hills and country moves
Moves in the hills and on the coast often mean gravel paths, lawns and long driveways, which are the first things to get slippery. Our pages on Croydon and the Mornington Peninsula cover how we plan for them, and long distance piano moving explains country runs.
After the move
- Keep the piano away from heaters, air conditioners, fireplaces and direct sun
- Avoid spots under windows that are often left open
- Give it two to three weeks before the first tuning
- If you live somewhere with big seasonal swings, ask your tuner about humidity
Our guide should you tune a piano after moving it? explains why that settling time matters.
Questions
Weather and piano moving: FAQs
Will you move a piano in the rain?
In light rain, yes, with the piano wrapped. In heavy rain we wait it out rather than risk the piano or the crew.
Is it bad to move a piano in hot weather?
Heat is manageable when the piano goes straight to its destination and is not left sitting in a vehicle.
Does the weather affect tuning after a move?
Yes. Changes in temperature and humidity affect tuning, so let the piano settle before booking a tuner.
Ready when you are