September 20, 2011

Three Men and a Truck Piano Moving

I am recovering. Tonight from 7pm to 8:30 my dad, Whit, another man, and my mom and I moved my parents' baby grand piano. Yes. Ourselves. You see, my parents are moving to Georgia from Maryland and it costs a lot of money to hire piano movers. For instance, it cost $250 just to move it from one room in the house to a few rooms away. So my dad figures he can just do it himself. My thoughts? That. is. a. BAD. idea. It's worth the money, just pay for the movers. ;)

But my dad being the relentless engineer he is did research, research, and more research. He watched a video (below) and bought all the supplies needed. It was just an idea at first, and then he bought wood. And then he bought blankets. And then ratchets. And we thought, "Huh. I think this is really gonna happen." 

Problem was (amidst the obvious problem of us not being professional piano movers) we were one guy short. So my dad says "Sydni, you can be our fourth man." Okay, dad. His logic was, when they moved the piano in our house, it only took two guys. Well, two BIG guys. And in the video they had four guys. 

So after a full afternoon of loading up a big truck of our stuff and moving it to a storage unit, we had about an hour break for dinner and then it was time for the piano. When my dad's friend came in our house my dad was sitting cross-legged on the floor under the piano cranking it up on a jack and says "well we're one guy short but we can do it." And he was thinking what am I getting myself into! 

For me it was a long process - each new step my dad explained sounded more risky than the last. But we did it!! !!!!! And I am praising the Lord. I really didn't think we were going to make it through. But between the three of them their strength pulled through and even more, their ingenious minds cleverly came up with solutions to the problems along the way.

For documentation, here is a summary of the process (overly simplified of course): 
1. We took one leg off and with a jack, lowered the piano on its side onto the piano board (scariest part for Whit, who was entrusted to catch the piano if it fell).
2. We held up the piano while the legs were taken off, blankets were put on, and it was strapped in. 
3. We pushed it up two stairs (from the living room to the dining room).
4. We scooted it to the front door. 
5. We pushed it out the front door onto the porch (using a piece of wood as a wedge/lever).
6. Maybe the most skillful part: my dad wedged the piano forward and down two steps as Whit and Rusty held it up, I made sure it didn't fall to the side, and my mom positioned the dolly below it. 
7. We pushed it on the dolly to the truck (easy).
8. SCARIEST PART (for me and my mom anyways): The three men pushed the piano up the uhaul ramp onto the truck while my mom and I stood at the sides holding it up/making sure it didn't fall to one side. And then I almost got squished because the driveway was slanted and it was rolling towards me haha. 

So there it is. I said it couldn't be done but he proved us wrong. My dad's planning and preparation of materials paid off and I am impressed. But tired. So now you can watch the video and kind of see what we went through. Plus a lot of shaking, fast-paced directions, quick decisions, and improvisation. :)

3 comments:

  1. Loved the post & video -- glad you had more than two men & a truck! LOL
    Thankful all were safe after the loading of piano. Love you, Aunt Mimi

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  2. What a fun "family event" haha. It's just like Jeff to take on this task and complete it. So glad everyone is safe, and the piano too. God's blessings. KC

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  3. Piano moves could be especially demanding, since the mover will need special understanding and abilities to securely slowly move the piano. So if you take piano removalists Melbourne or any other service this will be a good and time saving option.

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