The first question almost everyone asks Paul on the phone is the same: what will it take to move my piano? It is the right thing to ask, and the only honest opening answer is that it depends on the instrument and the building it lives in. Walking a spinet down a level Belmont driveway is one job; lowering a nine-foot concert grand out of a fourth-floor Back Bay walk-up is another animal entirely. Paul Marchetti grew up on Mount Auburn Street in Watertown, tuned and repaired pianos before he ever drove a truck, and he started this shop in 2009 so owners would get a straight figure instead of a guess that swells on move day. So here are our 2026 piano rates, the way we set them, and the few factors that nudge the number higher or lower.
Why Pianos Are Priced Per Instrument, Not Per Hour
General household movers bill by the hour or by home size. We do neither, because a piano is a single object with a known weight and a known method, and minutes on a meter barely change the risk. Each piano carries its own flat figure, set before our crew arrives. Stairs, tight turns, a long carry, a window lift, or a drive across state lines get added on top, and every one of those is something we can see coming and quote in advance.
What the flat figure already covers
Whatever band your instrument falls in, the price includes our trained piano crew, the truck, and the full kit they bring through your door:
- Piano boards, skid boards, and a grand carriage sized to the instrument
- Heavy moving blankets, stretch wrap, and straps for every surface and corner
- Taking a grand apart and rebuilding it — legs, lyre, and pedals come off, then go back on at the far end
- $1M of cargo coverage riding on the job, with a full-value protection option on request
Local per-piano rates for 2026
The bands below are starting figures for a standard ground-to-ground move inside Greater Boston, with reasonable access at both doors. They climb with stairs, a crane, or distance, which the next sections break down.
| Piano Type | Typical Weight | Crew on the Job | Local Flat Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upright / spinet | 300–400 lbs | 2 movers | $220 – $400 |
| Console / studio upright | 350–500 lbs | 2 movers | $280 – $480 |
| Baby grand | 500–650 lbs | 2–3 movers | $420 – $720 |
| Grand | 650–900 lbs | 3 movers | $580 – $980 |
| Concert grand | up to 1,400 lbs | 3–4 movers | $850 – $1,500 |
These are not teaser numbers. For most of the pianos we handle across Watertown, Cambridge, Newton, and Brookline, the figure we put our name to lands within its row, and you have the quote in hand days ahead of the move.
The Surcharges, and What Triggers Them
Two identical baby grands a mile apart can come back priced a couple hundred dollars off each other, and the difference nearly always traces to the building rather than the instrument:
- Stairs. Figure about $40 to $75 per flight, and more per step once a grand is involved. A Beacon Hill brownstone with a winding switchback run, or a Somerville triple-decker with three steep flights and no elevator, is where this adds up fast.
- Long or tight carry. Budget $60 to $140 for a stretched walk from a North End cobblestone curb to a rear door, or a pinched hallway that forces the piano the long way around.
- A crane lift. When there is no stair path that fits the instrument, it goes through a window or over a balcony on a crane, which runs $650 to $1,800 depending on reach and the upper floor. Tall Back Bay and Beacon Hill units are the usual candidates.
- Distance. Once a move leaves Massachusetts for Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine, it prices as a per-piano base plus mileage, written and signed before we load.
Climate Storage, Crating, and Tuning
A few jobs need more than a move, and each has its own line so nothing hides in the total:
- Climate-controlled storage for a piano runs about $60 to $130 per instrument per month, in a room held steady against New England humidity swings rather than a standard self-storage unit.
- Crating for export or long-term holding is $300 to $700 per piano, built around the instrument for real protection in transit or storage.
- Tuning is not part of the move, and it should not be done the same day. A piano needs roughly two to four weeks to settle into a new room before it holds a tuning, so we line up a technician on request, usually $150 to $250 paid directly to the tuner.
What an Interstate Move Looks Like
Those local bands fall away the instant a job crosses a state line. A grand bound from Cambridge to a relative up in Portland, Maine, or a console headed down to Providence, prices instead as a per-piano base plus the mileage, locked as one binding written figure before anything is loaded. Whoever wraps your instrument in the shop is who unloads it in the new room. We never subcontract and never hand a piano off to a stranger on a load board. The way an interstate job runs is laid out on our long-distance piano transport page.
I tuned pianos before I ever moved one, so I know exactly what a careless carry does to a pin block or a soundboard. That is why the price is a real number on paper before my crew touches your instrument, and why we measure the stairs and the doorways first. An owner trusting us with a grand that has been in the family for two generations should never get a surprise at the curb. — Paul Marchetti, owner
Every move carries $1M of cargo coverage. Mt Auburn Piano Movers is a licensed and insured Massachusetts mover, holding a Massachusetts DPU household-goods carrier license plus separate USDOT and MC authority for interstate piano transport. Our own piano-only crews handle each job start to finish, with nothing subcontracted. The full handling process is on the piano moving page, short-term holding on the climate storage page, and the towns and states we cover on the service areas page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to move an upright piano in Boston?
A standard upright or spinet runs about $220 to $400 for a local ground-to-ground move, and a console or studio upright $280 to $480. Stairs, a long carry, or a crane add on top, and we pin the precise number once we have the access details at each door.
What does it cost to move a grand piano?
Reckon on $420 to $720 for a baby grand, $580 to $980 for a full grand, and $850 to $1,500 for a concert grand on a local move. Partly dismantling and rebuilding the grand is folded into that figure, with legs, lyre, and pedals off for the carry.
Why do stairs add to the price?
Stairs add roughly $40 to $75 per flight, more per step for a grand, because a winding Beacon Hill or triple-decker staircase is slower and demands more hands and control. A unit with no stair path that fits the piano may need a crane lift, quoted at $650 to $1,800.
Do you tune the piano after the move?
Tuning is separate, and a piano should rest about two to four weeks in its new room before it is tuned, so it can settle to the humidity and temperature. We line up a technician on request, usually $150 to $250 paid to the tuner.
Can you quote a piano move without seeing it?
Usually yes. Give us the piano type, the building and floor at each address, and the stairs or elevator setup, and a couple of photos or a short clip sharpens the figure. Whatever we put on paper is the amount due, with no surprise hours appearing afterward.
Get Your Boston Piano-Moving Price in Writing
Give us the piano type, both addresses, the floor and stairs at either end, and a target date. A plain flat figure comes back to you, each surcharge itemized, and nobody pushing you to commit.