What If My Piano Won't Fit Up the Staircase?

What If My Piano Won't Fit Up the Staircase?

Last updated: October 2026

Then the window or balcony will. Our hoisting and crane crew handles the pianos that can't take the stairs.

It's more common in Chicago than you'd think. Much more. The city is full of vintage buildings with stairwells sized for another era. A console piano at the top of a Lake View three-flat, up a staircase with a turn that was never designed for it, is a classic Chicago problem. So is a baby grand headed for the second floor of a greystone.

When the stairs won't work

The turn is too tight. A piano can't bend around a landing.

The stairwell is too narrow. Uprights are wide, and grands are wider.

The ceiling is too low. A piano tipped on the stairs needs headroom.

The stairs can't take it. Old stairs and a very heavy instrument aren't always a good match.

When we hear about the stairs, we can usually tell whether they'll work. If they won't, we plan the hoist instead, and we'd always rather figure that out on the phone two weeks ahead than discover it with a piano wedged against the landing on moving day.

How a piano hoist works

The piano gets padded and strapped first. For a grand, the legs, pedals, and music stand come off before it's wrapped. Then the crew rigs the piano and lifts it to the window or balcony, controlling it the whole way. Crew members inside guide it through the opening and bring it into the room.

Padding, strapping, and controlled rigging protect the piece better than forcing a staircase ever would. Read is hoisting safe for the furniture.

When a crane is needed

Pianos are heavy. Anything well over a couple hundred pounds can bring crane support into the conversation, so a piano hoist sometimes calls for one. Crane jobs are quoted job by job. Read how high can movers hoist furniture.

What we need from you

The piano. Upright, baby grand, or grand, and the brand if you know it.

The stairs. Width, turns, and how many flights.

The window or balcony. Its size, and photos of it from inside and outside.

The ground below. Gangways, fences, trees, and anything else in the way.

Getting it out, too

A piano that was hoisted in will probably need to be hoisted out. If you're selling the building or moving, plan for it. Read can movers hoist furniture out of a building as well as in. If the piano is done for good, our piano disposal service takes it away.

After the move

Plan to have your piano tuner come out once the piano settles in. For how grands are handled, read can you move a grand piano.

Pricing

Piano moves are priced by piano type, stairs, and distance. Every hoist is different, so the hoist is estimated after we know the item, the height, and the access.

Stair problems are covered on our piano moving hub, our hoisting and crane service, and our moving services.

Call (773) 275-4100 or email info@wcmoving.com, and send photos of the stairs.