About

Serving Santa Cruz and San Jose's piano moving needs since 1982, Howard's Piano Moving is an owner operated business licensed by the State of California and fully insured to protect your valuable instrument and your home during the moving process. Rick Howard – The Piano Mover – will personally ensure that your piano moving experience is stress-free and uneventful.

At Howard's Piano Moving, we offer piano moving services across the Western US. We can move your piano whether it's just in the state of California or we can transport it to Arizona or Nevada and beyond. Buying a piano on eBay? Check with Rick The Piano Mover before you bid to get an estimate.

Moving a piano is both a science and an art form. It requires specialized equipment, experience, and knowledge of what will and will not work, in order to protect the piano, the mover, and the home. An upright piano has around 5,000 moving parts and can weigh up to 800 lbs. A grand piano has an average of 10,000 moving parts and can weigh up to 1300 lbs. It's easy to see why moving a piano is both a delicate and potentially dangerous operation.

Rick Howard is known as The Piano Mover for good reason. He has over 38 years of experience, the physical size, and the calm, gentle temperament that makes him one of the most recommended piano movers in the area. He can handle the simple move of a small upright piano efficiently and economically but specializes in moving grand pianos and moves that involve stairs or multiple floors.

Experienced & Reliable

Howard’s Piano Moving understands the stress and anxiety that comes with moving your piano. We will do everything in our power to make sure you feel comfortable with the situation on moving day. Our professional movers will be able to explain the steps taken to protect your piano. Any questions that you may have about the piano moving equipment, procedures, and specialized transportation being used for your piano will be answered.

We will provide an estimate based on important information that you provide us, like accessibility, size of piano, distance traveled, etc. The more information that you provide us will help in giving you a proper estimate. With our vast experience in the moving of pianos, we excel at providing our services in a timely manner, from estimating moving times to completing the job.

Licensed and Insured

Howard's Piano Moving is licensed with the California PUC — Carrier ID:  MTR0170197.  To protect you the consumer, the CPUC licenses and regulates companies that move household goods within California.  To be licensed, moving companies must prove their financial and safety fitness.  They must also prove to the CPUC that they have adequate insurance and they are subject to criminal background clearance by the California Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Howard's Piano Moving is also fully insured to protect your piano and/or damage to your home, with a $1,000,000 liability, damage and cargo policy.  This coverage is provided at no charge and is well in excess of the $15,000 policy that is required by the California PUC to be licensed.  While the minimum $15K policy might be sufficient for the simple move of an upright piano, it is inadequate to cover the cost of moving most grand pianos.  Other licensed movers might provide additional insurance, but they typically charge for the added coverage that is sufficient to cover your piano and home.

Our Comittment and Guarantee

We have over 38 years experience in piano moving and our work is 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.  We will protect your piano as if it were ours.

  • When you hire us you get the benefit of all of our equipment as well.  Howard's Piano Moving has some of the best moving equipment available such as customized dollies, protective pads for both the inside and outside of your piano, and hardwood piano carry boards with upholstery to protect the finish.
  • In the rare event that something does go wrong, Howard's Piano Moving is fully insured to cover any cost to the piano and your home.
  • You can be assured that the price that we estimate, and the final cost of the job will be the same as long as we are aware of any difficulties that may be presented
  • We take great pride in customer satisfaction and delivering results in a timely and professional manner.