I am Dominic Russo. I started moving pianos for a Las Olas dealer before I was twenty, and in 2011 I built this company around getting them right. A grand is not furniture with legs. Hand it to a dollar-per-pound crew and you learn that the hard way, on the lid.
Why a piano needs a specialist
A general mover treats a piano like a heavy dresser. The weight is the easy part. The cast-iron plate, the strung harp, and the finish are what punish a guessed-at lift on a tight stair.
- A full grand runs 600 to 1,200 pounds and rides on a piano board, never a hand truck
- The legs and lyre come off first; muscled around assembled, they snap
- South Florida humidity swells the action and rusts strings, so transport and storage have to be climate-controlled
- A 20th-floor Intracoastal condo means a freight elevator and a board, not a passenger car and hope
Check the license before anything else
Florida regulates household-goods movers through FDACS. A real Broward company hands you its registration number before you ask twice.
- In-state authority comes from FDACS — ours is IM3142, and you can verify it on the state site in two minutes
- A move out of Florida to Atlanta or up the coast needs federal authority — ours is USDOT and MC authority
- A broker carries no FDACS number of its own, because it owns no trucks and employs no piano crew
- Active cargo coverage — we carry $1 million — should be a number, not a vague “fully insured”
Ask the question plainly: are the men who show up on payroll here, or do you sell my move to whoever bids lowest? If the answer wanders, that is your answer. — Dominic Russo
Red flags that send me out the door
You can spot the wrong outfit on the first call. None of these are subtle once you know to listen for them.
| The red flag | What it really means |
|---|---|
| A firm piano price quoted sight unseen | Nobody measured the stairwell or the elevator — the number will move on move day |
| “We move pianos too” | Pianos are a sideline, not the trade; the board and skills are borrowed |
| Talk of “carriers in our network” | A broker reselling your grand to a stranger you meet at the curb |
| A card deposit before anyone sees the piano | Leverage handed over before the work is even scoped |
| No COI offered for your condo tower | They have never done a high-rise, and the building will turn the truck away |
Questions that separate the real crews
You do not need to know the trade to ask the right things. Five questions tell you almost everything.
- What is your FDACS number? A real Broward mover answers in one breath. A pause is the tell.
- Who actually carries the piano? The answer should be a W-2 crew on the company’s own trucks — never day labor or “our network.”
- Have you done my building? For a Las Olas or Intracoastal tower, ask who pulls the COI and books the freight elevator.
- Do you use a board? A grand goes on a piano board with the legs removed. “We’ll wrap it good” is not a plan.
- Is the quote flat and in writing? A written flat rate is the figure you pay; a phone number said out loud is bait.
What a real piano move actually looks like
So you know what you are paying for, here is the job from the curb. None of it is improvised on the day.
The move, step by step
Victor walks the route first — door widths, the stairwell turn, the elevator. The legs and lyre come off and get padded separately. The body tips onto a piano board, straps on, and rides skids down the stairs or the freight elevator. At the new place it is reassembled and leveled before anyone touches a key.
What the work costs in Broward
Honest pricing is part of the trade. Pianos price by type, the rest of the home by size, and the figure we write down is the figure you pay.
- Upright piano: $250 to $450
- Baby grand: $450 to $750
- Full grand: $650 to $1,200
- Two-mover crew for a general local job: $140 an hour, or a flat rate — studio to one-bedroom $500 to $750, two-bedroom $1,000 to $1,600, three-bedroom $1,900 to $2,900
The coverage line nobody reads
Federal valuation rules are the same for every licensed mover. Left at the default, your grand is covered at released value — sixty cents a pound. On a piano that is almost nothing.
Choose full-value protection instead, declare what the instrument is worth, and a damaged piece gets repaired or replaced rather than paid out by weight. We carry $1 million in cargo coverage and the claim window runs about nine months. Ask where you sit on that form before you sign it.
Questions Fort Lauderdale readers ask
Is the cheapest piano quote ever the right call?
Rarely. The lowest phone number usually comes from the crew with no board and no COI, and the bill climbs the moment the truck is loaded. Compare written flat rates from licensed piano movers only.
Can a general mover handle my baby grand down a Victoria Park staircase?
Some can. Most guess. The damage you cannot see — a cracked soundboard, a sprung action — shows up weeks later when it is your problem, not theirs.
Are you the company that actually shows up?
Yes. I own the trucks, the crew is on our payroll, and the FDACS number is in this company’s name. One outfit, one flat rate, the grand carried by people who do it every day.