What Piano Removal Costs in Denver
By Darius Schultz, owner · Updated
No lead form to unlock the number. Here is what piano removal and disposal costs with us, a real job with the real total, how to tell what kind of piano you have, and an honest answer to the question everyone asks first: is it worth anything?
- Owner-operated: Darius handles the job start to finish
- Photo quote by text, usually within 10 minutes during business hours
- Mon to Sat 7am to 7pm, Sunday by appointment
Upright Piano Removal Is $349 to $449.
Removing an upright, spinet or console piano is $349 to $449 on the ground floor, depending on the piano: spinets at the low end, console and studio uprights in the middle, full-size, player and antique uprights at the high end. Pianos are not priced by the yard. The price covers padding the piano and your floors, strapping it to the piano dolly, walking it out, hauling it and the disposal, for a piano on the ground floor with a clear path to the door. Two things add to it, and nothing else does:
- +$150 per flight of stairs it comes up or down. A flight is 4 or more steps; 1 to 3 steps at a door or porch are part of the path.
- +$100 if it has to be broken down on site to get out.
- No grand pianos. For a grand or baby grand, call a dedicated piano mover.
| Layout | The math | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Ground floor, clear path (1 to 3 porch steps included), leaves whole | The piano alone | $349 to $449 |
| Ground floor, too big for the doorway | Piano + $100 | $449 to $549 |
| Basement or upstairs, one flight, leaves whole | Piano + $150 | $499 to $599 |
| Basement, one flight, broken down (the Englewood job, charged $600 in August) | Piano + $150 + $100 | $599 to $699 |
| Two flights (a porch flight plus a basement), leaves whole | Piano + $150 + $150 | $649 to $749 |
Piano prices are starting rates for a typical job. The exact price is confirmed from your photos and again on site before anything is lifted.
Why does a piano start above our $149 minimum when a couch does not, and why a range instead of one number? A couch is a lift-and-go item. A spinet or console usually weighs 300 to 500 pounds, and an old full-size upright 500 to 700, most of it in the cast-iron plate that holds the strings. I work solo, so a piano moves slowly and safely, one step at a time with a piano dolly, straps and a stair plan, and it often has to come apart to get out. The heavier the piano, the longer that takes, which is why a spinet sits at the low end of the range and a full-size, player or antique upright at the high end. Stairs add the most time and risk, so each flight is priced on its own, and the haul and the disposal are in the price either way. Different job, different price.
These are starting rates because no two homes are the same. The exact number is confirmed from your photos, then again face to face on site before anything is lifted, and you approve it before we start. Booking details, the stair plan and what we take are on the piano removal service page; this guide is about the cost.
Six Things That Shape Your Piano Quote.
Two uprights the same size can quote very differently. The piano itself sets where you land in the $349 to $449 ground-floor range, but the bigger swings come from everything between the piano and the trailer: how many flights, and whether it leaves whole.
Basement or upstairs
The biggest factor. A ground-floor piano rolls out on the dolly. A basement or second-floor piano comes up or down one step at a time, and every landing is a pivot with hundreds of pounds on the straps. Each flight of 4 or more steps adds $150.
Tight doorways and turns
The ground-floor price assumes a clear path. A narrow hall, a doorway with a hard turn or a stairwell with a low ceiling is what decides whether the piano leaves whole or has to come apart first.
Breaking it down on site
If the piano will not make the stairs or the doorway whole, the case is cut apart where it sits and the cast-iron plate fractured with a sledgehammer so it can be carried in sections. That is hours, not minutes, and it adds $100.
Spinet or full upright
A spinet is the light end; a full-size 1920s upright or a player piano is the heavy end, with more carry time on every step. That is where the ground-floor range comes from: spinets at the low end, console and studio uprights in the middle, full-size, player and antique uprights at the high end.
Where the trailer parks
Tell us about an alley behind the house, a steep driveway or street parking half a block away when you text the photos, so the plan is set before the day, not on it.
Cleanup afterward
Breaking a piano down indoors makes sawdust, felt and iron chips. Sweeping and bagging that is part of the price, never an extra.
The fastest way to a real number: text a photo of the piano and a photo of the stairs or the path to the door. You get a price back, usually within 10 minutes during business hours.
Spinet, Console or Upright? How to Tell Yours.
Every vertical piano is called an upright in everyday talk, but the trade sorts them by height. Grab a tape measure and go from the floor to the top of the lid.
| Type | Height | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Spinet | Under 40 in | 300 to 500 lb (with consoles) |
| Console | 40 to about 44 in | 300 to 500 lb (with spinets) |
| Studio | About 44 to 47 in | Between a console and a full upright |
| Full upright | About 48 in and up | 500 to 700 lb for an old full-size one |
A spinet is the short one whose lid sits about at hip height, and a console is a little taller. An old full-size upright from the late 1800s or early 1900s is tall, deep and often carved, and it can outweigh many grands. For scale, a brand-new Steinway K-52 upright is 52 inches tall and 650 pounds. A player piano is an upright with a roll mechanism built in, so it sits at the heavy end.
For removal, the type sets where your piano sits in the $349 to $449 ground-floor range: spinets at the low end, consoles and studios in the middle, full uprights, player pianos and antiques (1930s or older) at the high end. The type also matters for two other things: how heavy the stair carry is, and, if you are hoping to sell or donate it, how much interest you will get.
Sources: height classes from Larry Fine, Piano Buying Basics (Piano Buyer); weights from Chupp's Piano Service; K-52 figures from Steinway & Sons.
A 1920s Basement Upright in Englewood: $600.
On August 20, 2026 we removed a 1920s upright from a basement in Englewood. One flight of stairs, and the piano was not coming up whole. So it was cut and broken down on site, the cast-iron plate fractured with a sledgehammer, and the pieces carried up in sections. With cleanup it took about 3 to 4 hours, and the job was $600. The same layout today is $599 to $699, depending on the piano: $349 to $449 for the piano, $150 for the flight and $100 for the breakdown.
The customer left a four-star Google review. Read the full Englewood piano removal case study for the step-by-step, the saw that could not cut the plate, and what we would do faster next time.
Is My Old Upright Worth Anything?
Maybe, and a piano technician can tell you in one visit. We will not guess at a dollar figure from a photo, and neither should anyone else. What we can tell you is what decides it.
Piano Buyer's Larry Fine puts unrestored but playable used pianos at roughly 10 to 80 percent of the price of a comparable new instrument, depending on age and condition, with a 15-year-old piano coming in around half. Past that, the questions a technician will ask are:
- Will it hold a tune? Chupp's Piano Service notes that an old piano that has not been maintained may not be tunable without serious repair, because humidity swings loosen the tuning pins and can make the pinblock fail.
- What would it cost to make it right? Chupp's puts a tuning at $90 to $150, and a piano left untuned for years may need a pitch raise, which means more than one pass. A tuner quoted by CBC News put the cost of repairing a neglected piano just to the point of being tunable at $1,000 to $5,000 (Canadian).
- Brand, age and type. A newer, well-known brand in a studio or full-upright size is the best case. An old spinet is the hardest sell.
- Cracks, rust and broken parts. A Winnipeg piano technician quoted by CBC News advises checking for cracks where the wood has dried out, rust and broken parts, because unexpected repairs can cost thousands.
To find a technician, the Piano Technicians Guild directory lists them by area. If the verdict is that it would cost more to fix than it is worth, that is your answer, and the next section is why so many old pianos end up there.
Why Old Pianos Rarely Get Donated or Sold.
"Where can I get rid of a piano for free" is the piano question we hear most, and the honest answer is that the market for old uprights has mostly gone. This is not us talking our book. It has been reported for more than a decade:
- Values have fallen. In 2012 The New York Times reported that the value of used pianos, especially uprights, had plummeted, with pianos expensive to repair, skilled technicians growing fewer, and digital pianos available for a few hundred dollars (as summarized by the League of American Orchestras).
- Repair costs more than resale. A piano tuner with 35 years in the trade told CBC News in December 2024 that he used to fix up free uprights and resell them, and stopped, because the amount he would have to put in would exceed what he could get for them.
- Churches already have spares. The same tuner said he has seen churches with five pianos that use one.
- Even piano movers end up breaking them. A piano mover in Winnipeg told CBC News in 2023 he had taken in about 135 pianos for disposal in three and a half years, sold or donated the ones he could, and destroyed about 65 with a sledgehammer.
- "Free" is not free for the taker. Chupp's Piano Service points out that an old full-size upright can weigh nearly 700 pounds, needs qualified piano movers, and then needs tuning, so a free upright is rarely free.
Your Denver options, in order
1. A donation programme, if it plays well
In the metro, American Samaritan, a Lakewood nonprofit, accepts pianos into its donation programme when they meet its criteria and it has space, and lists an optional $299 pickup by professional piano movers within 25 miles of its Lakewood location (as of September 2026). Call first; they are selective for good reason.
2. A free listing, written honestly
Post it with the brand, the height, the last time it was tuned, which floor it is on and how many steps. Takers who know about the stairs up front are the ones who actually show up.
3. The city pickup, if you can get it to the curb
Denver's Large Item Pickup collects items you have set out by 6 a.m. on your collection day. Its page does not list pianos either way, so ask 311, and remember that getting a piano out to the collection point is the hard part.
4. Removal and disposal
If none of that works, or you do not have weeks to wait, we remove an upright for $349 to $449 on the ground floor, plus stairs and any breakdown. Nearly all of it goes to an STS transfer station, the cast-iron plate is scrap metal, and big loads of scrap metal get recycled. We do not resell pianos or issue donation receipts. If yours plays well, we will say so before we load it.
Piano Movers or Piano Removal: Which Do You Need?
Keeping it, or giving it to someone who will play it? Call a piano mover. They move a piano in one piece and set it up at the other end, and they price by the kind of piano, the stairs at both ends and the distance. We do not move pianos, so we do not quote moves; get two or three quotes.
Is it a grand or a baby grand? Call a piano mover for that too, even for disposal. I work solo, and a grand has to come off its legs and travel on its side on a piano board. Many movers handle disposal as well, so tell them it is going away for good.
Is it an upright, spinet or console that nobody wants? That is removal, and that is us: $349 to $449 on the ground floor, +$150 a flight and +$100 if it has to be broken down on site.
Can You Move It Yourself? Here Is Why We Would Not.
Plenty of people have walked an upright out of a ground-floor living room with a few friends and a dolly. But a piano is the one item where DIY is dangerous, not just inconvenient.
The weight is top-heavy and unforgiving. The brass casters on an old upright gouge hardwood and can snap off under load. On stairs, a piano that gets away from you does not stop. And breaking one down indoors means cutting hardwood and swinging a sledge at a cast-iron plate in a finished room, with floor and dust protection to set up first. If any of that goes sideways, the savings go with it, and maybe your back.
What DIY Actually Involves
Here is the checklist you are signing up for:
- A real piano dolly, lifting straps and moving pads
- Helpers who can control 300 to 700 pounds on a staircase, not just lift it
- A truck or trailer with a ramp; a piano does not go into a pickup bed by hand
- A saw and a sledgehammer if it must be broken down, plus floor protection and cleanup
- A transfer station that will take it, and the fee when you get there
Our $349 to $449 ground-floor price buys all of that done for you, plus $150 a flight and $100 if it needs breaking down, confirmed from your photos and again on site, with the room swept.
The Prep That Saves You Money.
A piano job is priced on the stairs and on whether it comes out whole, so anything that removes a surprise keeps your quote where the photos put it. A flight of stairs nobody mentioned is the number one reason a quote moves, at $150 a flight.
Decide on keepsakes first
The bench, the sheet music, a photo of the name on the fallboard. Once a piano is broken down it cannot go back together, so choose before the day.
Clear the path
Move rugs, furniture and anything on the stairs or in the hall between the piano and the door. Every clear foot of path is less time on the dolly.
Measure the doorways
Measure the piano's depth and the narrowest doorway or stair turn on the way out. If it will not fit whole, we know before we arrive that it is a breakdown job and quote it that way.
Pull the lid and front panels if they come off easily
On most uprights the top lid, the front board above the keys and the kick panel below lift out with no tools. That takes weight off and shows us the plate. Anything that needs prying, leave to us.
What to Text Us for a Real Number Fast.
Send these in one text and you usually get a price back within 10 minutes during business hours.
- A photo of the piano, front on, and its height if you can measure it.
- A photo of the stairs, shot from the bottom so the turns show.
- Which floor it is on: basement, ground floor or upstairs.
- The narrowest doorway on the way out, in inches if you can.
- Where we can park and how far that is from the door, plus your city.
Piano Removal Cost Questions.
How much does piano removal cost in Denver?
Why does piano disposal cost more than the $149 minimum?
How much does it cost to get rid of an upright piano in a basement?
Where can I get rid of a piano for free? Who takes pianos near me?
How much is a 40 year old upright piano worth?
What is the average cost to have a piano moved?
Do you remove grand pianos?
Are there extra dump fees or disposal charges on top of the quote?
Piano movers or piano removal: which one do I need?
Where To Go From Here.
The piano removal service page: the stair plan, what "broken down" means, and how to book.
The full case study on the $600 basement upright: the stairs, the breakdown and the lessons.
Pianos next to safes, slate pool tables, hot tubs and fridges, with every starting price.
The other big item that gets cut apart on site and hauled in sections.
When the family piano is one part of clearing a whole house.
Everything that is not a piano is priced by the yard: $149 for the first 2, then $75 a yard.
Every cost guide lives in the guides hub.
Skip The Guessing. Get Your Number.
Send a photo of the piano and a photo of the stairs and you get a price back by text. The final price is confirmed on site, and you approve it before we start.
Snap a Photo of the Items, Get a Price
Drop your number below. Darius texts your price back, usually within 10 minutes during business hours.
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