Skip to content You may be wondering, “How would I describe this very interesting staircase?” The answer, from a piano mover’s point of view, “A straight flight of stairs.” Bonus points if you counted from the bottom upwards.
HOW TO DESCRIBE A STAIRCASE
When describing your staircase to a moving company, never sugarcoat it and try to make it sound easier than it is. It is always better for the mover to expect the worst and be ready for it than for the mover to get there and not have the right number of people or equipment to do the job. Moving day with a house closing is stressful enough; you do not want the mover to say: “Sorry sir, if I’d have known, I would have brought more movers, or I would have brought this equipment to do your job, or I’m not qualified to do this job safely.”
Remember that every step, twist, turn, and landing counts when describing a staircase. Here are some common types of staircases. See also “How To Count Stairs.”
- Straight Flight of Stairs
- Straight Flight of Stairs with a tight turn at the top or bottom
- Flight of stairs with a turn in it
- Flight of stairs with a pie shape turn in it
- Spiral Staircase
- Staircase with a curve in it
Straight Flight of Stairs
A straight flight of stairs is a staircase that does not have any bends or curves in it. A straight flight of stairs must also have much room at the top and bottom to get on and off the staircase.
Straight Flight of Stairs with a tight turn at the top or bottom
This straight staircase has a moving obstacle at the top or bottom to get on or off the staircase. The staircase itself is straight, but it has a tight turn at the top or bottom. When the turn or landing is usually the width of the staircase: approximately 2-3 feet square, it makes it very difficult for movers to get large objects (like a piano) on and off the staircase. If you notice an opposing wall at the top or bottom of the stairs, you immediately have to turn left or right when you reach the top or bottom. When the distance from the top of the stairs to the wall is less than 3 feet, this is critical for piano movement because most pianos are 5-6 feet long and 2 feet wide. This is a big deal to the mover because half of the piano and half the movers are still on the staircase while trying to make this turn. It might not even be able to make the turn.
Flight of stairs with a turn in it
This straight staircase has a moving obstacle at the top or bottom to get on or off the staircase. The staircase itself is straight, but it has a tight turn at the top or bottom. When the turn or landing is usually the width of the staircase: approximately 2-3 feet square, it makes it very difficult for movers to get large objects (like a piano) on and off the staircase. If you notice an opposing wall at the top or bottom of the stairs, you immediately have to turn left or right when you reach the top or bottom. When the distance from the top of the stairs to the wall is less than 3 feet, this is critical for piano movement because most pianos are 5-6 feet long and 2 feet wide. This is a big deal to the mover because half of the piano and half the movers are still on the staircase while trying to make this turn. It might not even be able to make the turn.
Flight of stairs with a pie shape turn in it
This is the same as a flight with a turn in it, except that the landing is made up of 2 or 3 pie shape stairs instead of a square landing. These staircases are probably the most difficult moves to do because there is usually a height restraint problem as well. Not all pianos will fit up or down these staircases because the move is so tight. You generally only have one chance to do it right.
Spiral Staircase
This is a flight of stairs that is not straight and curves all the way up or down. Most people think these staircases are not a big deal because they generally look open and have lots of room. To a mover, moving a big object like a piano; these staircases scream danger and automatically require extra manpower. Most people do not realize that because the staircase is not straight, the stairs are not equivalent to a flat surface. As soon as a piano mover starts moving the piano up this style of staircase, the piano will immediately want to throw itself into that nice curved wall. If they do not have the right manpower for this job to ensure it goes smoothly, you can expect damage to your furniture and walls.
Staircase with a curve in it
This is a spiral staircase, but some people get it confused with straight staircases. This is because half the staircase is straight, and half has a spiral in it, and they only describe the easy half of the staircase to the movers. This picture is not the best example, but it does show the straight section at the bottom and the curve in the top half of the staircase. This style of staircase is usually more difficult than the spiral staircase because the turn is much tighter.
NOTE! Describing a staircase incorrectly can have serious implications:
- It could cause the mover to walk away from doing your job due to insufficient manpower. This is a huge deal if your house is closing.
- It could result in extra charges on your job to cover the extra time, manpower, risk, and exposure involved in making your move.
- It could damage your item or merchandise if the mover feels pressured to use insufficient or less experienced manpower than is required or moves it without the proper equipment.
In these situations, people often ask movers to do unsafe and extremely risky things: to “pull off a miracle” or “save the day.” Sometimes, they win, and everything goes well. Sometimes, they lose, and their merchandise, home, or movers get damaged and hurt. This is the last thing anyone wants. Please take the extra time to make sure you describe things to the best of your ability.
How to take a picture of your staircase
Don’t laugh, and I cannot tell you how many useless pictures of stairs or staircases I’ve seen over the years when asked to evaluate the difficulty of a move. When someone is evaluating your staircase, they want a broad, wide-angle view that shows the big picture. That means backing up as far as possible to get good overall shots from different directions (top, bottom, side views). Do not zoom in on the steps themselves; we all know what a closeup of a step looks like. When I am looking, I want to be able to see if they are straight, curved, or pie-shaped. I want to be able to see the ceiling and if there are any height restraints that might interfere with the move. I want to see the railing and the top and bottom landings to know how tight they may be for turning on or off the staircase.
The best pictures have something in them that gives a frame of reference for size. For example, I love staircases that have a floor leading up to or beside them built of 12″x 12″ ceramic tiles because I can see the dimensions of the landings just by counting the tiles.