The Maine Adventure
The Property
The Site...  Landscaping... Outside Design... The Natural Environment...
TheCape
Gentle Demolition...  Moving the Barn...  Moving the Cape...  Reconnecting the Cape...  The Cape Renovation... Becoming a B&B...
The Farmhouse
Prepping for the Farmhouse...Modular Farmhouse & Stick-built Garage...Farmhouse Interior...
The Homer Jones Barn
The original Homer Jones Barn...The new HJ Barn...Homer Barn Interior...Owner's Quarters


The Heroes-My Working Partners...  The Gallery... The Retreats... The Destination Weddings
 

Project 8a: Preparing to Move the Barn...     Project 8b: Moving the Barn...  Project 8c: Moving the Stuff...

Project 8c: Moving the Stuff

 The Piano

One would think that moving a barn would be harder than moving a Baby Grand Piano, but it didn't turn out to be that way.

My father's piano came to me from his estate and when it was time to load the estate, three New Jersey moving men loaded my portion into this 26 foot truck. They struggled mightily with the piano and managed to gently move it into the truck. They warned me that I would need four men and two dollies to unload it and carry it up the front stairs into the Cape.

I drove it 500 miles to Maine, surrounded by other items that would be of use in the new house and business.

I called my trusty crew, led by Harold Dawson, and told him what the New Jersey movers had said. I asked him to find three other men and two dollies. He said he had the dollies and only needed two other men....because they were from Maine!!!

That proved to be a major mistake.

The men had no trouble unloading the rest of the items, and they were safely ensconced in the barn and in the Cape. Then it was time to move the piano.

When the men had struggled for six hours, over two days, trying one plan and then another, and I had searched high and low for a 'real' piano mover anywhere nearby in Maine,  the foundation builder came to save the day...his way. He offered to use his mighty excavator to lift the piano from the truck ramp and swing it safely over to the house, where we could move it in through the front door.

The piano did not make the trip unscathed, but she looks good in her new home. And the men were happy to be paid and return home, never to move a piano again!

Stand by for the second and third stages of the piano move!

Press here to continue the Maine adventure---Preparing the Cape to Move