Piano Guidance
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Will a piano damage a laminate floor?

Pianos under 500 pounds should be fine over a properly installed laminate floor. With a floating floor, it is important to stagger joints and properly place transition moldings. If the room is larger than 30′ in any direction, the flooring will need a transition piece to maintain flooring stability.

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When installing laminate flooring, it is important to remember to protect your floor from your furniture. Many homeowners have pianos, and a common concern is if laminate flooring can support the weight of a piano without any damage. In general, laminate flooring can support a piano, but there’s a few things to keep in mind:

1. Durability and Stability

A thicker flooring with a higher AC rating will be your best bet when choosing a laminate for a piano room. The thicker the floor, the more sturdy the laminate flooring. The higher the AC rating, the more durable it will be. AC4, AC5, and AC6 rating flooring is tested to be commercial grade, which can withstand high foot traffic and constant pressure on the surface.

2. Locking System

With heavy objects, the direct pressure can affect the strength of the locking system. Laminate flooring is a floating floor, and it is critical to ensure that your piano will not pin down the laminate and prevent it from floating. When your laminate is pinned, this will prevent your floor from contracting and expanding with temperature changes, and can lead to buckling and damage to the locking system.

3. Special Installation Option

If the piano is over 500 pounds, you may want plan out a special installation for your grand piano. Installing a laminate “island” for just the piano can help protect the flooring, especially if it is a larger room. An “island” refers to a section of laminate that is installed with moldings around the edges and flows into the rest of the room, therefore creating an island for the piano that is reinforced on all sides.

4. Protection

With any piece of furniture over a laminate, we always recommend to place felt pads beneath the legs. With a piano, we recommend using protective coasters designed specifically from pianos. There are many protector options on the market, and we recommend purchasing a product designed specifically for your type of flooring, and your type of piano. The protectors beneath the legs of your piano will help to disburse the weight to prevent any denting, scratching or even damage to the subfloor below. It will also keep the piano in place, which is ideal for the laminate flooring joints. Lastly, we recommend hiring a professional to move the piano into and out of the room to avoid damage.

Quick Recap

The biggest concern with a heavy object is pinning your laminate to the subfloor. With direct pressure on the joints and planks, this can cause buckling if expansion and contraction is blocked. Pianos under 500 pounds should be fine over a properly installed laminate floor. With a floating floor, it is important to stagger joints and properly place transition moldings. If the room is larger than 30′ in any direction, the flooring will need a transition piece to maintain flooring stability. With these things in mind, go ahead and enjoy a newly renovated piano room to play in! Laminate is a great flooring option for your piano. If you have any questions about your specific piano application, give one of our flooring specialists a call.

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What should I look for when buying an upright piano?

Before buying a grand acoustic piano or an upright acoustic piano, be sure to look out for: The sound. Before buying a piano, try playing it to determine whether you like the sound. ... The keys. ... The location where you will place the piano. ... The length of warranty. ... The brand.

1. The sound

The digital piano produces sound by playing pre-recorded sounds of acoustic pianos. The method and equipments used to record these tracks affect the quality of the sound. A good digital piano should sound warm and less digital, closely mimicking an acoustic piano. With that said, everyone prefers different sound quality, and it is important to choose a piano that sounds nice to you. Apart from the general quality of the sound, you should also listen for the articulation and the decay—the start and the end—of the sound. A digital piano with better control over articulation and decay more closely resembles an acoustic piano and thus sounds more natural.

2. The number of keys

A full-sized piano consists of 88 keys. However, some digital pianos come with only 61 or fewer keys. For advanced piano players, a piano with 88 keys is required. Therefore, if you’re a beginner who’s serious about learning the piano, it is advisable for you to get a full-sized piano.

3. Polyphony

Polyphony refers to the maximum number of sounds that a piano can produce at any time. This means that a piano with 32-note polyphony can produce up to 32 notes at once. Intermediate players should get pianos with at least 64-note polyphony. For advanced pianists, getting a piano with 128-note polyphony or more is desirable. One question that I frequently hear is this: a full-sized piano has 88 keys, why should there be a piano with 128-note polyphony? This is because the use of the sustain pedal allows the piano to produce many notes at once. If you’re playing a long string of notes while using the sustain pedal, the piano could be producing more than 88 notes at some point.

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