Having a Piano In Rented Accomodation

franklee

propertyman wrote: »

The tenancy and the underlying flat leases may simply prevent piano playing, and as a general issue, not to do anything that causes nuisance or disturbance to others.

The underlying flat leases won't bind the tenant unless they were given to the tenant as part of agreeing the tenancy or attached to the tenancy agreement. A LL can't magic up new clauses for the tenant after the event. He could however serve a s21 notice to get possession after the fixed term but that may be long enough for a student to be there if say they only want a year. Of course the tenant should be considerate of neighbours in any case. Next door plays the piano, I quite like it.

propertyman

franklee wrote: »

The underlying flat leases won't bind the tenant unless they were given to the tenant as part of agreeing the tenancy or attached to the tenancy agreement. A LL can't magic up new clauses for the tenant after the event. .

Erm that's what I said.....

BitterAndTwisted

googler wrote: »

Where on earth did you get that idea? From Werdnal's posts?

"Small upright pianos weigh 300 to 400 lbs
Big uprights run from 500 lbs. thru 800 lbs
Grand pianos anywhere from 500 to 1200 lbs"

Average weight of 1 human male, 6 feet tall - 160 - 180 lbs or so....

So a small upright = just over 2 males
Large upright = 2.5 to 3 males
Grand = 3 to 6 males

Would you say you needed to get a floor reinforced in order to have a gathering of more than 2 people in an upstairs flat?

Or would you restrict the size of your dinner parties (6 to 8 to 10 people, total weight up to 2000 lbs or so, around a table, typically in the centre of the room) until you'd had the floor strengthened?

I think what would be more pertinent is the weight per square inch.

Still, the OP's friend is a numpty. If having a piano was important they should have done these sorts of enquiries before taking on a tenancy and not afterwards.

propertyman

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Still, the OP's friend is a numpty. If having a piano was important they should have done these sorts of enquiries before taking on a tenancy and not afterwards.

Of course not.... It's her right to have a piano, but not to worry, she will tolerate their selfishness and agree to hours where she will be very kind and not disturb her neighbours. :rotfl:

googler

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I think what would be more pertinent is the weight per square inch.

How does that work, then?

I'm standing on two feet of roughly 12ins by 4ins, total area 96 sq ins. I'm roughly 200 lbs, so applying approx 2 lb per sq in of downward load to the floor.

If I were to sit around a dining table with 7 others sharing the same body weight as me, each of us would apply a weight of 50 lbs at each leg of the seats on which we sat, a load which would be usually centred at the weakest point of the floor - the centre - with a total load of 1600 lbs, plus the table.

A small upright of 300 lbs stands on four feet, each a castor of approx one square inch or so, therefore it's applying 75 lb per sq in down to the floor. That's 'only' half as much again as the load applied by one diner.

I have a baby grand in the room next door, sitting on a standard chipboard upon joists-type of floor. If we assume that to be 700 lbs, say, it stands on three legs with castors, and on the same basis as above, will be applying around 230 lbs per sq in on the floor at each castor. Whilst it's making indentations in the carpet, I don't see any indicators that the legs and castors are about to punch holes through the chipboard......

I've found a chipboard flooring product that quotes standard domestic loading as a maximum of 1.4kN per sq metre; there'll have to be a delay while I do some conversions.....

jc808

Starbrite wrote: »

Cover the inside of the flat with egg boxes?

wont work...

Callie22

The OPs friend needs to get a decent, full-size, weighted keyboard. It'd be perfectly adequate for playing and practicing on, and she would be able to plug in headphones.

It's a bit daft to have a piano in a rented flat (and I live with a pianist and even he'd agree with that lol). For a start, it costs an absolute fortune to get pianos moved, especially if it involves a flight of stairs - it also costs a lot to get it tuned every time you move it. You're going to get complaints from neighbours about the noise and it's really not worth the hassle - just get something lighter that you can plug headphones into and move when you need to.