I think pique' and SK, in the last two posts, are talking about castor CUPS, not castors. Or am I missing something? My piano has castors (wheels) with castor cups under them.

I believe you're right, RP. I am definitely talking about the cups, or whatever else one might put underneath the *castors* and I'm guessing pique is too.

I love hardwood floors, accented by area rugs. Area rugs are much easier to change out than wall-to-wall carpet when you get tired of a particular look, or kids or pets have done something so terrible that the rug has to go...

Under the piano We have a 6 foot round area rug, wool, no pad because the piano doesn’t move. Caster cups came with the piano. They’re wide, becase the piano (Weinbach) has wide casters. I’m guessing that whatever piano you buy may come with caster cups; why would the seller want to keep them without the piano?

AdagioM, one of the pianos on my list is sitting on very plush carpet in the seller's home, no castor cups. (Also, OMG that carpet is going to look terrible when the piano gets moved).

The pianos I'm auditioning tomorrow may actually have castor cups, so I won't make any online orders today.

I guess now that I've said this much, I ought to write another piano shopping update, but I don't want to jinx it!

If I have to get castor cups, I'll probably get these because they're solid:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D...ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it



Or a similar but larger kind if needed.

Hardwood with area rugs saves you all that vacuuming because the wall to wall has compacted. The pile on area rugs is much lower and tighter.

You also dont have to have them cleaned for $$$ like wall to wall. With area rugs, you roll them up and take them to be cleaned.

Area rugs with a pattern hide dirt and stains. The patterned wool rug under our dining table has not been cleaned in 25 years and looks fine.

It's a regional thing. I was raised in the west, so I was used to carpet. Now, I'm a fan of hardwood.

overstock.com has good prices on those rug pads. They always have a 12-14% off coupon too. I have gotten several pads there over the years - definitely check them when shopping around.

I bought caster cups when I got my piano years ago - couldn't tell you where from - ebay probably. I put them under my piano and haven't given a thought to them since. Don't stress over them! (But that said, DO get them - our floors are VERY soft pine and they dent if you so much as look at them the wrong way. I'm sure they'd have dented with just the metal casters, but the caster cups distribute the weight enough that the floors are fine.)

Also, I think I remember a thread where you were struggling to get your rug and your furniture to look right in your new house. If you are still having issues, now might be a good time to really think about how much you like your current rug -- if you are even remotely considering getting a bigger rug or switching out to something with a different pattern someday it will be a lot easier to do now than when there's a piano on top of it. I know you are already spending a pile of money on a piano but a new rug wouldn't have to be super expensive. I have used esalerugs and they do have very good prices on their rugs. I have also gotten some great buys off facebook marketplace and craigslist if the idea of a used rug doesn't skeeve you out. The rug my chair is sitting on right now came out of a $$$ house on the Main Line - it's high grade wool, extremely plush, and I'll bet it was several thousand bucks new. I paid $100 and they were thrilled to get it out of their garage.

I actually think I want to keep my rug... But now that you mention it, I should start a thread!

stand by...

I like the look of an area rug over hardwood but always feel like the room echoes too much. Also slippery for the doggies, not to mention they tend to scratch the heck out of wood floors.

When the hardwood is trashed it's a total pain to have it refinished - you basically have to move out between the dust and chemicals. And move your furniture to a garage or something. Carpeting can be installed one or two rooms at a time.

As for rugs vs wall-to-wall....there are plush area rugs and plush carpets. And there are short nap or berber rugs and short nap or berber carpets. That aspect wouldn't seem to figure into a choice of area rugs vs wall-to-wall.

We've always had our own carpet cleaner (because dogs) so cleaning doesn't figure into our choice either. And we vacuum every few days (because dogs).

We're unfashionable with our wall-to-wall plush carpeting, but it works best for us and we like it because of our lifestyle. For someone who has low traffic, shoes off, and no critters or kids, hardwood is a great choice.

The people who buy our house someday can refinish the oak floors that are underneath the carpeting....

Piano loudness may or may not be an issue for you, SK, but I thought I would mention that there are sound-isolating caster cups. The dominant brand is Piattino, but there are others.

RP thanks for the suggestion, but we live in a single family home, and the piano room is over a crawl space. Mr. SK's studio is in the basement, but on the opposite side of the house, so hopefully my piano playing won't drive him crazy -- it hasn't thus far!