Stair Lifts

[RobertN]

Does anyone have experience with stair lifts? We are considering one for my MIL. The "Granny Flat" has the living area over the garage, basically on a second story. My MIL is having a harder time with the stairs.

What about buying and installing the system? I have inlaws that are contractors; they could not be that hard to install and setup?

Wondered if anyone had experience with them, any brands, or?

 

[texasjohn]

No experience. There are numerous ways to get from downstairs to upstairs.
elevators, people lifts, stair lifts. Stair lift installation complexity seems to be variable depending on turns in the stairs. Straight run is easiest. I looked into it once.

 

[Army grunt]

Stair Lifts are great, my in laws had one before their passing. it was really great an made life easer for them
Army Grunt

 

[2manyrocks]

I think you have to weight the cost v. benefit and part of the problem is how long it will be a benefit before living over the garage might not be a viable option for your MIL if there are other obstacles to overcome. There came a point where a simple change in threshold height between rooms was a danger to my Mother.

Kind of a rant, but we keep building houses with lots of stairs, and they are not elderly friendly.

 

[aczlan]

My inlaws have one and they say that if they were to do it again, they would get one with an enclosed rail. That way you don't get grease on those who walk (or crawl) up the stairs.

Aaron Z

 

[Western]

Robert,
My grand parents had one for my granny, worked good ,but slow as heck. Granny was still quite mobile then, just poor knees.

When she got cancer, he put in an elevator with the help of one of my cousins. Made it himself with some type of electric chained motor, 4 guide poles with bushings that held the lift floor to the poles . Big enough for a wheel chair.
Just a thought.

 

[oldnslo]

Neighbor put one is his house and his biggest complaint was now it made the stairs almost unusable for people that could climb the stairs. When they where forced to move do to increased health issues the realtor suggested they remove them before trying to sell the home.

As far as installation, this probably depends on the safety/building codes in your area.

Roy

 

[RobertN]

My MIL gets around fine with a walker. The staircase is outside, but is protected from the weather by the roof overhang. It is a straight shot up the steps, with a landing at the top and the bottom.

The Granny Flat is on our property. If something happens to her, then we will use the house as an office. We have already considered what will happen if she loses mobility; she will move to the main house with us.

The house itself, two levels. The first level is is garage, and unimproved basement. The second level is 1150sqft one bedroom.

 

[Jagmandave]

I don't know of any that are designed for outside use, although I'm sure they make them.

The one my in-laws had was pretty slick, it just screwed down to the stair treads in 3 or 4 places, and the seat folded up so it was out of the way for those who would use them normally - it had an enclosed track and it was a simple plug in 120V device - no special power needed. The seat also swiveled making it easier to get into and out of. They found it used on Craig's list for $1500 and when they moved out they sold it for the same amount. I think you can lease them too....

One feature you'll want is the "call" feature, if someone leaves it at the top of the stairs and another needs a ride up from the bottom, you can push the "call" button like an elevator and it will cycle either up or down depending on where it stopped last.

 

[2manyrocks]

Since it's outside, you could put MIL on a scissor lift to the second floor.

 

[Western]

Since it's outside, you could put MIL on a scissor lift to the second floor.

And that could double as a deer blind!

 

[sandman2234]

Years ago my roommates Dad started having mobility problems, and couldn't get up the dune to the beach house, so a few poles were added and four x six timbers were run up the poles, like we were going to build a ramp on them. Then we added aluminum angle iron on the top of each timber, sitting like this ^ and built a 30 x 30 inch cart with wheels that had a V cut into them to sit on the angle irons. The cart was built to stay flat at all times, a cable was added with a trip wire and a brace was added to prevent falling off the cart. The cable was pulled by a drum mounted on a right angle gearbox, with a 1/2 hp motor turning it.
Not quite OHSA approved, but it sure worked slick until the salt enviroment took out the electric motor. Salt air is hard on most things metal...
David from jax

 

[jamesonmedical]

Stair lifts are the best device to resolve mobility issue in your home. Its is very helpful for those who have any issues while climbing stairs. Its very easy to install in your home staircase.

 

[RobertN]

I never followed up on this thread...

We bought a lift on-line shortly after I posted this. Company provided a worksheet for stair length, tred, and landings. Filled that out to get the right length and mounting parts. It was a simple install; took a couple hours. The lift works well. Fortunately, the stairs are ~4' wide, because the lift rail and assembly to take up space where you would walk.

Unfortunately, my MIL had a debilitating stroke a year and a half after this thread started. She is in a care home now, requiring more care than we can provide at home. Due to a fall when she had the stroke, she had to go out on a backboard, with full c-spine precaution. We actually rested the backboard on the stair lift to get her down the stairs. There was no way to get the gurney up/down the stairs. I'm a local volunteer FF/EMT; one of our Engines and Medic units responded.

My MIL got 1.5 years of good use from the stair lift. We have not removed it yet; not sure what we want to do... We're renting the Granny Flat to a friend to help pay for the care home. The lift is out of the way, so we just have not done anything with it yet.

I would have to dig in to records to remember what brand/model it was. I think it was Ameriglide.

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

My mom had a stair lift for my dad. When he died and she sold the house she found a company on the internet to buy the used stair lift. They were some where down south but they sent a truck up to New York to pick up the lift.