I hope this might be of interest to some!
We are in the process of moving to what in all likelihood is our last home! It rather takes my breath away to say that, as it makes me feel far older than my actual years! So, we are trying to ensure that both our potential needs and those of my elderly parents who will be joining us are accommodated. The big issue as you get older is managing stairs, and we wanted to ensure this was covered as my father can no longer handle stairs without serious help. So to maintain his independence we were faced with two options, a stair lift or an actual lift. We had fitted a stair lift to my parents in law property when they needed it (they have both now passed) and found that not only are they a serious amount of money if you have a turn in the stairs but, devalue the house when you come to sell it if you keep it in / worth nothing if you take them out! So we wondered about an actual lift.
The right lift adds value / makes it more attractive to a buyer and has greater utility. Not only can you get a wheel chair to different levels but also you can use it to move anything between floors. They are kind of ‘cool’.
My wife carried out the research, and there appears to be three types of lift. The first, which is the easiest to install is a ‘leg‘ lift, which can be placed in virtually any house. There are a number of company’s offering these type of lifts. The second is a platform lift, that requires a shaft, but the lift is self supporting. The third is a typical commercial lift that requires a full lift shaft and is great for a new build. Of the three types we decided go for a platform lift as this is an installation into an existing property.
Platform lifts are literally an L shaped platform that moves within an enclosed shaft. The walls move past you. There appears to be three types! Hydraulic, screw and belt driven, and to add to the mix there are a number of suppliers of each. However, the main differential appears to be the manufacturer with Swedish and German manufacture being the most reliable. Sourcing a lift proved to be both very time consuming and difficult. Once you state your a residential property interest from company’s becomes decidedly luke warm. I’m assuming that conversion rates are very low! Hydraulic lifts are the most expensive, with screw and belt being similar in price. We choose to go with a screw thread platform lift from a Swedish manufacturer.
The lift we choose is approximately £6K more than stair lift, but, it will have added at least the cost of the lift to the house value (My eldest son owns an estate agency) and if I did move I would not lose anything unlike with a stair lift (which is custom made for the stairs)
We are in the process of moving to what in all likelihood is our last home! It rather takes my breath away to say that, as it makes me feel far older than my actual years! So, we are trying to ensure that both our potential needs and those of my elderly parents who will be joining us are accommodated. The big issue as you get older is managing stairs, and we wanted to ensure this was covered as my father can no longer handle stairs without serious help. So to maintain his independence we were faced with two options, a stair lift or an actual lift. We had fitted a stair lift to my parents in law property when they needed it (they have both now passed) and found that not only are they a serious amount of money if you have a turn in the stairs but, devalue the house when you come to sell it if you keep it in / worth nothing if you take them out! So we wondered about an actual lift.
The right lift adds value / makes it more attractive to a buyer and has greater utility. Not only can you get a wheel chair to different levels but also you can use it to move anything between floors. They are kind of ‘cool’.
My wife carried out the research, and there appears to be three types of lift. The first, which is the easiest to install is a ‘leg‘ lift, which can be placed in virtually any house. There are a number of company’s offering these type of lifts. The second is a platform lift, that requires a shaft, but the lift is self supporting. The third is a typical commercial lift that requires a full lift shaft and is great for a new build. Of the three types we decided go for a platform lift as this is an installation into an existing property.
Platform lifts are literally an L shaped platform that moves within an enclosed shaft. The walls move past you. There appears to be three types! Hydraulic, screw and belt driven, and to add to the mix there are a number of suppliers of each. However, the main differential appears to be the manufacturer with Swedish and German manufacture being the most reliable. Sourcing a lift proved to be both very time consuming and difficult. Once you state your a residential property interest from company’s becomes decidedly luke warm. I’m assuming that conversion rates are very low! Hydraulic lifts are the most expensive, with screw and belt being similar in price. We choose to go with a screw thread platform lift from a Swedish manufacturer.
The lift we choose is approximately £6K more than stair lift, but, it will have added at least the cost of the lift to the house value (My eldest son owns an estate agency) and if I did move I would not lose anything unlike with a stair lift (which is custom made for the stairs)
