Moving into a two story house, does anyone have experience of home lifts? — Scope | Disability forum
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Moving into a two story house, does anyone have experience of home lifts?

jerrymeyer1980
jerrymeyer1980 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
Hi everyone, 

Great to be a member of the Scope Forum! 

I just wanted to share my thoughts on a recent change to my living circumstances. I suffer from a very bad lower back and have found stairs a problem most of my life. I currently live in a single-story property but have recently been blessed with the opportunity to move to a larger home in Northumberland, here is the catch, it's a two story property. 

I've been looking into the solutions available and there is the obvious stairlift route but one that has really caught my attention is homelifts. I've found a few companies that offer them in my local area, one of them being <moderator removed - links to paid for services not allowed on community>. It would be great if anyone who has had experience with this company or anyone that has any experience with the homelift solution as a whole. 

I would really appreciate any advice or guidance. 

Comments

  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,741 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @jerrymeyer1980 and a warm welcome to our community, how are you doing today?

    It's great that you have the opportunity to move to a new larger home and having a home lift installed sounds like it would make your impairment more easily manageable :)

    Unfortunately, I've had to remove the link you included to a specific business as the promotion of paid for services isn't allowed on our community (please see our house rules).  But, I'm sure our members can offer their general experiences and stories about getting a home lift and the difference it made to their life.

    Take care and I hope you have a fab Thursday.
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  • jerrymeyer1980
    jerrymeyer1980 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Thank you for your message Cher. 

    Sorry about that, I completely forgot to give the rules a read!

    Have a great day :smile:
  • Sandy_123
    Sandy_123 Scope Member Posts: 46,788 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @jerrymeyer1980 stairs lifts will be the cheaper option, there actually quite good. You can also rent them so when they break down can be fixed.
  • Cress
    Cress Community member Posts: 1,012 Pioneering
    I think they seem far better then a stair lift...but I'd insist on one that came with star trek sound effects and captain kirk saying 'beam me up, scotty' ....


  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    A couple of points to consider are
    A floor lift results in a loss of floor space - a stair lift may be less intrusive.
    If you need to sell the property in the future removing a stair lift and making good is a bigger job than removing a stairlift.
    However stairlifts are not for everyone and the configuration of the stairs and location of doors neat the top and bottom of the stairs makes a difference to how easily they are fitted - but there are lots of configuration options.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,357 Disability Gamechanger
    I've lived in a house some years ago that had a through lift for myself. It was already installed in the house before i moved in. Whist they are a good idea, i totally agree with Calcotti, the space you need in each room is a huge amount because those lifts are far from small. I had a 20 foot living room but the amount of space it took from the room was insane and it became very annoying. It's always kept upstairs when not in use, which is also annoying.

    You also need to make sure that there's nothing in the way at all times, otherwise you could get stuck. A few times i've known myself get stuck coming down because something had fallen off the back of the chair onto the floor, or my cat had been playing with something while i was upstairs. I was alone each time and to say it was frightening, is an under statement.

    You also need to think about the work involved with installing these lifts and the maintenance required afterwards. If i had the choice between that and a stair lift, the latter option would win hands down.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,521 Disability Gamechanger
    Our late grandson who was wheelchair bound had a lift in his bedroom down to the lounge, it took a lot of room up in both rooms.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

  • Binky1234
    Binky1234 Community member Posts: 406 Pioneering
    I would personally consider a stair lift due to what many have experienced on having a lift, that is what is so good about this forum people advice on experience.

    I know where I live the local council fit them via a social work/OT report so maybe that would be another option for you. 

    You could call and  see if your local council offer this service.
    Knowing When to walk away is Wisdom, being able is courage, walking away with your head held high is dignity.

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