Stair lifts are a sort of elevator used most commonly to help elderly or disabled people move up and down stairs. These are available in various designs and serve many purposes. The mechanism is simple to understand. Also called stairway lifts, they go up and down on rails or tracks installed on the side of stairs. The seat is attached to a platform. This runs on electricity or even on battery. This can be operated by the person from the chair itself too.
The first thing to know is that there are two main types of stairlifts – straight and curved. Straight stairlifts, for staircases which contain no bends, are fairly easy to install and reasonably priced. However, curved stairlifts take much longer to install and are noticeably more expensive. The stair lifts have to be taylor-made to suit the staircase – simply because curved staircases are all different. Other types of include pre-owned stairlifts, wheelchair platforms and outdoor stairlifts.
Before you begin looking at all of the reconditioned stairlift various stair and chair lifts for stairs be sure to know upfront whether or not the user is capable of using the lift. What I mean by that is, can they operate the lift? Can they sit down and get up from the chair? If not, then a lift will not be the solution.
Many people who have never seen a stair lift in action yet, question how much room they take up on the stairs. Can you even walk up and down the steps without bumping into it? Again, manufacturers have done a good job in making them as compact and easy to use as possible.
The foot rest also offers a great place of comfort to the user of the stair chair and the stair lift. When not in use, the seat can be folded and placed on the wall hence helping provide the necessary space. When combined, these great gadgets can offer you wonderful experience at all times.
While a stair lift for a straight staircase can be installed quickly and inexpensively, if you have a curved staircase, it will cost much more and require professional installation. Sometimes it is possible to install 2 straight Mobility Mojo, but this can only be done on “L” shaped staircases that have a landing. This is much less expensive and can be ordered and installed in less than a week, but if you must go with a curved stair lift you are looking at a process that can last over 2 months from the time of order to the time it is installed.
The installation process in the home depends on the type of stairs are in the home and how wide is the walkway between banisters or walls. Straight stairwells are the easiest and least expensive to install. Normally the homeowner will just have to measure the length of their stair way to find a stair lift that best stairlift company will work.
Losing the ability to walk is really painful. Most of the time, one needs to remain confined at one place. You might break your leg or have some pain in your leg. The legs might even be paralyzed or there might be illness like arthritis which forces a person to stop the movement of the legs. At that point of time going up and coming down the stairs becomes a serious problem.
One can also make decision related to installing two straight stairlifts in some of the cases. At times, the decision related to the stairlift may be tricky and you cannot be really sure that which type of lift will be actually more suitable for your kind of household settings. Another important aspect that needs to be ensured is that the stairlift that is chosen should be able to cover the complete stair case from top to bottom.
Keep the points I have raised above in mind when it comes time to buy stair lifts for your home or business and you are assured that you will get the best model possible to meet all your requirements.