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My wife struggles with the stairs, she is about to get an ankle replacement surgery. I think it's only a matter of time before we make a decision. If a straight staircase lift is only $3,000 well I'll do that if the other option is moving away from this beautiful property. Someone told me there are programs that offer relief on the price but I can't seem to find that information.
Does your new stair lift require any kind of regular maintenance, or do you just use it until something fails and then call the company to fix it? Did they offer or require a regular, annual maintenance plan you carry for it, or no planned maintenance?
I mean, I never had a maintence plan for a garage door opener, and a stair lift seems to be almost as simple.
We just had one installed in our home in the straight staircase leading up from the daylight basement into the main level of the house. It’s absolutely wonderful! It wasn’t as expensive as I had thought it would be, installed quickly, and it’s so easy to use. I had been worried that getting out at the top of the stairs would be precarious with my bad hip, bad knee and overall awkwardness, but it’s so easy. Also had been worried that it would be more of a problem blocking the stairs and the hall, but that’s also a nonissue. It’s making a big difference in how we use our house. So if anyone is considering one, I’m putting in an enthusiastic recommendation.
Do your bad hip and knees make it absolutely impossible to walk up and down the stairs or do you just prefer to use a stair lift to avoid the discomfort. The reason I ask is that if you can walk up and down the stairs, even if it's a bit painful, then it's, in my opinion, a mistake to give up the stairs because they are actually good for the knees by providing some exercise for the knees. Of course you can do other things for exercise but walking the stairs also helps your balance and coordination.
Of course, if you absolutely do need to use a stair lift, then you need to and there's no shame in that. We all do age after all and sometimes in not so nice ways.
Igor, there are two relatively simple maintenance chores one is monthly dusting of two exposed rails, which you can do by holding the dust cloth against the rail edge as you ride up. The other is a light oiling of a ridge every two years, again can be done as you ride up. The battery needs changing every three to seven years.
They usually have a maintenance plan, but it doesn’t apply to us because we are in a difficult to reach location (an unbridged island in Lake Michigan). They will provide us with maintenance but we will have to pay for it as we go. Because of this, we paid extra for the sturdiest model, and decided against the automatic features which you could pay extra for, figuring automatic swivel, footrest, etc. had more potential for breaking than the manual swivel, footrest, etc.
Ours was $5519. This was an upgrade to the sturdier model, and included installation.
Last edited by upnorthretiree; 08-25-2023 at 11:35 AM..
Igor, there are two relatively simple maintenance chores one is monthly dusting of two exposed rails, which you can do by holding the dust cloth against the rail edge as you ride up. The other is a light oiling of a ridge every two years, again can be done as you ride up. The battery needs changing every three to seven years.
They usually have a maintenance plan, but it doesn’t apply to us because we are in a difficult to reach location (an unbridged island in Lake Michigan). They will provide us with maintenance but we will have to pay for it as we go. Because of this, we paid extra for the sturdiest model, and decided against the automatic features which you could pay extra for, figuring automatic swivel, footrest, etc. had more potential for breaking than the manual swivel, footrest, etc.
Ours was $5519. This was an upgrade to the sturdier model, and included installation.
Sounds optimal. Thanks for cluing me in.
My goal is to buy a one story home. I only need to find one of them, but here in Knoxville, there is 1 single story home for sale, for every 9 multi-story homes. Worse still in the area I want to live. A stair lift is a last resort if I can't get into a single story home. It is not something I want, but it give me the option of buying a 2 story home.
My legs are fine for now, but as I age they can go very fast, and then I am stuck. Your good experience with a stair lift if uplifting (pun intended ). The cost is very reasonable. That is a single property tax bill for many people.
Just be careful, some people get them and then find that it's driving them right up the wall. ;-)
Corny, but I like corny.
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). The cost is very reasonable. That is a single property tax bill for many people.
