Having a stair lift fitted?

[christinarossetti19]

Anyone any idea of how easy this is to have done and approx cost on straight stairs?

TIA

On straight stairs considerably cheaper if you go for reconditioned. The average stairlift is in use for I believe a little over a year (we managed 3 months) so going for reconditioned rather than new is the sensible option.

We were able to have a reconditioned chair (Stannah) but the rail had to be custom-built and it took the cost to, if I remember correctly, about £3000. It would have been about £1000 if it had all been reconditioned. There was absolutely no sign on the chair that it had been pre-used.

It's very quick and easy. Installation was within a couple of days of signing the contract. Modern stair lift rails basically stand on the staircase - no need to take up carpet or do massive work on the walls. Our team had problems because the first chair they brought rode too high, so there was a danger of hitting one's head on the bulkhead, so they had to get another one instead. They still completed the job well within the day.

Reconditioned all the way.

My FIL used his for less than 3 months.

I've looked into this recently. A staight, new chair lift would cost around 2k. And they'd buy it back when no longer needed but they don't say how much they'd payed. But renting would be around £40 a month

Thanks so much everyone, that's very useful.

Info about reconditioned and renting also helpful.

Hi there, my fil had one fitted in September. It was dog leg stair case nd cost £5000. He died in October and they bought it back for £1000. It was Stannair.

Based on FiLs experience if we want one it will be rented, not bought. FiL's broke down on numerous occasions and once took over a week to repair stranding him upstairs :-(

My parents had one about 7 years ago. They were ripped off by Stannah and I believe it was £7500. It was used for a year & Stannah wouldn't touch it as it was custom made. We sold it for scrap to a small company for £200. They came a took it out & said they would sell the metal for scrap & reside the seat. If you have a straight staircase go for a refurb.

Also look at those mini lifts, my friend's mum has one, doesn't take up much room.

Thanks again. I've spoken to a place just down the road from where my dm lives.

They quoted £1,650 for refurb, or £500 installation/£50 per month to hire.

Dm said that she's 'thinking about it'. She had to press her care link alarm last night as she got stuck on the top step, and seemed a bit more amenable to the idea this morning.

I'll speak with her again later and suggest that she think about hiring one for a month and if she doesn't like it/need it, it can be removed.

That looks quite a good rental deal. It'd be 2 years before buying would be cheaper than renting.

Yes, she's still 'thinking about it'.

I'm hoping that the idea of rental, that she can just get taken out if she doesn't like or use it, will be easier for her to come round to.

Interesting to read this - my mum has poor mobility but I’m not sure she would cope with a chair lift. Anything remotely ‘technical’ produces a major flap even without it malfunctioning.

My dad looked at a lift before he died. I can’t imagine there would be many houses with the right configuration to take them as (obviously ) they go straight up so you need a spot that works downstairs and works upstairs too. In my parents house it would have only worked from the lounge to the bedroom. Same with my house come to think of it. Also hard to remove. I was relieved he didn’t do it.

Interesting to read this - my mum has poor mobility but I’m not sure she would cope with a chair lift. Anything remotely ‘technical’ produces a major flap even without it malfunctioning.

Controls are really easy - a rocker switch: press down the side in the direction you want to go and keep it pressed down. You can even get chairs that automatically swivel if you exit the staircase to the side rather than straight ahead.

But yes I understand that people reach a stage in their life when even this is too difficult to understand.

One thing to look out for - you may find an advertised "24 hour" call-our service merely means that you can call 24 hours a day, not that an engineer will come out in the middle of the night.

Yes MereDintoofPandiculation one of the providers I spoke to made much of the 24 hour call out...

I'm hoping that, if dm agrees, having a very local provider will help reduce waiting times if it goes wrong.