Tips to keep in mind before buying a stair lift
With our guide to buy a stair lift we indicate a series of recommendations that will help you make the best decision when purchasing a stair lift system (MONTASCALE PER DISABILI).
What is a stair lift and what types exist
A stair lift allows you to overcome with comfort and safety virtually any type of staircase both for people with walking difficulties and for people who move in a wheelchair.
There are stationary stairlifts, which move through guides installed by special fixings directly to the wall or floor and portable stair climbers or better known as stair climbers .
The main types of stairlifts:
- Stairlift chairs incorporate a seat for user comfort, this type of stair lift is especially suitable for elderly or people with reduced mobility.
- Stairlift platforms equipped with a base or platform specially adapted for access to people who move in a wheelchair, it is also possible for people with walking problems to adapt a folding seat.
- Stairlift caterpillar adapt to virtually any type of wheelchair and allow with the help of a companion up or down stairs.
Choice of the stair-lift model
The choice of the model is a very important point to take into account when buying a stair lift, for this it will be necessary to ask a series of questions such as:
Who do we need to install a stair lift for?
The first question we must ask ourselves before buying a stair lift is the type of user that will use the elevator.
What do I need? Platform, caterpillar or stairlift?
The stair-lift platforms allow their use both for people in wheelchairs and for people with reduced mobility problems; however, stair-lift chairs are suitable for people with mobility problems, but do not allow access to a wheelchair. It will also be important to determine other secondary characteristics such as the load capacity required depending on the type of user, etc.
Public or Private use?
It will also be necessary to take into account if the stair lift is only directed to a single person in a single-family home or if it is a community of owners or commercial premises where users may have different needs.
How is the ladder to be saved?
Form of the stair
There are two models of stair lifts depending on the shape or type of ladder to be saved.
- Stairlifts for straight stairs and with constant slope. This type of stair lift is cheaper and both its installation and its delivery time is usually less than that of the models for curved staircases.
- Stairlifts for curved stairs or intermediate landings. This model of stair lift has a higher cost mainly because it is made to measure and when equipping a machine with special elements to be able to adapt to different shapes and changes in slope.
Stair width
We must bear in mind, before buying a stair lift, that we have enough minimum width in the staircase so that its installation is technically possible.
In this sense, for a stair lift chair a minimum of between 65 cm and 75 cm will be necessary, and for a stair lift platform the width would have to be at least one meter to ten meters depending, in both cases, on the shape of the staircase and the manufacturer.
Exterior or interior staircase?
Not all stair lifts are suitable to be installed outside, there are specific models for the weather which are made with anticorrosion materials and adequate electrical protections.