New Business Idea!

[OldCoyote]

Since we have some older posters here (that doesn't include me of course)

Other business poster and posters with a lot of knowledge

Have a thought for another business.

Elevators in to homes where because of developing physical disabalites that makes it more difficult for those that have multi level

homes that they don't want to move out.

I already have architects, General Contractor, electricians, Installers and every thing for installing these thing in homes.

I think there is some money to be made!

[Shooby]

Well, they already sell those people movers that they install along handrails on the steps.  It's like an elevator chair and you sit in it and takes you up the steps.  Takes up much less space than an elevator.

[Shooby]

[zibazinski]

Elevators in town homes break constantly. Those mobile chair things that go up stairs damage your home. Be like me and go to one level living.

[TheOtherMe]

One level living was my criteria when I was house hunting for this house.

[zibazinski]

Mine too in my new one. 

[Deleted]

My house used to have one of those elevator seats- the neighbors told me. The elderly parents of the wife lived on the lower level for years. When DH got too weak to use stairs I wished they'd kept it. Fortunately, only the Man Cave was downstairs- we also wanted all of the main rooms on the ground floor.

[wvugurl26]

My aunt and uncle have one of those chair things. It was used more for hauling the suitcases to the upstairs bedrooms.

[Jaguar]

My sister Peggy installed one of those chair elevators in her house. It helped her and her husband, but it was awkward getting around it for able bodied people. My nephew got rid of it as soon as he got the house.

[milee]

I wonder if the reason those chair lifts for stairs aren't more popular is that they're tripping hazards for the people not riding them and possibly even for the person they're intended for.  That picture clearly shows that the track protrudes into the hall upstairs and onto the landing downstairs.  People with limited mobility - and the people that live with them - don't need another tripping hazard in the house.

Plus, by the time people have difficulty climbing stairs they also often have other access issues that mean that getting up the stairs isn't their only problem.  Yes, you can get them up the stairs in a lift or elevator but then they still can't really access or use the bathroom because the door's too narrow, the doorknob is round and slippery, there aren't grab bars, the toilet's the wrong height, they can't get into the tub or over the threshhold on the shower, there's nowhere to sit in the shower, etc.... 

Usually, there's a long list of house design issues that make life challenging for people that are mobility impaired.  So yes, you can put in a fix to get them up the stairs but then all the other design issues cause them other troubles.  At the point when someone can't get up the stairs, they need more than a hoist, they need a house that's designed to be accessible in many ways.  

[milee]

Oh, that's funny Jaguar.  I was typing guessing that the chairs were a PITA tripping hazard to others just as you were typing that they were....

[Jaguar]

The chair in my sister's house was awkward at best and a hazard most times for the able bodied people. It was too big to get by to walk down the stairs. If you had packages it was damn impossible.

[dee27]

Our condo is one level and I love not having to carry the laundry down two sets of steep stairs.

[zibazinski]

A lot of people downsize their homes after their kids leave home. If you're smart enough to downsize to a smaller home, make it one level. I'm gutting a bathroom. It needs redoing anyway and I'm making it handicap friendly. I don't need it now but if I ever do, I've got it.

[Bonny]

May 27, 2017 13:57:04 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

The chair in my sister's house was awkward at best and a hazard most times for the able bodied people. It was too big to get by to walk down the stairs. If you had packages it was damn impossible.

You didn't just send the packages for a ride?

DH's cousin had one. Yes we had a lot of fun sending the suitcases for a ride when we visited.

[Bonny]

May 27, 2017 8:48:05 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Since we have some older posters here (that doesn't include me of course)

Other business poster and posters with a lot of knowledge

Have a thought for another business.

Elevators in to homes where because of developing physical disabalites that makes it more difficult for those that have multi level

homes that they don't want to move out.

I already have architects, General Contractor, electricians, Installers and every thing for installing these thing in homes.

I think there is some money to be made!

Call me in 10 years. DH will be 70 and we'll see what 10 more years of back packing does to my knees!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 27, 2017 8:48:05 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Since we have some older posters here (that doesn't include me of course)

Other business poster and posters with a lot of knowledge

Have a thought for another business.

Elevators in to homes where because of developing physical disabalites that makes it more difficult for those that have multi level

homes that they don't want to move out.

I already have architects, General Contractor, electricians, Installers and every thing for installing these thing in homes.

I think there is some money to be made!

Elevators in homes need to be certified yearly.  My MIL had one in the home she just sold, and it was a royal pain in the ass to maintain.  When her husband died (he was a double amputee), she sold the house, downsized into a unit that she could age in easily.

I think you are going to find more people taking this direction, than installing elevators.

The one thing that you don't realize is that homes like this are difficult to maintain.  If there is difficulty climbing stairs, there is also difficulty doing just basic maintenance around the house.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 27, 2017 14:38:34 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I always wondered if the people who had those also had backup generators. And if they did, wouldn't they have to have a mobile person to turn them on?

I seem to remember seeing an emergency power switch in the elevator in my MIL's house.  No need for mobility.

[Tennesseer]

This is what happens when you don't have a stairwell elevator seat. You get dragged up the stairs and dragged down the stairs.

[milee]

May 27, 2017 18:12:23 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

May 27, 2017 8:48:05 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Elevators in homes need to be certified yearly.  My MIL had one in the home she just sold, and it was a royal pain in the ass to maintain.  

I'm guessing they're fairly unreliable as well.  Don't have one myself but I live in a neighborhood where many of the starter castles have them and Krupps / Otis trucks are regulars in their driveways.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 27, 2017 18:35:26 GMT -5 milee said:

May 27, 2017 18:12:23 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Elevators in homes need to be certified yearly.  My MIL had one in the home she just sold, and it was a royal pain in the ass to maintain.  

I'm guessing they're fairly unreliable as well.  Don't have one myself but I live in a neighborhood where many of the starter castles have them and Krupps / Otis trucks are regulars in their driveways.

I don't remember my MIL's having issues, but I do know that it cost a lot of $$ to get it recertified each year.  The last time, she said that it really pissed her off to have to pay more than $1000 each year just for a piece of paper.  

I do do know when her husband lost his first leg, they looked what it would cost to turn the formal LR into a bedroom, and the downstairs half bath into a full bath that was h/c accessible.  I think she said that bathroom renovation alone, they got a quote for $80k and the elevator was cheaper.

She sold the house last year for $1.8 million, and did say that the elevator was a selling point.

[zibazinski]

I'm so glad I insisted on getting a house with everything but the guest rooms on one level. Hard enough to get him from the garage into the house. Up the stairs? No way. I've seen homes where the dining room becomes a bedroom. The half bath situation never works forever. Being forced out of your home on top of everything else has to be hard. I'd rather make that decision before I had to. I live alone and sometimes im afraid I'll fall down the stairs that are here. I'll be glad to never have that worry again.

[Opti]

May 27, 2017 18:35:26 GMT -5 milee said:

May 27, 2017 18:12:23 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Elevators in homes need to be certified yearly.  My MIL had one in the home she just sold, and it was a royal pain in the ass to maintain.  

I'm guessing they're fairly unreliable as well.  Don't have one myself but I live in a neighborhood where many of the starter castles have them and Krupps / Otis trucks are regulars in their driveways.

They seem cool, but I can imagine living alone or even being home alone and getting stuck in one. And if the power went out as well, I would not be happy. If you have the money for the upkeep I'd want to know the response time to get me out was fairly quick, like 30 minutes or less.

[weltschmerz]

May 27, 2017 14:38:34 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I always wondered if the people who had those also had backup generators. And if they did, wouldn't they have to have a mobile person to turn them on?

The commercials I see for them say that they work during power failures.

[teen persuasion]

May 27, 2017 14:38:34 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I always wondered if the people who had those also had backup generators. And if they did, wouldn't they have to have a mobile person to turn them on?

My library has a chair lift (no room to retrofit an elevator) to access the second floor community room.  It has a battery that runs it.  It charges whenever it is docked at either the top or bottom.  There are also remotes, to call it if it is at the other end of the stairs.


The downside is that the battery will run out and die if it is not docked for over 24 hours.  So we've had to replace batteries when it went unnoticed that it was stopped just inches from the bottom (say, after an evening program before a long weekend).  Battery replacement isn't cheap, hundreds of $$, so we were pretty paranoid during the recent wind storm power outage - we had *just* replaced the battery!

The seat and footrest on our chairlift folds up to make it less intrusive.  Little kids tend to hold onto the rail, instead of the normal handrail; it's a better height for them.  But it does narrow the stairway somewhat, and we need to remember to use it occasionally to keep/check the battery charged up.  I use it to haul bags of books to storage seasonally, at least.

Many older patrons are not comfortable riding the chairlift.

[Jaguar]

May 27, 2017 17:45:18 GMT -5 Bonny said:

May 27, 2017 13:57:04 GMT -5 Jaguar said:

The chair in my sister's house was awkward at best and a hazard most times for the able bodied people. It was too big to get by to walk down the stairs. If you had packages it was damn impossible.

You didn't just send the packages for a ride?

DH's cousin had one. Yes we had a lot of fun sending the suitcases for a ride when we visited.

No ride, cause the chair wasn't wide enough for any package besides small ones. That chair was just so cumbersome and it took up most of the space of the stairs.

[OldCoyote]

The elevator that I looked at was extremely overbuilt,

Numerous backup and safety devices on it.

The person that I met said they couldn't keep up with the demand.

One thing that was pointed out here inadvertently that I hadn't thought about is The Elevator contractor license.

Hmmm, have to study for another license.

[weltschmerz]

May 29, 2017 21:50:40 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

The elevator that I looked at was extremely overbuilt,

Numerous backup and safety devices on it.

The person that I met said they couldn't keep up with the demand.

One thing that was pointed out here inadvertently that I hadn't thought about is The Elevator contractor license.

Hmmm, have to study for another license.

At work, we can't keep up with the repairs.

[tractor]

I just saw an advertisement for one that looked pretty cool. I built my house with an elevator shaft in place so I can install one when I get older. Our home is three stories, so the stairs will be a killer when I get old. Not interested in selling, plan to die here.

[OldCoyote]

May 30, 2017 2:08:49 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

May 29, 2017 21:50:40 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

The elevator that I looked at was extremely overbuilt,

Numerous backup and safety devices on it.

The person that I met said they couldn't keep up with the demand.

One thing that was pointed out here inadvertently that I hadn't thought about is The Elevator contractor license.

Hmmm, have to study for another license.

At work, we can't keep up with the repairs.

There is opportunity for someone to make money!!