Case Study – 3 Floor Stairlift Fitting

Here’s a 3 floor stairlift fitting we had in Southampton. In this particular situation, we had a narrow staircase with three floors. All of the levels of the house were thoroughly used. So the user needed to park the stairlift at each level for an extended time period. This meant a solution where the stairlift chair could be parked at each floor – while charging. Otherwise, the battery could run down when the chair wasn’t in use.

In addition to this, the staircase was fairly narrow, presenting the problem of finding a chairlift which was suitable, and could be parked on each floor.

Case Study – 3 Floor Stairlift Fitting – Tight Turns

With the tight turns of this staircase, we needed a solution of a nimble stairlift. We also needed a solution which would leave the staircase unencumbered for other users of the stairs. With the need to park the stairlift at each level too, this presented the problem of where it could be stationed. The stairlift needed to park out of the way of other house users, too.

Stair Base – Narrow & Doorway To Navigate

The base of the stairs was also very narrow so we needed a stairlift which could park up out of the way when not in use at each level! This is a common problem with staircases in the UK – most of which are pretty narrow and with tight corners too! As you can see, there’s a door to the left of the bottom step. So the stairlift had to be able to be parked, without obstructing the doorway.

Case Study – 3 Floor Stairlift Fitting – The Solution

Here at UK Stairlifts we don’t back away from a challenge! We have even fitted stairlifts to spiral staircases, and although this one presented a unique situation, we rise to any challenge!

Our solution was to use the Thyssen Flow X stairlift, one of the best stairlifts for this kind of situation.

The Flow X is capable of navigating staircases as narrow as 61cm in width. Here’s the installation at the very top of the staircase. In this picture the Flow X is ready to be unfolded but it folds flat to the bannister rail down to as little as 38 cm in depth. So there’s plenty of room for manoeuvre when it’s not in use.

Charging Points

The other problem was the stairlift needed to rest at each level for some time. Since each level of the house was in use – the kitchen, bedroom and lounge rooms. When a stairlift is sitting for some time, the battery needs to be kept topped up. Modern stairlifts use batteries rather than mains electricity directly. So in the event of a power cut, you’re still good to go for several lifts.

But the batteries are trickle charged from the mains, too. This means if unplugged (or not charging from a charging point) the batteries will slowly run down.

Charging Point Mid-Level

Here’s a charging point, mid-level on the staircase. This allows the stairlift chair to sit at this point for as long as necessary without running down the battery. With the Flow X stairlift there’s an “auto-park” function on the handset. This allows you to find the charging point with a press of a button – the “P” buttons finds the charge point and stops there, where the chair can remain charging the battery for as long as necessary.

At the base of the staircase, the flat “nose” of the stairlift rail on the Flow X allows a comfortable sitting position out of the way of the doorway to the side. Here’s a similar fitting from another angle.

This configuration allows you to park the stairlift chair at the base of the stairs without obstructing passageways or doorways. In this setup, we needed an out of the way setup in order to avoid blocking the downstairs door to the side of the bottom step.

Summary

With this particular stairlift fitting, there were a few considerations:

• Choosing a stairlift which could navigate corners and particularly tight corners at that!
• Finding a solution where the stairlift could be parked at each level (on a charging point)
• Positioning the rail and stairlift so that it didn’t block the lower level doorway

Our solution, as is often the case with particularly narrow staircases, was the Flow X stairlift. The Flow X solves a lot of problems singlehandedly! It’s manoeuvrability (big word!) is second to none. It was also particularly useful in the scenario because of its parking function which allows you to locate the parking (charge) point with the press of a button on the handset.

Another problem solved by the stairlift experts at UK Stairlifts!