Here’s our latest case study – a four level, steel, spiral stairlift! This was a very unusual one and the first of its kind for us at UKstairlifts! Our client had a rather unusual house which had access to four floors only via these rather amazing stairs! The trouble was, his father couldn’t visit the house as he was unable to climb them! So the stairlift was commissioned so his father could visit for Christmas!
With a stairlift like this one, there’s a wait time for the rail manufacture. Luckily we were able to get this one installed just in time for Christmas!
A Four-Level, Steel, Spiral Staircase For Christmas!
Our chief engineer gave this installation a couple of days, just in case. Often with an installation like this one, the smallest problem can delay the fitting for hours. So, just to be sure, we made sure we had the time available, should something go wrong during installation.
Often, even with a much smaller fitting, a problem with the stairlift program will turn a 3 hour job into a 5 hour one! Here’s Scott unwrapping the rail parts. Initially we were surprised there were so few of them for such a large project! But with an internal rail each part covered a large area, as you’ll see.
The internal rail means that the rail is going down the inside of the staircase. With an external rail, the rail runs along the outside of the stairs, which means a longer rail is generally needed to cover more area.
In this picture (left) you can see the first parts of the rail going in (from the top down). On the right is the base of the staircase (4 floors below).
Planning Ahead!
Problem avoidance is a good strategy when it comes to a staircase like this. Fortunately Scott has over 20 years experience of stairlift installation, so he was easily able to foresee any potential problems before they occurred!
One such issue could easily have been losing grasp of a rail at the top! These rail parts are heavy, so a it would have been an easy mistake to allow a rail part to fall! Since the rail parts are spray painted they are doubly slippery, and on a steel staircase, they would have easily slid down the stairs!
So the first thing was to secure the first rail part to the steel staircase.
Steel Stairs Versus Wooden Stairs
In a normal stairlift installation, the rail is attached to the stairs directly (through the carpet) with screws. The screws go into the wooden stair treads. But with the metal stairs, this was more difficult because we needed nuts on the under side of the stairs, to secure the bolts. This was a fiddly job and especially where there was nowhere to stand underneath the staircase to reach up to the bolts.
Rail Sections Going In
As the rail sections went in, it began to take shape. Here’s a short video time-lapse of each section being installed.
Once all the sections were in place, measurements were double checked to make sure the rail was the right distance from the handrail. With the rail in the correct position, screws and bolts were tightened and the stairlift itself was added to the rail. The rail is also measured to make sure it is completely horizontal and not leaning (on the straight sections).
The Flow X was used here. This was the only stairlift which would work on this staircase. It is renowned for its flexibility and adaptability. See our post for stairlift for narrow stairs for more information on it.
Stairlift Being Placed On The Rail
With the rail installation complete, the next stage is the attachment of the stairlift itself. The stairlift base is placed on the rail at the very top. It is then driven down the entire length of the rail! A long journey at slow speed – particularly on this one with four floors to cover!
With a Flow X that’s brand new, like this one, the stairlift is pre-programmed for the rail. This means it knows where the park points are (on each floor on this one) and automatically parks on each level.
While this needed a little “tweaking”, it meant a lot of the programming was already done. With a reconditioned lift of this kind, the old program of the lift is still in the memory (from it’s previous rail). This means it needs its memory needs wiping and then to be reprogrammed for the path of the new rail. The Flow X lift needs to know where to park, which parts of the rail to slow down/speed up on and the movements of the chair to accommodate tight corners. This can take some time on a reconditioned unit. But with a brand new model, like this one, these manoeuvres are already programmed in!
Adding The Chair
Once the stairlift made it to the bottom of the rail, Scott added the chair and made any small corrections which were needed. One of these was the park position, which you can see in the video below. This was only a tiny alteration in the program. The park position was facing the wrong way. You can see this in the video where the stairlift parks facing slightly away from the doorway.
With the alterations made, screws tightened and a demo for the new owner made, this stairlift installation was a wrap!
We also offered a service to pack away the stairlift for later use by the owner. This stairlift was installed for the owner’s father, so he could visit the house. But he was also looking to the future for his own use further down the road.
With this scenario in mind, we offered to pack away the stairlift itself into its original boxes, for storage. This would be to a view of unpacking it years down the line, when the owner needed the stairlift for his own use, should his mobility limit his use of the home. The stairlift rail would remain in place, but storing the stairlift unit would likely extend its lifetime, if he had no use for it in the meantime.
Here’s a video of the installation:
Summary – Four Level Steel Spiral Stairlift
This was a four level, steel, spiral staircase which threw up a number of challenges! We’re proud of the fact that we like a challenge!
So if you have a problem, if no-one else can help and if you can find us, maybe you can hire UKStairlifts!
(A reference to The A-Team – one of my favourite TV shows of the 80’s!)
Give us a call on 0800 046 3438 or visit our contact page to get in touch and for more information.