If a stair lift doesn’t fit your stairs, don’t panic. There are ways and means even if your stairlift engineer has told you it can’t be done. We have picked up a number of difficult stairlift installations from others fitters. Sometimes this has been when others have either fitted a lift which is too big, or told the client it can’t be done!
Why is this? Well, only certain installation specialists like us can install certain stairlifts which are specifically designed to cope with difficult stairs. Most stairlifts are capable only of being installed on regular staircases.
A “normal” stairlift installation is a straight flight of stairs. Or, perhaps even a curved staircase which is very regular in shape. Here’s an example of a standard staircase:
This is a standard fitting and most stairlift providers will be capable of fitting a stairlift on this configuration. The problems occur when there’s a more complex configurations which might include curves, doorways and corridors which become obstacles for simpler stairlifts. Here’s a stairlift we installed on a very narrow set of stairs:
This staircase was so narrow that a previous stairlift was removed because the owner couldn’t fit his legs on the lift without clashing with the wall! You can read the case study we did on this particular installation here.
Stairlift Doesn’t Fit Your Stairs – Our Story
So, if a stairlift doesn’t fit your stairs, and you’ve been told it can’t be done – we might be able to help! We’ve had jobs passed on to us directly from other providers who know we specialise in this kind of problem.
In fact just a few years ago we were in the same boat. We were turning away stairlift installations because the stairlifts we used were too cumbersome to be installed on some stairs. Certain stairlifts need extra room at the top and bottom of the stairs. They have what’s called a “run-on”. This is a piece of rail which runs onto the downstairs or upstairs landing area which allows the stairlift to swivel to get on or off.
Here’s an example of a “run on”. This one’s at the top, but they can also be at the bottom of the stairs. A “run-on is an extra piece of railing which allows the stairlift to park and the user to get on/off safely away from the top of the stairs.
The problem with this configuration arises when there’s a doorway or corridor in the way (or some other obstacle).
Stair Lift Doesn’t Fit – Specialists In Difficult/Narrow Configurations
We don’t like turning away customers who are in need, there’s nothing worse than seeing someone who needs help with their mobility and being unable to provide them with a lift (no pun intended!). So a short while ago we looked into the most modern stairlifts – those which could cope with very difficult and narrow staircases.
We learned how to install these lifts and became pretty good at it – even if we do say so ourselves! Here’s another of our installations on a very narrow staircase. This one was passed on to use by another provider who’s stairlifts simply wouldn’t fit this staircase setup:
Here you can see why the other fitters couldn’t install their traditional model. A less specialist lift required more space at the bottom of the stairs. This one didn’t. We often use the Flow X stairlift which is specially designed for such a setup. They are often the best stairlifts for narrow stairs.
Here’s Another Recent Installation
Here’s another of our recent installations we did, this time in Morecambe, Lancashire. This was had a very narrow corridor at the bottom.
Not only did this staircase have a door at the bottom, and a very narrow corridor, but we also managed to fit it around a radiator too! Not bad if we do say so ourselves!
Stair Lift Doesn’t Fit – Summary
So, if you’ve been told your stairs are impossible for a stairlift – think again! We might be able to help and often it has been said “it can’t be done” only for UKStairlifts to prove that it can!
As dedicated stairlift specialists, we have even taken photo-surveys to check in with the manufacturers before an installation is commissioned. The “photo-survey” is an electronic assessment of your staircase. It is uploaded to a computer and a digital map of your staircase is built.
So, even if your staircase looks like an impossible scenario for a stairlift, we might be able to help! Give us a call on 0800 046 3438.
Here’s one of ours which required a photo-survey and was as close at it gets when it comes to impossible stairlift installations!
You can also find some of our stairlift installations on our YouTube channel here. We even do spiral stairs too – checkout one of our latest spiral stairlifts case studies!