In this case study we look at a stairlift for awkward stairs: an Elizabethan Manor House Installation. This was a farm house near Stockport, Manchester. It had a number of difficulties in terms of a stairlift installation. Firstly it had a preservation order on it, which meant minimum disruption could be made to the staircase.
The stairs were not exactly level which presented a problem for the rail installation and the feet. Not only that but the landing was sloping down and the corners of the handrail were not precisely 90 degrees.
It definitely presented a challenge! We like a challenge though! UKStairlifts specialise in stairlifts for narrow and difficult stairs and this one definitely fell into that category!
Stairlift for Awkward Stairs – Installing a Stairlift in an Elizabethan Manor House
For this installation we chose a Stannah 260 stairlift and an internal rail. The Stannah is a great stairlift for slim stairs and the internal rail meant that top of the staircase doorway wouldn’t be blocked. A doorway at the top of the stairs (pictured below) can present a problem for some stairlift models. There are other ways around this problem; such as the Flow X stairlift which is often a good choice when nothing else will fit.
With the internal rail we could run the stairlift around the top newel post and onto the landing area for parking.
Why We Chose a Reconditioned Stannah 260
Not only do we specialise in stairlifts for awkward stairs, but we also specialise in reconditioned stairlifts. We chose the Stannah for its ability to be installed on difficult, curved staircases. The landing could be used for a run-on for parking and the rail was manufactured to accommodate the awkward bends in the stairs/handrail.
Despite the bends on the stairs not being precisely 90 degree angles, the rail was accommodating – although it took a little juggling to get it right!
The landing was downwards sloping. This meant that as the stairlift went along the landing, it became higher relative to the floor! This wasn’t a major problem though – the stairlift was around 2-3 inches higher at the parking position.
The stairs were a slight issue too because they were not level. So screwing the rail into the stair treads was a delicate job. Because of the preservation order, extra care had to be taken so as not to make a mistake. To install a rail onto a staircase, screws have to be used to hold the structure down by the feet of the rail.
This usually isn’t a problem on a wooden staircase. Concrete staircases are much more problematic because a mistake would leave holes in the concrete, or they could even crack the concrete. See our recent case study: a stairlift on a floating concrete staircase.
Summary
Here’s a short video of the stairlift in action during a problem fix at a later date. This shows just how close the stairlift was to each bend on the handrail. The rail was installed as close as possible to the handrail in order to save space on the staircase for the other householders who used the stairs.
We received a call to this property after the installation. The stairlift hadn’t been parked correctly on its parking point and as a result the batteries had run flat. A quick battery change was all the was required to get it working again.
This case study shows how a stairlift can be adjusted to fit pretty much any staircase. We have installed many stairlifts on much more awkward staircases than this one. You can see more of our case studies here – some of which were handed to us by other stairlift providers who couldn’t accommodate the awkward stairs.
Need a stairlift for awkward stairs? Give us a call on 0800 045 3438 or visit our contact page and leave a message.
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