If you’re looking for a stairlift for narrow stairway, you’re not the only one! We’ve had many customers with narrow and awkward stairs come to us for help! The good news is that we’ve become experts in stairlifts for narrow stairs.
Most narrow and awkward stairs can be fitted with a stairlift, even if a specialist lift is required. Modern stairlifts now cater for much more complicated and difficult stairways. Our standard “go-to” stairlift is a reconditioned Stannah. We like Stannah’s because they cater for awkward fittings and have excellent built quality. Their design allows them to sit well-back on the rail, leaving plenty of leg room for narrow stairways. (See the Stannah 600 pictured below left).
Still, on certain staircases, a Stannah simply won’t fit. In this scenario our “go-to” stairlift is the Flow X stairlift (pictured right).
Stairlift For Narrow Stairway – The Flow X
The Flow X is a modern marvel and can fit on staircases where other stairlifts are out-manoeuvred! So while we do recommend the Stannah 260 (for curved) and the Stannah 600 (for straight staircases), in some situations this can’t be done, particularly on a narrow curved stairway.
Introducing the Flow X stairlift from Thyssen Krupp (now Access BDD). This modern wonder comes with an advanced swivelling technology which allows it to cleverly navigate almost any obstacle and almost any staircase configuration.
Pictured above is the Flow X. Here it is installed on a tight, narrow staircase with a downstairs cubby hole (seen to the right of the stairlift). You can watch the installation on the video here:
See more of our videos here.
Stairlift For Narrow Stairway – Flow X Specifications
Here you can see how narrow the Flow X is. At less than 62 cm across, it’s the most adaptable stairlift on the market when it comes to navigating narrow stairways. Its ASL (Advanced Swivel and Levelling) technology means it can manoeuvre around even the tightest bends and avoid problem obstacles with ease! It even folds down to just 38cm in width when not in use. So it won’t be an obstacle for other house users.
Most stairlifts face outward from the rail which means there’s a key measurement which sometimes prevents an installation from being possible. This is the back to knee measurement, or back to toe measurement (whichever is the larger).
With a very narrow stairway this limits the use of certain stairlifts from being used. If the back to knee measurement is larger than the space available on your staircase (including space for rail and stairlift), it cannot be installed.
But the Flow X gets round this issue because of its downward facing ride position (above right).
ASL – Advanced Swivel & Levelling
Some other stairlifts can also swivel and level themselves, such as the Platinum Ultimate. But it is only the Flow X which can do both simultaneously while on the move. The manufacturers have a patented technology in this regard.
This is essential for some stairways simply because of their configuration and the obstacles the stairlift has to overcome. Here’s a recent installation we did on a very narrow and steep staircase:
This one was pretty close because not only was the stairway narrow, but there were other obstacles to consider too. For example, at the top of the stairs, with a stairlift like this, the stairlift has to rotate to allow exit facing away from the stairs. This means that even with a very clever stairlift like this one, you still need room for manoeuvre to rotate the chair.
There was little room for the chair to swivel at the top of the stairs in the recess. But luckily we were able to install this one and the chair was able to come back from the top of the stairs, facing in the direction of travel.
Summary
Our go-to stairlifts for narrow stairs are the Stannah 600 (for straight stairs) and the Stannah 260 (for curved stairs) pictured below. Both these stairlifts offer excellent build quality and reliability. Our reconditioned stairlifts means you can get a high quality lift at a huge discount.
While we recommend these stairlifts where they will fit, it’s not always possible to install a Stannah, particularly if your staircase is very narrow, or there’s a number of obstacles. Doorways, radiators, meter boxes and other obstacles such as corridors are all potential obstacles for a stairlift installation.
When a Stannah can’t be installed, we will recommend the Flow X or the Flow 2a (Flow X’s predecessor). These stairlifts are the best when nothing else will fit! Here’s both models pictured below. The Flow 2a on the left and the Flow X is on the right.
