You may find that there are often trade-offs when it comes to accessibility. To make your home accessible, you might have to sacrifice space and invest in new technology. You may give up some room on your staircase in exchange for a convenient stair lift, or you may need a rectangular shaft footprint on two or more floors for your new home elevator. Making room for a garage wheelchair lift might mean giving up usable parking space. Even so, the benefit of your new home elevator or accessibility lift could be the difference between a costly, burdensome move and the joy of turning the home you love into your forever home.
When considering ways to enhance your homeโs accessibility or perhaps install a luxury home elevator, a question that may cross your mind is, โCan I replace my staircase with an elevator?โ Usually, the answer is no. However, there are circumstances when it could work. It’s important to understand whether thatโs the right question to ask to begin with.
You Usually Canโt Replace Your Stairs with an Elevatorโฆ
Letโs take the most common scenario first. Suppose you live in a typical single-family home with a single staircase to travel between the levels of the house. In that case, it’s not safe or compliant to replace your stairs with an elevator because if there’s a fire, you must have a staircase to safely reach one of two or more exits to the outdoors.
โฆBut You Can Transform Your Stairs Into a Lift
So, what are the circumstances when it is OK to replace your stairs with a home elevator? Well, the solution is not to replace the stairs with an elevator but rather to turn the staircase into an elevator!
Incline Chairlifts and Platform Lifts
How do you turn your staircase into an elevator? You do it with an incline stairway chairlift or incline platform lift. Both of these lifts keep the stairs available to people who don’t use the lift. At the same time, they make the staircase accessible to those who need assistance using the stairs. It’s a win-win.
Vertical Platform Lifts
In the rare instance where the existing staircase is extremely wide, a significant portion can also be replaced with a vertical platform lift while still allowing sufficient width for a regular staircase to remain. You’ll most often see stairs wide enough for this option in schools, churches, and commercial buildings. However, in these non-residential applications, it’s especially important to consult local building officials or fire marshals. The required width of the staircase could be based on the occupancy or use of the building.
Elevators
Finally, there is one scenario in which an entire staircase in a residential home (or commercial building) can be demolished and an elevator installed in its place. This only happens when there are more staircases than required by building code. Even in this circumstance, the property owner, architect, or general contractor must ensure that there are no local building code problems that would prohibit the project from being approved locally.
Finding the Right Mobility and Accessibility Solution
In Arrow Liftโs 40 years in business, we have installed both residential elevators and commercial accessibility lifts in each of the situations described above. But keep in mind, if youโre wondering if you can replace your stairs with an elevator, it’s important to first check your assumption that replacing the stairs with an elevator is necessary or even desirable.
Consider the following three alternatives to replacing a staircase with an elevator:
- Install a stairway lift. If you’re on a budget and you donโt mind altering the appearance of your staircase, consider a stairway lift. These lifts fasten to the stair treads rather than the walls, making them a construction-free solution. This also makes them more affordable. This popular solution sidesteps the conversation about replacing the staircase with an elevator completely.
- Keep your stairs and add an elevator. Consult a Home Elevator Expert or a design professional to evaluate whether a home elevator can be installed elsewhere in your home. You might be surprised how compact some home elevators can be. If you only have two floors to travel between, a shaftless home elevator could very likely fit in a location away from the stairs.
- Add an addition. Finally, if budget allows, consider building a small addition for a new home elevator shaft. This isn’t always necessary for traditional home elevators installed in existing homes, but it is common. It may not be the cheapest way to add a home elevator to your home, but depending on your home’s layout and your available budget, it very well may be the most desirable way to accomplish your goals.
Whether you ultimately replace a staircase with an elevator, turn your staircase into an elevator, or find a different solution, a reasonable first step is to contact a local company that has an expert team qualified to evaluate your options regarding stairway lifts, home elevators, and commercial accessibility lifts.
Arrow Lift Has Your Accessibility Answers
Our family business has been helping property owners solve these problems since 1985, and we have a number of locations to better serve you. Our promise to you is to make helpful recommendations, provide honest, straightforward pricing, install safe lifts and elevators, and offer professional maintenance options. We would be honored to see how we can help you.