Curved Stair Lifts

Some staircases, particularly in larger houses, are curved. If you have a curved staircase, you will need a curved stair lift designed especially to fit the corners or bends in your flight of stairs. The main disadvantage of this type of lift is the cost. Since the lift has to be custom designed and built to fit your staircase, the cost will be considerably more that a normal, straight stair lift.

Many people consider second hand, re-conditioned stair lifts. However, if you have a curved flight of stairs, you are most unlikely to find a second hand stair lift that exactly fits the curve of your stairs.  Therefore there is only a very limited second hand market in curved stair lifts.

Another factor to consider about curved stair lifts is that they are nearly impossible to re-locate. Many elderly people choose to move home when their houses become unmanageable for them. If a straight stair lift has been fitted in the old house, it is perfectly possible to relocate a straight chair lift to another straight staircase. But if a curved stairlift has been fitted, it would be very unlikely to find another house with exactly the same curved staircase.

Another disadvantage of curved stair lifts is the servicing costs. Curved stair lifts often require more servicing as the nature of the construction (curved rails and tracks) means that additional stresses and strains are put on the stair lift. If your staircase has a flat landing half way up, it may be best to consider two straight stair lifts rather than one curved one. It depends of the curve of the wall of course. If the wall is curved for the entire length of the stairs then it would not be possible to have a straight stair lift at all.

As curved stairlifts are custom built, and require a more complicated manufacturing process, they then to be much more expensive than straight stair lifts. Often two straight stair lifts to a half landing is the cheaper option, although this is not always possible. It depends on the construction of the staircase.

Copyright © 2008 elderlycaretips.info All Rights Reserved.