I have been getting a lot of email asking about how to calculate the length for the rail needed for a stair lift. That really depends on the brand name of the stair lift as to how long the rail needs to be. Not all stair lifts are equal.
The very first thing you need to do is to look at your stairs and decide on which side the stair elevator will go on. Stand at the bottom of the stairs and decide if it needs to be mounted on the left hand side, or the right hand side.
It depends on what type of stair lift you are looking to purchase, but some stair lifts can be mounted on either side, while other brand names and/or models has to be ordered to be either to be mounted left hand side or right hand side, and can not be changed. So, you must determine on which side the stair lift needs to be mounted on.
Stand at the bottom of the stairs looking up, and determine on which side the stairlift needs to go on.
Also remember that stair lifts are always mounted to the stairway itself, and not on the wall as a lot of people seem to think. The only exception to this rule are the incline platform lifts, which are usually mounted on the wall, or on post.
Once you determine on which side of the stairs the stair lift will be mounted on, now you need to look at any obstruction such as window sills, hand rails, chair rails, central heating radiators, doorways etc., that intrude into the stairway area – or that could be blocked by the presence of the stair lift.
Sometimes you may have a handrail on the same side that the stair lift should go on, so you will have to decide whether to take the hand rail out, or leave it up and if you do, then the stair lift will have to be mounted whatever the distance is that the handrail (or whatever the obstruction is). Just remember that when a brochure of a stair lift says a stairway lift takes up something like 14 inches (folded) from the wall, whatever the obstruction is, you have to move the stair lift away from the wall that much, so if the handrail (or whatever the obstruction is) takes up 4 inches, then the stair lift also has to move an additional 4 inches from the wall.
1 – Overall Length of Staircase
This should be a straight measurement from the nose of the top step to the floor, at the foot of the stairway. What I do is to sit at the top of the stairs, and let my measuring tape slide down till it touches the floor at the lower landing, then measure at the tip of the nose of the top step.
The only exception to this method is if you need the rail of the stair lift to stop at the nose of the 1st step, then you measure from the nose of the 1st step, to the nose of the upper most step.
Depending on the brand name and/or model of the stair lift, the stairlift rail will go over the top landing so that the stair lift will “ride” up far enough to allow the rider to get on and off the stair lift with ease. This measure is on average about 8 to 12″, but I have seen some models to be as low as 2″ while others have required 15″.
2 – Staircase Width
You many find that your staircase width varies a little, over the length of the stairway. Record the measurement at its narrowest point.
You many find that your staircase width varies a little, over the length of the stairway. Record the measurement at its narrowest point.
3 – Clearance at Bottom of Staircase
Depending on the brand name and/or model, but in most cases you need at least 24 inches between the nose of the lower step to the wall. Brand names and/or models differ and looking at the spec on the stair lift will help determine how much space is needed at the bottom of the stairway.
Those are the Major “3″ measurements you need. Some models fo stair lifts also require additional measurements for more accuracy. Especially on custom made stair lifts, such as for intermediate landings and curving stair ways. In these type of stairways, you will need a representative of a stairlift company to measure the stairway for you. Some manufactures uses a camera system to measure the stairs, and they guarantee it to be accurate.
Other measurements that may need to be recorded include:
Rise’ of One Step
Height of one step. This may vary slightly, so measure several steps and take an average.
‘Tread’ of One Step
Depth of one step. This may vary slightly, so measure several steps and take an average.
‘Diagonal’ of One Step
Distance between the ‘noses’ of two adjacent steps. This may vary slightly, so measure several steps and take an average.
Below is the specs of a stair lift. This is actually a stair lift in currently in production. I won’t tell you the name of this stair lift, but you can see in the picture the over run at the top of the stairs. In this sample, you see it says 11″ from the wall when folded. That is from the wall – any obstructions such as handrail has to be added, so if handrail is 4″ then that measurement goes from being 11″ to 15″. Also – width of the rail differs from brand and/or model. In a upcoming video I will show you a few of the differences of the rails.
No comments:
Post a Comment