Installing a home lift seems pretty straightforward. You find a spot, install your lift, and Bob’s your uncle. The truth is there’s at least one mistake most people make when adding a home lift that costs them money, inconvenience, or a solution that doesn’t really work for them.
And these mistakes are not necessarily obvious. Some are simply assumptions that seem perfectly reasonable until you’re stuck halfway through a regrettable process.
Choosing a Convenient Location Instead of a Practical One
The first step and first mistake starts right at the beginning. People simply look at their home and think “well, that corner looks convenient”.
But, unfortunately, that corner might be filled with plumbing, or it might be right at the point where your house’s main structural support pillar runs. And moving either of those elements is going to cost you from the get-go. Then there are people who choose a location for the lift that only works for the installation but doesn’t work for the traffic in the rest of their home after the fact.
Ground floor may be a reasonable option, but how about on the second or third floor? Does your shaft now compromise the previous traffic flow patterns in your home? It’s asking these questions after rather than before you’ve installed the lift that usually gets people into trouble.
Buying a Lift Based on Current Instead of Future Needs
Most people who add a home lift do so because they have declining mobility or someone in their household does. But the mistake most people make here is that they buy a lift according to their current needs rather than their future needs.
A lift that works perfectly well for someone with a walking cane may not even be of use to someone who needs to use a wheelchair. All the dimensions change and suddenly that “acceptable lift” is totally impractical.
Designers who offer bespoke home lifts usually factor in your future needs, rather than forcing you into a design that may not work in the future.
Underestimating the Amount of Structural Work Required
Most people make the mistake of thinking that installing a home lift is simply an installation process. What people don’t realize is that installing home lifts usually requires structural work to be done on your house to have your lift installed at all.
That work may involve changing or reinforcing floors, removing walls, attending to electrical matters, and possibly some major changes that weren’t obvious upon first inspection to your property.
This is one area where budgets typically run into issues. Someone receives a quote for the installation of the lift, they agree and only then do they find out that there’s an additional few grand worth of work that also needs to be completed. It’s not always hidden information – though it sometimes is. It’s just that nobody can know for sure what needs doing until someone surveys your property correctly.
The best way to deal with this? Budget more than what you’re quoted.
Ignoring Building Regulations and Permissions
Not every home lift installation requires building permission but most people make the mistake of assuming they don’t need to pay attention to it.
Some people try to cut corners when it comes to building regulations and permissions or they think their installation company will do all of it for them. Only to be met with unwelcome surprises when the building inspector arrives and says he has sign-off requirements you need to meet.
Listed properties and properties located in conservation areas have even more regulations to abide by. A seemingly innocuous internal modification may result in extensive applications and permissions from different bodies. Finding this out after you’ve paid for a lift is unpleasant.
Looking for the Cheapest Quote Rather Than Value
It makes perfect sense to shop around and compare prices. The mistake people make when they add a home lift to their property, though, is that they look for the cheapest quote.
Cheap quotes almost never come with everything included, lower quality lifts are only offered by companies that offer cheap quotes. Cheap quotes usually come from companies that do not offer lift installation or finishing work that includes touch-ups. Cheap quotes come from companies that are just after your cash and once they’ve installed your lift you’re on your own.
Expensive maintenance costs usually come into play later since people make the mistake of forgetting that the most expensive part of their home lift investment is the fact they need to maintain them over 20-30 years (if built well).
Instead of looking for a quote based on price alone, look for value in the company that you choose for your installation.
Not Considering Maintenance Access
Speaking of maintenance, people often also forget to factor in how someone is going to actually maintain your lift once it’s been installed. They consider the lift but they forget about access.
In some cases, people build their shafts in such a way that it makes it hard to reach the lift for technicians or it’s expensive for them to get to certain parts of the lift that require regular attention. Access panels get sealed permanently instead of being made removable and points of access are conveniently placed behind fittings instead of thought out properly.
The end result? Every time someone comes to service your lift, it costs you extra time and money while they first have to get to the lift rather than just maintaining it.
Forgetting About Aesthetic Integration Until The Last Minute
This may not be a requirement for most people but nobody wants a home lift that works perfectly, but is one ugly addition to their home.
Just be sure that whoever installs your lift spends as much time on the aesthetic integration of your lift into what you’ve already got, as they do on the functionality of your lift when completing various elements of the lift. The shaft may become a permanent addition and it only makes sense if it works with what you’ve already got rather than against it.
Conclusion
Most of these mistakes can be avoided by asking more questions upfront.
Rushing through pre-planning just so you can have your lift installed as fast as possible only results in inconveniences caused by mistakes that should have been avoided altogether.
If you plan properly, pay more attention to necessary locations, building regulations, designer capabilities, accessibility, and obligatory maintenance requirements then you’ll have an addition that you’re pleased with rather than one that haunts you.
