Common Types Of Wheelchair Lifts For Homes

Posted on: 5 April 2022

If you are in a wheelchair, it would be easiest to live in a home with one floor. But sometimes, you may not have the option. If you find yourself in this situation, a good way to address it is to have a wheelchair lift installed in your home. You can then rely on the lift to take you — and your chair — to the second floor and back down again. However, there are a few different types of wheelchair lifts that you can have installed in your home. Here's a comparison between the two most common ones.

Vertical Wheelchair Lifts

Vertical wheelchair lifts are basically like tiny elevators you have installed in your home. You would wheel your chair into the little box, and the box would then go straight up to your second floor. The door would then open, and you could roll right out.

Vertical wheelchair lifts tend to have a higher weight capacity than stairlifts. However, you may need to have significant modifications made to your home in order to accommodate the elevator. Sometimes people have one installed in place of their hall closet. Of course, the upstairs layout of your home needs to accommodate the elevator, too. There are some cases in which accommodating a vertical lift into your home may not be feasible.

Stair Lifts

If you don't have room for a vertical lift, or if installing one is too expensive, then you may instead want to have a stairlift installed. These lifts attach to one side of your stairway. You roll your wheelchair either into or onto the lift, depending on the specific lift and how it works. You then secure the wheelchair into the lift, and the lift travels up the staircase. Stairlifts can usually be installed within a few hours by a trained professional, and you should not have to modify the home too much.

Stairlifts can be a bit more cumbersome to use than vertical lifts, and they do take up a lot of space on your stairs. However, there are many different models, and an installer can select one that is well suited to your needs. 

If you live in a two-story home and are in a wheelchair, having a wheelchair lift installed is a wise choice. Look into both of the options above, and decide which best suits your needs.

For more information, contact a company like Professional Lift Solutions.

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