It is not always easy to walk up and down the stairs for people who are mobility challenged. A stair lift is often the best way to reduce the risk of injuries on the stairs and to allow a person to climb the stairs without assistance from the outside. There are a few different types of stair lifts available to accommodate different kinds of staircases.



A stair lift is a type of mobility aid that carries a person to the top and bottom of the stairs. They usually use a chair to transport a single occupant up and down a metal track that runs the length of the stairs. The type of staircase you have in many ways dictates what kind of stair lift you need for your home.

A straight staircase is the easiest and least expensive type of staircase to outfit with a stair lift. The metal track will be installed to the base of the stairs and the whole process can usually be done in a few hours.

A curved stair lift is used on curved staircases. Since a curved staircase is not built to any sort of standard, the stair lift will have to be custom built. This can be very expensive and usually takes several months to complete. Since the track is custom built to fit your stairs, it won't have any resale value unless you can find someone who has the exact same type of curved staircase. This is usually not likely, unless you can find a home built by the same builder and even then due to differences in construction, there is no guarantee you will be able to use the lift.

The cost is also much greater when installing a curved lift and you will likely spend over a thousand percent more than you would if you installed a straight stair lift. In addition to spending much more, you will have to have someone come into your home to provide you with an estimate, which means you will have to subject yourself to an in home high pressure sales pitch just to find out how much they are going to charge you.

If you have an ?L? shaped staircase, then you might be able to install two straight stair lifts as opposed to one curved stair lift. Even buying and installing two straight stair lifts is still much less expensive than a curved stair lift and they retain a good re-sale value.

If you can at all avoid it, you should try to install a straight lift. Even if you have a curved stair lift, consider talking with a straight stair lift dealer. If you must use a curved stair lift it is better to get several estimates. Most dealers can match or beat a lower estimate, but this does mean you will have to put up with several in home sales pitches. It will take a little longer too, but with most curved stair lifts taking over 6 weeks to build, it is worth it to shop around.