For the aging in place crowd...

[Daniel]

The Shower Glyde looks well engineered.

I'm curious why they recommended a steeper ramp? There are a lot of places here with ramps. Either way, a must have if you have any steps.

I'd like to find out how much tube elevators cost one day just out of curiosity. Probably a fortune.

I'm not buying a place without either direct entry on a first floor or a building with an elevator. This rules out many 2 story buildings.

Good luck.

[Daniel]

I see my question was answered in your other thread. Trial and error. That's the best.

[CHAS]

Thanks for the info. Will be watching this thread.

[Mik]

I’ll read most of the info later but don’t let the guy talk you into steeper ramps. They may be ADA compliant but that standard is just the maximum slope you can have. Doesn’t mean it’s the best. I fought a lot of battles over this when I was in charge of the clubhouse.

[AndyD]

The company my family used is Stannah
https://www.stannah.com/our-homelifts

Their stairlifts are electric powered, have controls built into the seat, and come with two remotes to call & work the chair movement.

Never seen any Homelift. Guessing they are way more convenient to use for wheelchair bound people who simply roll in and out, but way more expensive and messy to install.
On the other hand the homelift appears discreet if you have the space. I feel the stairlifts mess up your stairs making them slightly awkward for able bodied. And there's the less than attractive chair.
Suppose it depends on the disability, your house, taste.

[AndyD]

Couple of other things came to mind depending on what you need:
•Wet room, so practical, where the whole bathroom floor is waterproofed for a shower.
•A larger shower tray, we have 900x1200 in the downstairs bathroom, bought to accommodate dogs washing but the space is really nice to use. Of course the tray is raised an inch up from the floor but you can easily access & sit.
•They advertise baths (usually being used by some glamorous woman with a bad back?) with door and in-built seat. I've never seen but would worry about leakage. And baths are awkward to get in and out for everyone at the best of times, never mind helping someone else who can't manage.

[Daniel]

I don't know why they would advise steeper as I said. Seems counter-intuitive.

I've only seen one stair lift. No clue the brand. My driving service days. I brought Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale home to her house on Quaker Hill. The last thing I heard was her babbling about how Jews were deed restricted on Quaker Hill as she glided up the stairs.

For the record, it used to be true, it's not true now, and it wasn't true when she said it.

[Axtremus]

@Daniel said:

The Shower Glyde looks well engineered.

+1

[Rontuner]

Had a family member that had one of those bathtubs with a door installed. Sounded like a good idea except she complained that she sat naked waiting for it to fill and also to drain all the way before the door could be used. Maybe with a heater in the room it might be more comfortable?

[wtg]

@Mik said:

don’t let the guy talk you into steeper ramps.

Yea, I wasn't impressed with his methodology.

We have a largish front stoop. The step up from the driveway onto that stoop is 6", as is the step from the stoop up into the doorway. The porch is something like 55" from front to back, measuring from the front edge of the granite sill/threshold to the front edge of the porch. The contractor guy was trying to create a small (12") landing area at the front edge of the porch, which you get with a 3' ramp. That is clearly larger than if you have a 4' ramp.

I just line up from the driveway and push straight up and in. The 3' ramps would make that steeper, and based on my couple of attempts pushing the wheelchair up the 4' ramps, I don't think I could manage a 3' ramp. His "landing spot" isn't very useful.

Also, he measured his 3' from the brick on the house. The ramp is actually the hypotenuse of a right triangle, so he should have been measuring from the front edge of the granite door sill where the ramp sits, not the brick under it.

I think my approach is better, and it definitely is cheaper!

[wtg]

@AndyD said:

Wet room, so practical, where the whole bathroom floor is waterproofed for a shower

A single story house about a block away from us was up for sale in the summer of 2024. The sellers had a child in a wheelchair and had created a wet room. We actually went to the open house and looked at the property but didn't actively pursue purchasing it. There was a bidding war, as seniors in our area are looking for a house just like it.

Missed opportunity. Oh, well.