When your mobility is diminished by injury, health, or simple age, the staircase in your home can become a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. That’s why many people with reduced mobility turn to stairlifts to safely and more efficiently navigate their staircases. Adding a stairlift to a straight set of stairs is relatively simple; a straight track with an easy ascent presents few issues. But what about a curved staircase or a staircase with two sets of stairs separated by a landing? Can a stairlift be mounted to these kinds of staircases? Keep reading to find out.
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The Short Answer Is Yes
Yes, staircases of all shapes, sizes, and configurations can be fitted with a stairlift. That’s the simple answer here. The more complicated answer is that you will likely need a custom stairlift for anything besides a straight staircase. This is because the curvature of your staircase, the size of your landing, or the lengths of your two sets of stairs are unique to your home, so the stairlift will need to be customized to fit the shape of your staircase exactly.
Now it’s time to go into more detail about how these staircases are fitted with stairlifts.
Fitting a Staircase with a Landing
Staircases with landings are a bit simpler to fit with a stairlift than a curving staircase, and you may be able to use two straight stairlifts. The issue with this solution is that it requires an additional transfer between seats. Not only will you need to transfer from your wheelchair or scooter to the seat at the bottom of the staircase, but you’ll need to switch to the second stairlift’s seat when you reach the landing. While feasible (and likely a bit less expensive), this option does increase the risk of a fall during the transfer process.
The second option is to install a custom stairlift, as mentioned earlier. This allows your contractor to perfectly fit a track to your staircase, adding a curve to navigate the landing and ascend the second set of stairs with ease.
Fitting a Curved Staircase
Curved staircases always require a professional hand. You’ll need that track to curve at precisely the same angle as the staircase, leaving plenty of room for ambulatory people in the household to use the stairs. Curved stairlifts are mounted to the stair treads, not the walls, so they’re compatible with almost any staircase.
If you have a curved staircase, look for a contractor that installs curved stairlifts customized to fit your stairs perfectly.
