We often get enquiries from customers asking “Is my staircase too narrow for a stairlift?“. The answer is usually that we can help you! We can fit stairlifts to stairs as narrow as 61cm in width; sometimes even narrower! But before I elaborate, on this, a quick bit of history for our company!
A few years ago we were turning away customers for this exact problem – staircases which were too narrow to fit a stairlift! We didn’t like losing business, and we didn’t like being unable to help people in need even more! After all, a stairlift is a massive life-saver when it comes to maintaining your independence in the home.
So we looked into specialist stairlifts which were more capable. Turned out there was a particular model which was developed with this exact problem in mind – the Flow X from Thyssen Krupp (now Access BDD).
Is My Staircase Too Narrow For A Stairlift?
The Flow X is a marvel of modern technology. It has moved the mobility sector on in leaps and bounds! It’s the most capable stairlift when it comes to navigating difficult and awkward stairs. In particular it’s a marvel when it comes to stairlifts for narrow staircases.
The Flow X stairlift has patented technology which allows it to move, tilt and pivot simultaneously. The seat position can be faced downwards or upwards during travel which makes a massive difference. With most stairlifts, the width of the stairs is a limitation because of the knee to back measurement (or knee to toe, whichever is greater).
The Flow X gets around this problem with its downward facing ride position. It can also handle corners/bends with ease because of its ASL patent (Advanced Swivel & Levelling technology).
The Flow X
The Flow X stairlift has a few other tricks up its sleeves too! Not only does the ride position mean it can be installed on staircase which were previously out of reach for stairlifts, no! There’s more to this technical marvel than that! It also has a single, elegant rail which can be customised according to your home layout. For example, we’ve fitted this baby to a number of homes which have tight corridors or awkward basement doors right at the base of the stairs.
Many stairlifts require extra room for the lift to pivot at the base, for easy exit. This takes up valuable room and can even disqualify the stairlift completely from an installation if there’s not enough room.
The Flow X uses a single rail which can even fall short of the bottom step, if required. It uses a “drop nose” rail configuration which can leave more room for doors and corridors at the base of the stairs. Here’s a recent fitting we did which had a door at the foot of the stairs.
Summary
So, if you’re asking whether your staircase is too narrow for a stairlift, the likely answer is no! To know for sure you can give us a call. We offer a free assessment with no obligation and can measure your stairs to see what is the most suitable stairlift for you and your budget.
The Flow X is a technological wonder of modern design, but it’s not the only solution for a very narrow or awkward staircase. We can provide more cost effective solutions too and offer a range of reconditioned stairlifts to suit your needs and budget.
Here’s a quick video of one of our installations on a very narrow staircase.