When Is the Right Time to Look Into a Homelift?

Ask ten Stiltz customers why they chose a homelift, and you’ll get ten different answers. For some, the decision comes after an unexpected change in their health. Others decide to futureproof early on, before any mobility issues manifest themselves.

No one wants to think about a time when stairs may become more difficult to manage. It’s an easy thing to put off, and an even easier thing to only think about once something has already happened.

But not everyone waits that long. Di and Stuart Barnes and Rosemary Buck, both found themselves looking at a Stiltz Homelift, for two very different reasons.

Di and Stuart: A Sudden Change

Di and Stuart Barnes are an active couple in their eighties, and the stairs in their Kent farmhouse had never given them any trouble. Then, while on holiday, Stuart ruptured a tendon. Overnight, stairs which had never been a concern, became a daily barrier to being able to use their home fully.

Even though the change had happened suddenly, Di and Stuart didn’t want to jump at the first solution they came across. Whatever they chose had to work for Stuart and the home they’d spent nearly thirty years shaping. The quick fix of installing a stairlift was ruled out early on, feeling too clinical a fit for the home they’d lovingly renovated.

They kept looking and came across Stiltz Homelifts. A survey would give them the opportunity to understand whether a home lift would work in their home so Di and Stuart booked an appointment for a Stiltz surveyor to visit, and together they worked out where a lift could fit now and still make sense for years to come.

That conversation led them to a corridor towards the rear of the property that led directly up to a bedroom. The couple placed an order for a compact Stiltz Duo+ which, once fitted, left no structural trace.

Since the lift went in, Stuart has resumed the small routines that had fallen away during his recovery, including carrying breakfast up to bed each morning, a job Di had taken on while he couldn’t manage the stairs. “Now we have the lift, I’m back in action; I’ve no excuses. I can take the tray up again and earn some brownie points.”

Rosemary: Planning Ahead

Rosemary Buck’s reasons for chosing a Stiltz Lift were quite different. There was no single injury or emergency behind her decision, just a knee problem that had started making the stairs increasingly tiring, and a nagging sense that it was worth thinking ahead.

“I can still walk and drive,” she says candidly, “but who knows what the future holds? A recent knee problem made me think seriously about my mobility in years to come.” It wasn’t a dramatic turning point, but it was enough to make her pause and reflect.

Her family backed the decision straight away. “One of my sons did all the research for me,” Rosemary explains. “He spoke to a few other companies, but I’d already heard of Stiltz through a friend. I just knew that was the one I wanted.” With that decided, her son took care of the rest.

The lift now carries the things that were hardest on her knees, including heavy wash baskets and suitcases. For Rosemary, the choice of installing a home lift is way of making sure she can stay in the home she’s cherished, for years to come.

Two Reasons, One Outcome

Di and Stuart’s decision was made in response to a sudden change in health circumstance. Rosemary’s was made well ahead of one. Both, though, have ended up in the same place: still in the homes they know well, with a lift that quietly does the job stairs sometimes can’t.

Whether you’re managing stairs perfectly well today or dealing with a change that’s already happened, it may be worth asking the same question Rosemary and the Barnes family did: would a homelift make things easier, now or in the years to come?