It is more than three years ago since we launched the Stiltz lift in the United Kingdom and within that time we have carried out more than 150 installations for a wide variety of applications.
After recently being included in the ’27 Genius New Products You Had No Idea Existed’ on popular USA social media news and entertainment site Buzzfeed, we thought we would take a look back at why some of customers choose the Stiltz Home Lift over its alternative – the age old stairlift.
Not far from our offices in Wokingham, Berkshire, Betty Major, 84 had a standard Stiltz Duo Lift fitted at the home she shares with husband Don because she was finding the stairs too much due to her arthritis and bad knee. Mrs Major did not want to buy a stairlift because she found it ‘obtrusive’.
The couple had the Duo placed in the utility room with it going directly up into the corner of their bedroom. As Stiltz lifts need no load bearing walls and use rails – or ‘stilts’ – with the weight of the structure and lift car carried in compression through the rails into the floor of the home, no major building work was required.
With Stiltz lifts also not using hydraulics – instead powered by a unique roped drum-braked gear electric motor drive system that simply plugs into a normal 13 amp socket – the Majors’ installation was a basic retrofit application and took just one day to complete. All that was needed was the cutting and trimming of the ceiling and floor, including the cutting back of the carpet in the bedroom.
Mr Major, 80, said: “My wife could not get up the stairs unaided due to her bad knee. Now all Betty has to do is simply open the door, pull the lever and press the button and it takes 10 to 15 seconds to get up to the bedroom. The lift is absolutely wonderful and Betty couldn’t be without it now.”
Sybil Hart, 84, from Berkshire, also had a Duo Lift installed after a knee replacement operation made it difficult for her to climb the stairs. Mrs Hart, who felt a stairlift would look ‘unattractive’, had the lift fitted in the lounge to travel up into the main bedroom above.
Daughter Heather said: “My mother liked the fact the lift was discrete, simple and there was very little disruption to install it. She also liked its safety features. The lift has been exceptional and has really done the job well.”
Multiple sclerosis sufferer Jon Salisbury, 49, from Hertfordshire, chose the Stiltz Trio Lift as the deeper lift and wider opening meant it could accommodate his standard wheelchair. Mr Salisbury had previously had a stairlift installed but because he was unable to use it unaided and without the help of his wife, Anne, and it proved costly to maintain, the couple thought that they might have to move home until they discovered Stiltz lifts.
Anne, 46, said: “The Trio lift is a beautiful piece of design that does not make your home look like institution. It is also safer than stairlift as there is no risk of falls and it has given Jon independence to move around the house. It has changed our lives.”