How Elevators Enhance Aging in Place, Home Safety

When it comes to aging in place, stairs are obviously one of the biggest obstacles to overcome. As more seniors look at creating or adapting their forever homes—and accessibility options take on resale value—adding an elevator becomes increasingly appealing (and possibly similar in cost to building a full bathroom).

We talked with Chris Baker, senior regional sales manager for Savaria Lifts—a Canadian-based company that sells stairlifts, traditional wheelchair lifts, residential elevators and through-floor lifts across North America and elsewhere—about trends in the in-home elevator market and when it’s the right choice for remodelers.

HOMECARE: Have you seen things change over the last 10 years that you’ve been in the industry? Is the market different, or has the customer base changed?

BAKER: Absolutely. Obviously, demand is up. A big part of that is baby boomers—they’re coming to that age where they’re starting to either need our products or they’re realizing that if they want to live in their house from 65 to hopefully 100, they have needs. The stairs and the bathroom are where 80% of accidents happen at home. So, if you want to diminish that, there are some measures you can do in the bathroom to make it a bit more safe, like adding grab bars. And then having an elevator can go a long way to preventing accidents from happening. I’ve dealt with it myself: My grandmother fell down the stairs and she was never the same. She ended up in a home soon after that; she lost her independence.

Other than just increased demand, I would say that the other thing that changed the game for us was COVID-19. I guess it opened a lot of people’s eyes. People started investing in renovations, wanting to improve their homes when they were stuck in them for that amount of time. And the other thing is COVID really hit (nursing) homes hard, so a lot of people decided they wanted to stay in their home. So that’s definitely brought a lot more activity and a lot more of a spotlight on our industry.

HOMECARE: Are elevators and lifts things people tend to add in a renovation or build from scratch in a new build?

BAKER: All of the above. … I have architects, builders, my distributors coming to me trying to find a solution for a particular application. We’re trying to find the best product: What fits best depending on overhead travel, number of stops, where you enter the lift, where you exit the lift. All this changes what the best product might be for someone’s particular home, and then their personal preferences, like how fast they want it to go, how big they want it to be, what kind of finishes they want, what kind of design stylistically, aesthetically they want.

HOMECARE: Are you seeing more people who are looking at building or renovating, saying, ‘We’re mobile, so we don’t need it now, but let’s go ahead and put an elevator in now just in case we need 
one in the future?’

BAKER: If you want to put a traditional elevator in, the earlier you get it in, the more cost effective it is. When you’re building a house, if you’re already putting up drywall, walls, etc., then building an elevator shaft isn’t an additional cost. But in a renovation, or if doing an addition, there’s a significant cost. In fact, the cost of building the elevator shaft is usually as much or more than the actual elevator itself.

One thing we’ve seen more recently with this increased demand and more people with existing homes wanting to adapt them is that there’s a specific elevator market—the through-floor elevator—that is the fastest-growing market segment within my industry right now. These elevators don’t have a shaft and just go up through the floor. The limitation is you can only service two stops, and elevator code dictates specific things. … But it’s a lot more affordable if you just have to worry about buying the elevator and minimal construction … it’s a lot less of a disruption on your home.

HOMECARE: Are there big differences between through-floor lifts?

BAKER: There’s a lot of different models. Some of them require a support wall, some of them don’t. For the longest time, we had a model called the Telecast, which is a little bit more (like an) accessibility lift … and needed a support wall that limits where you can put it in the house. Based on increased demand, we developed a product called the Luma through-floor lift. (It meets) strict codes in both the European Union and North America and it doesn’t require a support wall, so you can put it anywhere in the house.

HOMECARE: If a home modification team is working with a client who is thinking about an elevator, what questions should they start by asking?

BAKER: People often ask about meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); I get this question a lot from architects when I’m giving continuing education presentations and webinars. I like to say you’re probably designing this house for a specific couple, a specific family—what are their needs? ADA is a catchall code that was written to make every building accessible to everybody; … not everybody needs that. If you start designing to meet ADA, it’s going to cost you a lot 
of money.

So, I would say the first thing is: What exactly are we trying to accomplish? What are the needs of the family you’re designing or renovating this building for? And what are their expectations? Based on those answers, I can direct you to the right product. And the first thing we need to decide is the footprint of that product. If we’re doing a traditional elevator, I’m probably going to need a 5-foot-by-5-foot footprint for the elevator shaft and then the elevator within, and then after that we can decide on (which) drive system. … The most important thing at the beginning is that we shop the right size.

If it’s a two-stop renovation and we’re doing a through-the-floor elevator, it can fit in a much tighter space, maybe a 38-inch-by-47-inch footprint, which is perfect if you’re dealing with tight spaces or if space is limited. But it’s limited to two stops, so it narrows down which applications we can use it for. So, the first thing is the footprint, and then from there, we can start making decisions with the homeowner.

HOMECARE: Have elevators changed recently or over time? What kinds of things have developed 
in the market?

BAKER: A lot has changed while also staying the same. I notice that every time I go to our industry trade show, all the manufacturers are there with their products, and some are still selling the same elevators they were selling 10 years ago—for them, not much has changed. We do invest a lot in research and development; we bring new products, and we try and match what we’re seeing in the market.

It’s an elevator and it has a functional purpose, but it’s also a point of differentiation in the home. Especially when you start getting into higher-end homes, people like to have what they like. So, if they have a black and stainless steel kitchen, well, we can do black and stainless steel fixtures in your elevator. We also have a touchscreen COP (car operating panel) in our home elevator.

What will it cost?

There are a lot of options for getting people from floor to floor—and an even wider range of prices to make it happen, since spend can vary based on the home’s location and what’s required to comply with building codes. Some estimates are:

• Straight stairlift: $3,500-$5,000 installed
• Curved stairlift: $10,000-$15,000 installed with site survey, custom 3D model and design to match staircase
• Through-floor lift: $25,000-$30,000 installed
• Elevator: $35,000-$150,000 installed, depending on size, stops, design and features as well as shaft build