Can’t Manage the Patio Stairs? Try an Outdoor Stairlift
Many people find that being outdoors is essential to maintaining a sense of inner peace. An outdoor stairlift can allow you to access the outdoors, let’s see how an outdoor stairlift could help.
A home stairlift gives easy access to all your indoor living space, but a weatherproofed model means you can also continue to access all your outdoor space. Outdoor stairlifts work on the same tried and tested principles as indoor stairlifts. Yet, fully weatherproofed to withstand the conditions outdoors. Available from several manufacturers, they are ideal for various situations, including:
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Where your home is accessed by stairs or a steep incline
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Where you have a split-level garden or yard around your home and can only access part of it
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Where you have any kind of outbuilding with problem stairs.
Looking in more detail at each of these scenarios, let’s see how an outdoor stairlift could help. First, if your home is accessed by steps that you can’t manage safely or comfortably, then you risk becoming a prisoner in your own home. In this scenario, an outdoor stairlift is key to freedom.
Second, if there are steps in your garden or yard, you might be denied part of your valuable outdoor space. Lots of people have raised decking, steps to a patio, or connecting split levels on the land surrounding their home, but don’t want to stop using those areas after steps become difficult. Remember too that outdoor steps can be more dangerous when they become wet and slippery. An outdoor stairlift could help you regain full use of all your outdoor space.
Third, you might have an ancillary building separate from your main houses, such as a garage, workshop, store, or ‘granny annexe’. It could have steps approaching it, or an outdoor flight of stairs used to access an upper story.
If you need a stairlift inside an ancillary building, or maybe on stairs leading to a second story or mezzanine – you could use a standard indoor stairlift in a watertight environment. However, for just a little more outlay you could use an outdoor model, which offers extra protection against windblown dust and debris, and extremes of temperature. Outdoor stairlifts usually run on a straight rail, which is the most cost-effective option. It’s possible to buy one with a bespoke curved rail, but it’ll cost more to but, install and maintain. Typically, because outdoor settings don’t have the same space constraints as indoor ones. It’s usually possible to install a straight stairlift or landscape the setting to accommodate a straight rail.
The only other extra preparation work you might need to do is to get an outdoor power socket installed. However, this is a quick and easy job for a qualified electrician. When your outdoor stairlift is not in use, it can be disabled (usually by locking and removing a key) so that it can’t be used by anyone else without permission. A fully fitted waterproof cover for the stairlift carriage also offers added protection. Many people find that being outdoors and enjoying nature is essential to maintaining a sense of inner peace and wellbeing. Reduced mobility shouldn’t mean giving up on your own outdoor space when an outdoor stairlift can let you enjoy it to the full.