Home for Life: A Guide to Aging in Place
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Article Five - One Floor, One Life
Can Your Home Work When the Stairs No Longer Do?
Jim and Sue Bermingham thought they were finished moving.
Jim had spent much of his career as a Foreign Service officer and consultant, and by the time the couple settled into a spacious four-story townhouse in Northwest Washington, he had moved about 20 times.
This house was supposed to be different.
It had room for the possessions they had collected over a lifetime. It was in a neighborhood they wanted to remain in. And after all those moves, the Berminghams considered this house their “last stop.”
Then, less than three years after moving in, Jim suffered a stroke.
Suddenly, four stories of comfortable living became four stories connected by something Jim could no longer take for granted: stairs.
The Berminghams had a decision to make.
They could leave the house they had deliberately chosen as their final home.
Or they could change the house.
They chose the house.
The couple installed a four-level residential elevator. According to The Washington Post, the project took about eight weeks and cost approximately $38,000 in 2005—$26,000 for the elevator and the remainder largely for converting a stack of closets that had fortunately been positioned so they could become the elevator hoist-way.
The elevator allowed them to stay.
But there is another detail in their story that may be even more important to us today.
Because the available shaft was limited by the closets it replaced, their elevator could not accommodate a wheelchair. It had a seat, but it wasn't wheelchair accessible.
That is a remarkable Aging in Place lesson hiding inside a successful project.
The Berminghams solved Jim's immediate problem.
But when we spend tens of thousands of dollars adapting a home, we should try—whenever reasonably possible—to solve tomorrow's problem too.
That is what this installment of Home for Life is about.
Not elevators.
Not stair lifts.
Not ramps.
It is about a much more important question:
If you could no longer use your stairs tomorrow, would your home still work?
Start With the House You Already Own
Walk through your house mentally.
Where is your bedroom?
Where is the bathroom you use for bathing?
Where is the washing machine?
How do you enter the house from the driveway?
If you could not safely climb a flight of stairs tomorrow morning, which of those things could you still reach?
That is the question.
Not: “Am I old enough to need a stair lift?”
Not: “Should I put an elevator in my house?”
The better question is: “What essential part of my life would disappear if I couldn't use the stairs?”
Because the answer determines the solution.
If the only thing downstairs is Christmas decorations, we don't have much of a problem.
If the only shower in the house is upstairs, we do.
And before we start shopping for machinery, there is one more possibility worth considering.
Solution One: Don't Go Upstairs
This is the cheapest vertical transportation system ever invented.
Cost: $0.
If your house already contains a bedroom, full bathroom, kitchen and practical entrance on one level, you may not need mechanical access to the other floors at all.
The upstairs can become guest space.
The basement can become storage.
The house may effectively shrink as you age without requiring you to move.
But be careful here.
Calling the dining room a future bedroom doesn't accomplish much if the only shower remains upstairs.
Moving the washer and dryer may solve a basement problem—but only if there is a practical location for them and the plumbing, drainage, venting and electrical requirements can be accommodated reasonably.
This is why the first exercise isn't shopping.
It is identifying your essential living circuit:
Entrance → bathroom → bedroom → kitchen → laundry.
Can you reach all five without stairs?
If yes, you may already own a remarkably adaptable house.
If not, identify exactly what the stairs are separating you from.
That answer tells us what to shop for.
Solution Two: The Stair Lift
For many homeowners, this is where the conversation should begin.
A stair lift is essentially a powered chair riding on a rail attached to the stair treads. Contrary to what people sometimes assume, the rail normally attaches to the stairs, not the wall. Bruno confirms that its rails are secured to the stair treads, and says a straight installation typically takes two to four hours.
The user sits in the chair, fastens the belt, operates the control and rides between floors.
But there is one enormous qualification:
You Have to Be Able to Get Into and Out of the Chair
If someone uses a wheelchair and cannot safely transfer independently from wheelchair to stair-lift seat and back again at the other floor, a conventional stair lift may solve the staircase while creating two new transfer problems.
That's why buying the cheapest machine that gets Dad upstairs today can be false economy if it will no longer meet Dad's needs five years from now.
A Real Example: Bruno Elan
At the time of this writing, August 2026, Bruno says a quality American-made straight stair lift generally starts at about $4,000, with premium straight models starting around $6,000. A current authorized-market example puts a professionally installed Bruno Elan SRE-5000 at approximately $3,500 to $6,000, depending on stair length, while a version equipped with powered features can run about $5,000 to $7,500 installed.
The Elan carries up to 300 pounds and represents the sort of machine I would want a homeowner to physically try before purchasing.
Can you sit down comfortably?
Can you swivel safely at the upper landing?
Can arthritic hands operate the control?
Can the footrest be folded without bending awkwardly?
Will the folded chair leave enough staircase for everyone else?
Those aren't accessory questions.
They're the difference between a machine that gets used and an expensive chair permanently parked on the stairs.
Better still, Bruno maintains a video library showing its straight and curved lifts actually operating.
That is worth ten minutes before calling a salesman.
The Curved-Staircase Problem
Now things get expensive.
If your staircase turns, spirals, changes pitch or travels around a landing, the rail usually has to be manufactured specifically for that staircase.
At the time of this writing, Bruno says a quality curved lift with a basic bend starts around $13,000. A current dealer example for the Bruno Elite Curved puts typical projects between approximately $12,000 and $25,000 or more, depending upon the staircase and options. The Elite has a 400-pound capacity and uses a custom-built rail.
There is sometimes a cheaper workaround.
If a staircase consists of two straight runs separated by a landing, two straight stair lifts may cost less than one continuous curved system.
But now the homeowner has to get off one chair at the landing, cross the landing and get onto another.
For someone with good transfer ability, perhaps that's an acceptable way to save several thousand dollars.
For someone whose balance is deteriorating, it may be exactly the wrong place to economize.
Cheap and appropriate are not synonyms.
And once the quote for a curved stair lift begins approaching $15,000, $20,000 or $25,000, I would not sign the contract until I understood what the next categories of equipment could do.
Not because they'll necessarily cost less.
They won't.
But the additional money may buy a fundamentally different capability.
Solution Three: The Vertical Platform Lift
Most people have seen these without knowing their name.
A vertical platform lift—or VPL—is essentially a powered platform that carries a person vertically between two elevations. Most importantly, it can allow someone using a wheelchair, power chair or scooter to remain on the mobility device during the trip.
That is an enormous difference from a stair lift.
A good real-world example is the Savaria Multilift.
The Multilift is designed primarily for porch, deck and garage applications. Its standard capacity is 750 pounds, its standard travel is up to 48 inches with an optional 72-inch configuration, and it can be installed indoors or outdoors. The standard unit uses a screw-drive mechanism and requires a dedicated 120-volt electrical circuit.
This becomes particularly interesting when the alternative is a massive ramp.
A ramp needs horizontal distance to gain elevation gradually.
The higher the porch, the more yard that ramp consumes.
A platform lift goes primarily in one direction:
up.
And that can make it a much more practical answer for an elevated porch or garage entrance.
The price is less straightforward because Savaria sells through local dealers and does not publish a single national installed price for the Multilift. That's exactly the kind of product where I would insist upon a site-specific quotation rather than pretending an internet average is a price.
The important lesson is that we're no longer paying merely to carry a seated person.
We're paying to carry the person and the mobility device together.
That may make the difference between an adaptation that works today and one that continues working if the homeowner eventually moves from a walker to a wheelchair.
Solution Four: The Through-Floor Lift
Now we arrive at a category many homeowners don't realize exists.
A through-floor lift travels through an opening created between two floors.
Unlike a conventional residential elevator, some of these machines do not require construction of a traditional full-height elevator shaft.
That can dramatically change the project.
A Real Example: Savaria Luma
Savaria's current Luma is a self-supporting two-stop through-floor lift requiring approximately a 38-by-47-inch floor opening. It has a 400-pound capacity, travels up to 13 feet and does not require a pit or traditional hoistway. Savaria says a typical installation can be completed in one day after the site has been properly prepared.
It also illustrates why product selection matters.
The Luma is compact.
But it is not wheelchair accessible.
Savaria's larger Telecab and Telecab 17 through-floor models are wheelchair-accessible, with capacities of 500 and 845 pounds respectively.
So “through-floor lift” still isn't specific enough.
What has to travel inside it?
That question comes first.
Savaria's current Luma material also shows something worth seeing rather than merely reading about: the lift moves through the floor opening without the conventional shaft most of us associate with an elevator.
Another Approach: Stiltz Duo Alta
The Stiltz Duo Alta solves a similar problem using a self-supporting two-rail design.
The current Duo requires less than six square feet of floor space, carries two people with a 375-pound maximum load, uses a dedicated 220-volt supply and does not require a conventional shaft or separate machine room. Stiltz says a typical installation takes about one day after the necessary home modification has been completed.
Now we can finally attach a meaningful dollar figure to one of these systems.
Stiltz itself does not publish a universal national installed price, but one current authorized-market dealer advertises the Duo Alta from approximately $40,000 installed, including the lift, floor opening and related construction, engineering plans, local permits, installation and inspection for its market.
That's not a quote for your house in Georgia—or Louisiana, or anywhere else—but it gives us a legitimate example of what a completed through-floor project can cost in 2026.
And here's where video earns its keep.
Watching one of these machines move makes the concept considerably easier to understand than another three paragraphs describing it.
What If We Need a Wheelchair?
Then we shop differently.
The Stiltz Trio Alta is specifically designed to accommodate a standard wheelchair or walker. It has a larger footprint and a 500-pound capacity. A current dealer example starts around $44,000 installed, again including construction and permitting in that dealer's market.
That's only about $4,000 more than the same dealer's starting price for the smaller Duo.
And suddenly the Berminghams' story at the beginning of this article becomes very relevant.
They spent serious money installing an elevator that solved Jim's immediate stair problem—but the available cab couldn't accommodate a wheelchair.
If I were spending roughly $40,000 today and there were a reasonable chance that a wheelchair would enter the picture later, I would want to understand exactly what that additional few thousand dollars buys before choosing the smaller machine.
Not because everyone should buy the bigger lift.
Because changing your mind after someone has cut a hole through the floor is a lousy purchasing strategy.
There is an even better real-world demonstration available through Stiltz. It follows wheelchair user Cambry Kaylor and Zack Nelson as a Trio is installed in their home, including the actual installation process and Cambry using it afterward.
Now the reader can actually see what forty-some-thousand dollars is buying.
Mrs. S Needed More Than a Chair on the Stairs
This is also where another real-world story becomes useful.
Mrs. S lives with a progressive neurological condition.
She used crutches inside her home and a wheelchair outside, and expected eventually to need the wheelchair full time.
Some days she simply couldn't get upstairs.
When that happened, she lost access to her bedroom, toilet and bathroom and sometimes slept downstairs.
An occupational therapist evaluated both Mrs. S and the house.
A stair lift was considered.
But because her condition was progressing toward full-time wheelchair use, they concluded that repeatedly transferring onto a stair-lift chair was not the best long-term answer.
They chose a wheelchair-capable through-floor lift instead.
Afterward, she regained independent access to both floors and stopped sleeping downstairs.
That's the difference between buying a machine and solving the problem.
A stair lift might have been cheaper.
It also might have become obsolete for her.
Solution Five: The Traditional Residential Elevator
Now we're at the expensive end of the swimming pool.
And this is where I want to slow down.
A traditional residential elevator is not a deluxe stair lift.
It is a different category of equipment and a different construction project.
Traditional systems generally operate inside a dedicated hoistway connecting floors. Depending on the equipment and house, the project can involve structural framing, doors at each landing, electrical work, drywall, flooring, engineering, permits and inspections.
At the time of this writing, Savaria says its conventional home elevators typically start at approximately $30,000 including local elevator installation. A standard two-stop installation generally starts around $30,000 to $40,000.
Then comes the sentence that matters:
Construction of the hoistway is not included in that price.
That's how a $35,000 elevator becomes a substantially more expensive project.
Savaria says a conventional hoistway generally needs roughly 16 to 25 square feet on each level, depending upon the system. Premium configurations with upgraded finishes, automatic glass doors, additional stops or custom features can reach $75,000 or more.
At this level, we're no longer buying an appliance.
We're modifying the house.
The Price on the Machine Is Not the Price of the Project
This may be the single most important financial lesson in this article.
Imagine two proposals.
The first says:
Home elevator: $34,500.
The second says:
Through-floor lift: $42,000 installed.
At first glance, the elevator looks cheaper.
It may not be.
If the $34,500 proposal excludes construction of the hoistway, electrical work, structural modifications, engineering, permits, drywall, painting and flooring repair, while the $42,000 proposal includes nearly everything, we aren't comparing $34,500 with $42,000.
We're comparing an equipment price with a project price.
That distinction should govern every expensive accessibility purchase.
Before signing anything, I would ask the dealer for a written proposal showing three things plainly:
What is included. What is excluded. What will I reasonably have to pay someone else to do before this machine can operate?
Then I would look beyond installation.
A residential lift or elevator becomes another mechanical system in the house.
It will need service.
Savaria, for example, says its local dealers commonly offer scheduled maintenance programs and that regular maintenance is required for safety and continued parts-warranty coverage.
So I would want the dealer to put the expected maintenance schedule and current service pricing in writing before purchase.
I'd also want to know who will service that exact model locally five or ten years from now.
That's not pessimism.
That's ownership.
A wonderful machine supported by nobody within 300 miles isn't particularly wonderful when it stops between floors.
Buy for the Person Who Will Use It
This is where the selection process becomes personal.
If the homeowner walks independently but stairs hurt, a $4,000 straight stair lift may be all the technology the house ever needs.
If the homeowner uses a wheelchair and needs to overcome four feet between the driveway and porch, a vertical platform lift may make far more sense than either a stair lift or an elevator.
If the homeowner needs access between two interior floors but can walk into a compact lift, something like the Savaria Luma or Stiltz Duo deserves investigation.
If a wheelchair needs to travel between floors, the conversation changes to equipment designed around the wheelchair—such as the Savaria Telecab series or Stiltz Trio.
And if the house has several levels, substantial long-term accessibility needs and a suitable location for a hoistway, the traditional residential elevator may finally make sense.
Notice what's missing from that process.
We didn't start with:
“What's the best elevator?”
There isn't one.
We started with:
“What does this person need to do in this house?”
Then we bought enough machine to accomplish that job.
Ride It Before You Buy It
If I'm spending forty or fifty thousand dollars on something I'm going to ride inside every day, I'm going to ride one before I buy it.
Savaria itself recommends visiting a showroom with an operating elevator when possible.
Take the person who will actually use it.
If they use a walker, bring the walker.
If they use a wheelchair, bring the wheelchair.
Enter the cab.
Close the door.
Operate the controls.
Turn around.
Get back out.
If the machine uses pass-through doors, try them.
If the user would have to reverse a wheelchair out of the cab, find out whether that is comfortable and practical.
And have the dealer demonstrate what happens when the power fails.
Don't settle for a description.
Watch it.
A current Savaria Luma, for example, is battery operated and Savaria says it can make up to five up-and-down trips during a power outage.
That is useful information.
Seeing the emergency operation demonstrated in the actual machine you're buying is better information.
A Note About the Prices and Products in This Article
All prices, product specifications and examples in this article reflect information available at the time of this writing, August 2026.
Accessibility equipment is not priced like a toaster.
Manufacturers change models and specifications. Dealers establish local pricing. Labor costs differ by region. Stair geometry, travel distance, options, electrical work, structural modifications, permitting requirements and local codes can substantially change the final price.
The prices shown here are intended to give homeowners a realistic starting point for comparison, not a quotation.
Before purchasing any stair lift, platform lift, through-floor lift or residential elevator, obtain a site-specific written proposal from a qualified dealer or installer, confirm current manufacturer specifications, verify applicable permitting and inspection requirements, and understand exactly what construction is—and is not—included.
The manufacturers and individual products referenced in this article are examples intended to help readers understand the types of solutions currently available.
Altamaha Home Inspections does not endorse or receive compensation from the manufacturers, dealers or products referenced in this article.
Before You Assume You Have to Pay for Everything Yourself
Don't build the financial plan around somebody else paying for a lift.
But don't assume help doesn't exist either.
Habitat for Humanity operates Aging in Place programs through participating local affiliates for qualifying older homeowners. Work varies by affiliate, but accessibility improvements can include ramps and other modifications intended to help homeowners remain safely in their homes.
Local churches and civic organizations may also participate in accessibility projects, particularly ramps and smaller modifications.
The important thing is to investigate those possibilities before putting a major accessibility project on a credit card.
A $40,000 home lift probably isn't becoming a Saturday morning men's-group project.
A $2,000 or $3,000 ramp might.
Those are very different problems.
The Option Nobody Wants to Discuss
There is one more solution.
Move.
I don't particularly enjoy writing that in an Aging in Place series.
But Home for Life isn't supposed to sell Aging in Place at any cost.
It is supposed to help people make good decisions about remaining safely and independently in their homes.
Sometimes the house wins.
A complicated multilevel home with winding stairs, narrow halls, inaccessible bathrooms and essential rooms scattered across several floors can consume enormous amounts of money and still remain poorly suited to significant mobility limitations.
There is a point where spending $70,000 forcing the wrong house to become the right house deserves comparison with spending that money changing houses.
Not automatically.
Not emotionally.
On paper.
The Inspector's Notebook
When I walk into a two-story house during a conventional home inspection, the staircase is simply another component.
I look at the handrails.
The guards.
The treads.
The risers.
The lighting.
Loose carpeting.
Structural concerns.
But a Home for Life assessment asks something different:
What does this staircase control access to?
That's the important part.
A perfectly constructed staircase can still become the largest accessibility obstacle in the house.
If every bedroom is upstairs, the stairs control access to sleep.
If the only shower is upstairs, they control bathing.
If the laundry is in the basement, they control laundry.
If six exterior steps separate the driveway from the front door, they control whether someone can leave the house.
Nothing has to be broken.
The house can perform exactly as designed and still stop performing for the person who owns it.
That is why we're assessing the consequence of losing the stairs, not merely the condition of the stairs.
Home for Life Assessment — Living Without the Stairs
Walk through your home and evaluate each item below. Place a check mark in the appropriate column.
Assessment Item | Already in My Home | Doesn't Apply | Needs Attention |
At least one practical entrance can be reached without negotiating a full flight of stairs. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
A bedroom or practical sleeping space is available on the main living level. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
A full bathroom with bathing facilities is available on the same level as the sleeping area. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
The kitchen can be reached from the sleeping and bathing areas without stairs. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Laundry can be performed without routinely carrying baskets on stairs. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Essential medications and frequently used household supplies can be stored on the primary living level. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Stairways are wide enough to investigate a stair lift without blocking necessary access for others. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Stair landings provide enough space for safe entry and exit if a stair lift is eventually installed. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Someone using a stair lift would be physically able to transfer safely into and out of its seat. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
There is a possible location where a through-floor lift or elevator could connect essential floors if ever required. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
A wheelchair or walker could be maneuvered at both ends of a proposed lift or elevator. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
Exterior steps have a realistic alternative such as a ramp or platform lift if they become inaccessible. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
The household has discussed what it would do if one resident suddenly could not climb stairs. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
The likely cost of keeping the home accessible has been compared with the alternatives. | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
When you finish, don't count check marks.
Look for the one item marked Needs Attention that could make the rest of the house inaccessible.
That's the one worth investigating first.
Take the Checklist With You
Want to walk through your own home instead of doing this exercise from your computer?
Download a printable copy of the Home for Life: Living Without the Stairs Assessment. Take it with you as you walk through the house, mark what already works, and identify the one stair-dependent feature that deserves your attention first.
This Week's Home for Life Action
Do something ridiculously simple.
Pretend the stairs are closed.
You don't actually have to sleep on the sofa to prove the point.
Just walk through your normal day mentally and write down everything the stairs control:
Bedroom. Bathroom. Laundry. Front door. Medication. Clothes. Office.
Then identify the first thing that would make remaining in your home impossible.
That's your starting point.
Not an elevator brochure.
Not a contractor.
Not a salesman.
The problem.
Because once you understand the problem, you can compare solutions intelligently.
Before You Buy: What the Money Actually Buys
At the time of this writing, our real examples give us a useful picture of the market.
A Bruno Elan straight stair lift may run approximately $3,500–$6,000 installed in a current dealer market. Bruno itself says quality straight lifts generally begin around $4,000.
A Bruno Elite Curved may begin around $12,000–$13,000, with complicated installations reaching $25,000 or more.
A Savaria Multilift gives us wheelchair or scooter access over a relatively short rise, with a 750-pound capacity and outdoor capability, but requires a local project quote because installation conditions substantially affect the cost.
A compact Stiltz Duo Alta currently has an example turnkey dealer starting price around $40,000, while the wheelchair-capable Trio Alta begins around $44,000 in that same market.
A traditional Savaria residential elevator starts around $30,000–$40,000 for a basic two-stop elevator and local elevator installation, but the hoistway and associated building construction are additional. Premium systems can exceed $75,000.
Now those numbers actually tell us something.
A $15,000 curved stair lift may still be an excellent choice.
But when the user is likely to need a wheelchair, spending substantially more on a solution that carries the wheelchair too deserves consideration.
Likewise, a $40,000 through-floor lift may initially sound outrageous beside a $30,000 elevator—until the elevator requires another substantial construction project to build its shaft.
Don't compare prices until you're sure you're comparing complete solutions.
Trusted Resources — See the Equipment for Yourself
For this article, we're changing the purpose of our resource section slightly.
Don't just read about these products.
Look at them. Watch them move. Understand what you're considering before inviting somebody to your house to sell you one.
Straight and Curved Stair Lifts
Bruno's videos show straight and curved models and demonstrate basic operation and available options.
Vertical Platform Lift
Pay particular attention to the residential porch and garage applications. They make the difference between a stair lift and a wheelchair platform lift immediately obvious.
Compact Through-Floor Lift
The floor opening and self-supporting arrangement are much easier to understand once you've seen the unit installed.
Wheelchair-Capable Through-Floor Lift
And for a much deeper look:
This is probably one of the most useful resources in the article because you can see the installation rather than merely the finished product.
Traditional Residential Elevators
This is a good place to begin understanding the difference between the elevator price and the construction project surrounding it.
Assistance With Accessibility Improvements
Programs and eligibility vary by local affiliate, but it is worth investigating before assuming every accessibility improvement must be financed entirely out of pocket.
Looking Ahead
Stairs teach us something important about Aging in Place.
The problem isn't always that something in the house is dangerous.
Sometimes the problem is simply that your body and your house stop agreeing about how life should work.
The answer might be moving the laundry.
It might be a $4,000 stair lift.
It might be a platform lift.
It might be a $40,000 through-floor lift.
It might be a traditional residential elevator.
It might even be deciding that the house you have loved for thirty years has asked for one compromise too many.
There is no universally correct answer.
There is only the solution that preserves the greatest amount of safety, independence and ordinary life for the person who actually lives there.
The important thing is to think about it before the stairs make the decision for you.
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