Why Hire Professionals

Having any elevator or lift installed by a trained elevator professional is All-Ways the smart choice!

A stair lift, wheelchair lift, dumbwaiter or residential elevator, whether new, used or reconditioned, is an important improvement to your home. Although many of the manufacturers we work with have spent years designing safe, easy-to-use products, these products are still classed as elevators and should not be installed by a handy man, electrician, or home owner. Safety is always our primary concern. This is why you should only trust the installation of your stair lift, wheelchair lift, dumbwaiter or residential elevator to a trained elevator or lift professional.

The Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEMA) provides the most knowledgeable information on stair lifts, wheelchair lifts and residential elevators. Read why it strongly advises against self-installation of any stair lift or residential elevator product. Your safety could be at risk!

Reasons not to install your own lift:

Installing your own lift can be dangerous! There have been numerous incidents, including deaths, as a result of DIY lift installations.

Buying products off the internet can cost you more.
At All-Ways Accessible we frequently field calls from people who bought either a stair lift or a wheelchair lift off the internet, and ended up with a product that they could not use or could not be installed. These people wind up having to purchase a whole new lift. If you’re going to buy a lift, buy just one, and buy it from a professional who can give you expert advice about what will work best in your home. Click here to read a true story about what can happen when you buy products off the internet.

Internet dealers don’t service their products.
There are plenty of online dealers who advertise that stairlifts, wheelchair lifts and even elevators are easy to install because they want to sell you a lift. Once you purchase it and it’s delivered to your home, you’re on your own. If you have any issues with the installation or can’t figure out why the unit isn’t working, that online dealer isn’t going to come out to your house and fix it. You’ll end up calling a company like ours to come out and fix it. And you’ll end up paying that labor charge you were trying to avoid in the first place. Be smart about your safety and your wallet. Hire a reputable company with expert knowledge of local building codes, experience in installation, and the ability to service the product should something break down.

Installing your own lift can increase your homeowner’s liability. Talk to your insurance agent.
People don’t always consider how their actions may impact their home owners insurance. If a homeowner installs a lift or elevator that does not meet all the necessary code requirements and someone gets hurt, then the insurance company may deny the claim. Why take the risk?

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That Stairlift I bought off Craigslist was no bargain.

We received a call from a woman who bought a used stair lift off Craigslist. She wanted to know if we could come and install the stair lift. Sound simple? Not quite. Our service coordinator tried to determine what make and model the lift was; the woman had no idea. Then our service coordinator asked if she knew whether the lift was operational, and again, the woman wasn’t sure. The person she bought it from had already removed the stair lift from the stairs and therefore, it could not be tested before she bought it. But the nice man she bought it from assured her that it was working before he removed it. So what happens next? Our service coordinator indicates that we must send a mechanic out to her house to evaluate the lift; did it have all the parts needed of installation; where the batteries good; would the lift fit on the stairs in her home. The woman was fine until we informed her that she’d have to pay for a service call to complete this process. She didn’t understand why we couldn’t just come and install it. But after spending some time on the phone with our service coordinator, she agreed to schedule the service call.

When the mechanic got to the house, he determined that the batteries were dead and needed to be replaced. He also determined that the track was too short to fit on her stairs, so she’d have to purchase a new piece of track. Finally, once the tech put in a set of test batteries in the stair lift to see if the lift would even run, it was determined by the manufacturer that the lift had a bad board. I’m sure you can see where this is going. By the time all the parts and labor were added up that would make the lift work in her application, then add the costs of what she paid for it, she could have purchased a brand new lift complete with warranty.

Church buys lift off the internet to save money

The following is a true story. This is an example of what can happen when an individual or business buys directly off the internet. Don’t let this happen to you!

“I don’t know if you can help me or not.” That’s how the conversation began when the call first came in. As the story unfolded, it became apparent that there was nothing we could do to help this customer. Here is their story.

A local congregation, like many throughout NH, set out to make their church wheelchair accessible. To save money, the church decided to buy a vertical platform lift from an internet company. After they started the shaft-way construction, the local building inspector came to inspect the work. “Who’s going to install the lift?” he asked. At that point the project manager for the church learned that the vertical platform lift must be installed by a company with a commercial lift license. He also did not know that the lift would have to be inspected by the state elevator inspector to make sure it met the ASME/ANSI A18.1 (public safety code). The congregation thought that a church would not be considered a commercial business. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

At this stage the project manager wasn’t even sure if the lift they purchased off the internet would meet any of the ASME/ANSI A18.1 codes or whether it could be modified after the fact to do so. That’s when he called us. After a detailed conversation, it was clear that modifications could not be made to the lift to make it meet code. A whole new replacement lift needed to be ordered. The decision to buy off the internet cost the congregation more money than if they had gone to a reputable local lift company during the planning stages of their project.

When we hung up the phone, we felt really bad for the church and wished there was more we could do. We felt strongly that we needed to share this story with others in the hope that it could prevent someone else from making the same mistake.

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