Home Elevator

[skyking]

yes a 35% increase in a year is unwarranted.

[Dom]

yes a 35% increase in a year is unwarranted.

Well, if it's a one time adjustment after they evaluated the cost of even getting on location, then I would think it ok. 

If it goes up again, I would consider it highway robbery.

[SYZ]

I suppose the price of everything is going up, thanks to this Covid-19 business. I just received the renewal contract for the semi-annual maintenance and inspection of my home elevator. It's now $1,100 compared to $800 for last year. 

Mate... I know nothing about mandated "licenses" for home elevators in the US, but
at first glance I'd say this is a total ripoff, enabled largely by collusion between the
State of Massachusetts and the supply/installation/maintenance  companies. Typical
of corporation-government sweetheart deals.

I simply can't believe that you're gonna be paying $2,200 every year for what amounts
to a quick 60-minute look-over, and a couple of signatures.

—What happens if you refuse to pay it?


PS:  Back in the 1960s I worked in the design
engineering section of Waygood-Otis here in
Melbourne, who amongst other things manufactured
hydraulic elevators with a two- to four-floor lift.  
There is simply no way these things require a
6-monthly servicing.

[Gwaithmir]

I suppose the price of everything is going up, thanks to this Covid-19 business. I just received the renewal contract for the semi-annual maintenance and inspection of my home elevator. It's now $1,100 compared to $800 for last year. 

Mate... I know nothing about mandated "licenses" for home elevators in the US, but
at first glance I'd say this is a total ripoff, enabled largely by collusion between the
State of Massachusetts and the supply/installation/maintenance  companies. Typical
of corporation-government sweetheart deals.

I simply can't believe that you're gonna be paying $2,200 every year for what amounts
to a quick 60-minute look-over, and a couple of signatures.

—What happens if you refuse to pay it?


PS:  Back in the 1960s I worked in the design
engineering section of Waygood-Otis here in
Melbourne, who amongst other things manufactured
hydraulic elevators with a two- to four-floor lift.  
There is simply no way these things require a
6-monthly servicing.

I should have expressed myself a bit more clearly. There are two inspections yearly and the total price is $1,100. 

[Gwaithmir]

My brother recently came over for a visit and saw my elevator for the first time. He was so impressed with it, he rode it from the cellar up to the attic and all the way down several times as if it was an amusement park ride. He was also quite impressed with the new pantry my carpenter had constructed where the cellar steps used to be. 

[Gwaithmir]

A technician arrived this morning to perform semi-annual maintenance on my home elevator. 

[Gwaithmir]

My houseboy was here to do some housecleaning yesterday. He rode the elevator up to the attic to vacuum clean the vestibule. He didn't realize (or forgot) that the light in the cab goes out 20 seconds after the cab stops. He didn't know where the light switch in the room is, so he was fumbling around in the dark for several minutes. I finally had to bring the elevator down and go up and "rescue" him. 

[skyking]

That sounds like a really good spot for a motion light.

[Dom]

That sounds like a really good spot for a motion light.

I love motion lights.

[Gwaithmir]

That sounds like a really good spot for a motion light.

Actually, the light switch is about a foot away from the elevator door. A blind man could have seen it. 

[Gwaithmir]

I've got to get my Monarch rearing cage down from the attic this afternoon. It's too big for a person to ride the elevator down with it, so I'm going to have my houseboy put it in the cab and I'll remove it when it comes down to the main floor. I'll probably store it in a corner of the front porch in the future.

[Dom]

I've got to get my Monarch rearing cage down from the attic this afternoon. It's too big for a person to ride the elevator down with it, so I'm going to have my houseboy put it in the cab and I'll remove it when it comes down to the main floor. I'll probably store it in a corner of the front porch in the future.

I have experimented with letting rag-weeds grow where they may. It works, I am getting more Monarchs every year.

[Gwaithmir]

My houseboy was here to do some more chores a few days ago. It seems as if he can't avoid "accidently" riding the elevator from the basement up to the attic and down again nearly every time he arrives. 

[Fireball]

I don't blame him, it would be tough for me not to try it, too! At least once for the novelty.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Looking at installing an elevator here. Level One is the interior of the house. Level One-and-a-bit is the garage. Level Two is basement. The elevator opens onto the foyer at Level One, the garage floor at Level One-and-a-bit. I'd be carrying a mesh bag of laundry on my lap down to Level Two and back up. Still in the early planning stages.

[Gwaithmir]

Looking at installing an elevator here. Level One is the interior of the house. Level One-and-a-bit is the garage. Level Two is basement. The elevator opens onto the foyer at Level One, the garage floor at Level One-and-a-bit. I'd be carrying a mesh bag of laundry on my lap down to Level Two and back up. Still in the early planning stages.

The advantage of a pneumatic elevator is that you don't need to dig a pit at the bottom. It also requires much less maintenance than a conventional elevator. The down side is that it is twice as expensive. Nevertheless, I'm satisfied with the one I bought and it's worth every penny I paid for it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Looking at installing an elevator here. Level One is the interior of the house. Level One-and-a-bit is the garage. Level Two is basement. The elevator opens onto the foyer at Level One, the garage floor at Level One-and-a-bit. I'd be carrying a mesh bag of laundry on my lap down to Level Two and back up. Still in the early planning stages.

The advantage of a pneumatic elevator is that you don't need to dig a pit at the bottom. It also requires much less maintenance than a conventional elevator. The down side is that it is twice as expensive. Nevertheless, I'm satisfied with the one I bought and it's worth every penny I paid for it.

I'm looking at a chain-drive unit. Has four motors, one on each corner, any two can handle the max load. I only have to move one storey up and down. They'll put a second set of controls at floor level, just in case I'm having a bad day.

[Gwaithmir]

Looking at installing an elevator here. Level One is the interior of the house. Level One-and-a-bit is the garage. Level Two is basement. The elevator opens onto the foyer at Level One, the garage floor at Level One-and-a-bit. I'd be carrying a mesh bag of laundry on my lap down to Level Two and back up. Still in the early planning stages.

The advantage of a pneumatic elevator is that you don't need to dig a pit at the bottom. It also requires much less maintenance than a conventional elevator. The down side is that it is twice as expensive. Nevertheless, I'm satisfied with the one I bought and it's worth every penny I paid for it.

I'm looking at a chain-drive unit. Has four motors, one on each corner, any two can handle the max load. I only have to move one storey up and down. They'll put a second set of controls at floor level, just in case I'm having a bad day.

You might also look into lifts which are designed for two stops and do not require a pit at the bottom.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

There will be a ramp at the bottom, on two sides, so I can roll in from either direction. There's an option control the whole thing from my cell phone, as an alternative to either pushing a button or praying to Cthulhu.

[skyking]

Those are easy, and suited for outdoor installations as well. I see them for sale as deck lifts. They do that to keep out of the elevator permitting and inspection process.
That is a large portion of the costs of the traditional elevator install.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The VA usually gets a pass around here, pro forma inspections and the like.

[skyking]

We are single level peeps, but if the new property is suited for a daylight basement then I will build it, even if we don't use it. Concrete is still some of the least expensive sq ft you can buy. In that case I would put in an interior staircase and put one of those lifts at the edge of the deck.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

OR you could build a ramp.

[skyking]

Our current abode I built a concrete ramp, a roll in shower, widened every doorway I could.
My brother in law was in a chair and I made it as hospitable as possible. He visited about 6 times IIRC.
This would be a new build and the daylight basement would be a resale feature.
The main level will be all roll in wide doors no step up from the garage. Roll in shower.
Nothing down in the basement would be mandatory to visit, but come sale time it would give us more nest egg for the $ invested.
When you are forming for footings and a 3' stemwall, it is not that much more to make it a 9' stemwall and have an unfinished basement to sell.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Our basement is a machine room/storage room*, an L-shaped mancave (finished except for no ceiling panels, and a spare bedroom about twice the size of the bedrooms up stairs. We call that the "brother-in-law cave". The house footprint is matched in the basement less about one half the garage. The elevator would come down into the mancave.

*Furnace, laundry, water heater. Litter boxes in here.