Can You Fit A Stairlift Outdoors?

One of the main focuses of helping people with mobility issues is ensuring through the use of technologies such as stairlifts they can enjoy every day in comfort without feeling restricted.

Typically, this takes the form of home adaptations that allow various rooms of the house to be easier to live in and use safely, but whilst the primary focus is ensuring easy mobility inside the house, what about the outside of the house?

There are a few accessibility options for the outside of a house, from levelling the pavement to adding ramps and inclines to replace stairs, but this is not always an option for every home.

Some people live in upstairs houses with access via a staircase, whilst others live in homes built on a hill or in a valley which require relatively steep stairs to access.

A stairlift installation would be an ideal solution, but would such a system even work outdoors?

The answer is yes, but it does require more robust components that take the outdoor environment into account.

Given that the motor, chain and gears are susceptible to being damaged or jammed by mud, water and gunk, an indoor stairlift is unlikely to survive for long out in the rain.

However, dedicated outdoor stairlifts do exist, which are designed with weatherproofing needs in mind to protect the machinery and make them more comfortable for the user.

The rails are galvanised or anodised to protect them from sun exposure and reduce the levels of wear and tear experienced by the system.

It also uses heavier materials that are designed to resist the rain and prove more durable against the seasons, wind and sun as well.

They also come with covers to protect the main components of the system when not in use, keeping an outdoor stairlift safe and in perfect working order for when you need it most.