When Stairs Become an Obstacle

What happens when the owners of a two-story house can't manage the stairs any longer?

The easiest solution is a first-floor master suite or a full bath and a room on the first floor that could eventually be used as a bedroom.

This isn't always possible because land costs preclude a footprint big enough to accommodate a first-floor bedroom. In any case, many homeowners in wheelchairs still want to be able to use their second floor.

Two mechanized solutions:

The priciest option, at about $20,000, is an elevator. Some builders will frame a house so that an elevator can be added later.

A far less costly alternative is a chairlift, or stair glide, as these are called in the home medical supply business. A stair glide can be fitted to almost any stair configuration, including a spiral stair, said Paul Mocur, a home medical supplier in Livonia, Mich.

A stair glide will work with a standard three-foot-wide staircase, but a four-foot width leaves room for the person on the chair and another person to use the stairs at the same time, Mocur said.

The cost of a stair glide depends on the configuration. A straight-run stair with 12 steps is about $3,500 to $4,500. A scissor-style stair with a landing and a turnaround can be as high as $10,000, Mocur said.

You may be able to defer the need for a mechanically powered assist to the second floor for some years, if not indefinitely, if you make the risers lower and the treads wider than most building codes stipulate. The number of stairs and the length of the stair run will be increased, but a person with bad knees can go up and down with much less discomfort when the risers are only six inches.

For more advice on modifying a house, you can consult a "certified aging-in-place specialist." This program was developed by the National Association of Home Builders in collaboration with AARP. For more information and to locate a specialist, go to http://www.AARP.org or http://www.nahb.org.

-- Katherine Salant