3" & 5" Residential Elevator Hoistway and cab gate clearance.

I made the statement over a year a go that the resolution to this Gap issue would not be a quick or short term answered solution. I was right.

The industry is creating solutions and verifying the existing units in the field, code Committees are hashing out specific Performance and Prescriptive language to allow design and Inspection to a common Standard. These Rules are not as simple to define in words alone without diagrams and Engineering data.

The Industry Peers are working towards Consensus.  

Dumb Dumbwaiters that Can Kill

Dumb Dumbwaiters can KILL!

Consumer Product caution!!!

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/10/09/61878.htm
Do it your self Dumbwaiter may be cheap, but at what cost?

CAUTION Consumers...Protection of Dumbwaiter doors can not be done with magnets and cabinet latches.

While Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating Residential elevators installed under the current 5.3 ASME Code, They are missing far greater Dangers in DIY lifting products like Dumbwaiters & Stair Lifts.

While there have been cases of Child entrapment in residential elevators it is my opinion, based on industry facts, that the Much larger danger to the public is Do It Yourself - DIY Dumbwaiters & Stair Lifts and Soon to be DIY Home Elevators.

The case listed above identify what has been happening in greater frequency with Dumbwaiters,Stair Lifts and Wheelchair Lifts being sold online via the LOW Cost Online Marketers. A simple Goolge search will identify what looks to be the only way to buy a Lift of Elevator....DIY. 

There are 10 - 20 websites that appear to be real elevator companies with real experts who say the Sell Nationwide or Factory Direct to Home owners and builders.

Many of them have no Installers and are not insured to install elevators and have no Completed Operations Insurance to cover defective claims on installed equipment. 

Please take caution when dealing with any ONLINE company that you can not actually go to their showroom and test ride their equipment or one of their customers installations in you area.

Try Before you buy! Verify Actual installations. Anyone can create their own customer references that make them sound legit.

Let the buyer be aware!  

www.elevatorsafety.com

If you have never installed one of these before you can't know the dangers of an improper installation. And the guy selling them to you on the phone in his living room in his underwear does not care if you are competent to install it. He is just selling it and taking your money with NO recourse.

Child Safe Elevators

Child Safe Elevators

Getting a grip on the 3" & 5" Rule for Residential Elevators.

A recent Consumer Products Safety Commission Investigation was launched to determine the risk and solutions to any potential for Small children to become entrapped in a 5" space. Country Home
Elevators and Stair Lifts has been providing better solutions well in advance of this investigation.

The issue relates to the following:
1. Installation of Standard Residential door frames with 2"x4" jambs vs 2"x6" jambs.
2. The added cost and design criteria needed to offer flush frame door jambs & locking systems.
3. The development of new locking systems that can be installed in the frames or other locations that would no longer exist when the 3" gap is removed.
4. The use of Accordion fold & Scissors gates as a car door for the residential elevator
5. The potential for light curtains to be used as a Safety limit to assure that the gap was not blocked.
6. The use of Space guards to fill the gap on existing applications.
7. The requirement for Gate re-opening when a car arrives at a landing.
8. Meeting the new .75" & 4" rule. National standard for stair rail baluster spacing is to reject a 4" ball

9. Gate Deflection and rigidity requirements

Basis for 4" rule:

4.  Baluster Spacing (Sphere Rule):  The general rule is to install balusters and newel posts between the handrail and flooring materials so that a 4” sphere (the head of an infant) cannot pass through. 

With the decrease from 6" to 4" in the Sphere Rule, many installations of two  balusters per tread will not pass the new, stricter building codes. When the 4"  Sphere Rule is combined with the new 10" Tread Run Rule, most stair  installations will require three balusters per tread.

More to come on our Child Safe Elevator systems from Symmetry Elevating Solutions

--
Craig S. Jones, CET-S, Owner
Country Home Elevator
800-898-5090
craigjones.che@gmail.com
www.countryhomeelevator.com

Exterior home elevator additions

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More »

Browse Accessories And Decor on Houzz- For Example:

Books · Candles And Candle Holders · Fireplaces · Magazine Racks · Pet Accessories · Pillows · Rugs · Vases ·

Stair Lifts looking for the Cheap Deal

If you are looking for the cheapest deal on a Stair Lift Online, you have many options....Or at least it looks that way. Their are actually only Two Primary models sold online: Acorn and Harmar. (Others may sell some but not in any volume)

When one searches, it may look like there are 40 different manufacturer's:
Ameirglide, Stairlifts 101, 101 mobility, Jameson, The Scooter Store, A1 Mobility, SilverCross and 50 more...

All of these sites are Middleman sites. They only offer 2 Lifts or a version of these  2. All Cable winding drum lifts are made by Harmar. No one else makes this old technology because they consistently set the slack safety and must be manually reset by pulling up on the Steel cable wedged between the aluminum track and hope you do not get your hand trapped by the weight of the lift after the safety releases. Not something your Grandma should do!
3. The others is Acorn a long standing Foreign Manufacturer who tried to sell to dealers, but ran into too many difficulties producing a solid consistent product. Now they primarily sell DIY because it is the most profitable for them. They are a Foreign Manufacturer who can sell at a bottom of the barrel price, but typically sell DIY at the same price any local Stair lift company sells at. $3,000-3,400.

i post these to reveal the schemes of the Internet Middleman who only host a website and never intend to show up to your home or offer a showroom to test out a unit.

Please be cautious when dealing with Cyber Retailers claiming to offer a CHEAP Deal. If it sounds too good to be true...It likely is.

www.access2parts.com

www.access2parts.com
So we got the second load of National Wheelovator parts today. 
We have a large volume of CDE Hydro Pump/Tank combination one piece. Both Steel tank & plastic tank. LEV motor Gear combination sets.

www.countryhomeelvator.com

So many parts in inventory now it will take some time to add all the ThyssenKrupp Access parts and National Wheelvoator parts all in one searchable Parts database. 

Please visit www.access2parts.com

DIY Home Elevators?

DIY HOME ELEVATORS????

Recently I called out a website who was offering DIY Home elevators that could also be used in commercial applications. This obviously was not a Legal or Code compliant offer. They had the nerve to say that they were "Elevator Experts". I challenged this and it was taken down and revised. This company has sold No Elevators that I can tell. Their supplier has shipped only a few in over a year. Now they offer another drive system having never built or shipped one.

As always, do your home work and ask to see other installations or a SHOW
ROOM with real product. would you really pay 100% of $16,000-19,000 before you ever looked at or road an elevator product from an online Retailer who has NO history of selling an elevator and makes claims that are not Safe or Code compliant, just to  save a few dollars?

Please choose wisely.

www.countryhomeelevator.com offers real LOCAL professionals to assist with your project start to finish.

Elevatorexpert