In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 6 Oct 2015 10:53:27 -0400, Bob
wrote:

Hello,

Figured some of you folks would have opinions on this.
Sr. Citizen kinda question.

Regarding those powered stair climbing lifts/seats to help
an individual go from one level to another:

I see Acorn continually advertises.

Are they the "best" ? Are they a Franchise ?
Better quality available ? Who ?

What brands to stay away from ?

What features, etc. should I be looking for ?

One of the advertisements talks about how important installation is, and
that's probably true, but no one brand has the best installers
everywhere. Maybe you could loiter around senior centers in your area
and find out what they've used, who they've hired, and how happy they
are with what they got.

And if you're overweight, lose it. Nothing makes going upstairs harder
than extra weight. DAMHIKT.

I have a friend, married, about 68, who bought another house about 5
years ago and put in a chair lift, but she only has to use it for the TV
room which she doesn't watch that often. Well I think it was after I
saw a wheelchair on their porch that I risked getting in trouble and I
called her to talk about how heavy both of us were and how it makes
walking harder. She mentioned shooting pains down her leg, which might
have nothing to do with weight and might be the reason for the wheel
chair. But she also said she thought she was 20 pounds overweight and a
friend figured out that she was only 10 pounds. She's crazy. I think
she's 40 or 50 pounds overweight and she's deluded herself. But even
though that's why I called, to tell her she was fat, I coudln't bring
myself to argue with her after she said that. She doesn't wear
tight clothes or even remotely form-fitting, so it's hard to tell, but
I've had 20 years to watch her change, and I can see her face.

Story not very relevant to you: When my mother was looking for assisted
living, we went one place that had been a mansion. IIRC, it had the
dining room and lounge on the first floor but all the bedrooms were
upstairs. There was a chair lift, not very fast in the first place
probably, but when it got to the landing, it had to go maybe 25 feet to
the other end of the landing. I told you it was a mansion. I thought
there should be a way to transfer to the A train.

She didn't move there and for some reason I don't know, it closed and a
mosque bought it. But they never moved in, and it's vacant now.

Thanks,
Bob