
D20/D26 · Premium Landed
Thomson stairlift work centres on the older Upper Thomson belt. The typical installation targets elderly parents in homes occupied for decades, with curved single-turn rails suiting the staircase configurations typical of the era.
Why Thomson
Staircases in older Upper Thomson homes are often finished in timber overlay or terrazzo, requiring careful bracket placement on visible finishes. New Lentor and Springleaf cluster homes typically have lifts as a default and stairlift work there is rare. Outdoor stairlifts are occasionally requested for steps from carport to elevated entrance.
Mid-range scope for most curved single-turn installations. Straight rails appear on the smaller terrace and semi-detached subset, with outdoor add-ons a common extra. We quote each staircase after a free site assessment.
Terrazzo and timber-overlay staircases in the older belt need bracket positions planned around the finish: terrazzo chips if drilled carelessly, and overlay treads can hide a surprise beneath. A careful site measure that lifts one tread edge to see the substrate saves the finish and the schedule.
Common Questions
Whoever sells you the chair, BCA tells owners to have a stairlift fitted by a registered lift installation contractor and serviced by a registered lift maintenance contractor. You can look a firm up in BCA's directory of registered contractors, and a company registration number (UEN) on its own does not qualify a firm for this work. Once the stairs are measured, get the model, the rail, where the chair parks at each end and the full installed price in writing before you pay a deposit.
Start with the shape of your stairs. A straight flight takes a straight rail, which Stannah cuts to length from mass-produced rail. Stairs that turn or have a landing partway are likely to need a curved rail, and Stannah makes its curved rails to measure for each staircase, a more complicated job than a straight one. A rail end that folds out of the way of a door at the bottom (Stannah's hinged rail), a second flight or an outdoor model also change the price. When you compare quotes, check whether each one includes fitting and the Permit to Operate application. Then there are the yearly costs. BCA requires servicing at the maker's recommended interval, or every three months if none is given, and an inspection and test every year with an independent engineer or inspector present. A firm price needs the stairs measured.
A seated stairlift means getting out of the wheelchair at one end and into a seat or a second wheelchair at the other. If those transfers are unsafe or impractical, look at a lift that carries the wheelchair, and the route to it, rather than assuming a chair lift solves the access problem.
Yes, if it climbs a full flight. Stairlifts are regulated as fixed installations, and the exemption for small home stairlifts applies only when all three conditions are met. It rises less than 1,000 mm, it presses down with less than 150 newtons as it moves down, and it serves a single home. A full flight between floors rises more than that, so it needs BCA's Permit to Operate before anyone uses it.
Renting or buying used doesn't change the rules. The stairlift still needs a BCA-registered contractor to install and service it, and a Permit to Operate before anyone uses it. With a used curved rail, the catch is fit. Stannah makes each curved rail to measure for one staircase, so one taken from another house can't be assumed to fit yours.
With Stannah's rails, it means a few screw holes in the treads and nothing fixed to the walls. Stannah fixes the rail to the stair treads, not the wall, with screws holding its legs to the treads, typically on every other stair. Those holes need filling when the stairlift comes out, so ask where the fixings will go on your stairs and how they will be made good.
Have a different question? See the full Stairlifts guide or WhatsApp us.
Get Started
Tell us about your stairlifts project in Thomson. We'll arrange a free site assessment and provide a detailed, no-obligation quotation.
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