Two decisions on an elevator project get made by default more often than any others, and both are hard to change afterward.
The drive systems, compared properly
Hydraulic
A pump pushes fluid into a cylinder to raise a piston, which raises the cab.
For: smooth, quiet in the cab, high capacity, well understood, and generally the most forgiving of an imperfect shaft.
Against: needs a machine space for the pump and reservoir, usually needs a pit, and the pump makes noise somewhere in the house.
Ask: where the machine space goes, how far from a bedroom, and what pit depth is required.
Cable drum
A motor winds a cable onto a drum.
For: compact, frequently no separate machine room, smaller overall footprint, often a shallower pit.
Against: cable is a wear item with an inspection regime, and the ride is typically less smooth than hydraulic.
Traction
Counterweighted cables over a sheave, which is how most commercial elevators work.
For: efficient, smooth, no hydraulic fluid.
Against: less common residentially, and the counterweight needs space in the shaft.
Pneumatic vacuum
A sealed tube in which air pressure raises and lowers the cab.
For: self-supporting, no hoistway construction, no pit in most configurations, and it looks striking.
Against: limited capacity, and in most configurations not suitable for a wheelchair. People fall in love with these and then meet the capacity figure.
Ask first: the rated capacity and the internal cab dimensions, before anything else.
The three questions the drive actually answers
What does the building have to provide? Pit depth, overhead clearance, machine space, power supply.
Where does the noise go? Every drive makes noise somewhere. Ask to hear one running.
What does it cost to keep? Different drives have different service and inspection profiles. Our terminology guide covers the vocabulary these answers arrive in.
Doors, which decide usability
Two doors at every landing: the landing door you see from the room, and the car door or gate that travels with the cab.
Swing landing doors
A conventional hinged door. Cheapest, matches the house, and it needs clear space in the room to open.
That clearance is the problem for a wheelchair user: the door swings into the space they need to occupy while opening it. It is the commonest reason an elevator that meets every other requirement is awkward to use.
Accordion and folding gates
Fold to the side and take almost no room. Less attractive to some people, and the clear opening when folded is the figure to ask for rather than the overall width.
Sliding doors
Slide into a pocket or along the wall. Best for wheelchair use because nothing swings into the approach. Most expensive, and the pocket needs wall space.
Clear opening is the number, not door width
The same trap as interior doorways in a house. The clear opening is what remains once the door and its frame are accounted for, and it is smaller than the door.
The Access Board sets out the technical requirements for elevators forming part of an accessible route in a public building. A private home is not bound by them and they remain the right reference for cab and door sizing, because they were derived from what a wheelchair actually needs.
Approach space
Rarely on a drawing and it decides everything. A wheelchair has to get to the door, turn, open it, enter, and turn inside.
Measure the floor area in front of the landing door on both levels. A cab and door that are technically adequate, opening into a corridor with no turning space, is a well-engineered elevator somebody cannot use alone. Our measurement guide covers how to take those numbers.
Interlocks
The devices that stop a landing door opening unless the cab is there, and stop the cab moving with a door open. Not an upgrade, and they are most of what an annual inspection examines.
What to settle before signing
- Drive type, with the pit depth and overhead it requires.
- Machine space location and noise.
- Rated capacity, against who rides and whether anybody rides with them.
- Cab internal dimensions.
- Door type at each landing, and the clear opening in inches.
- Approach space on both floors.
- Battery lowering on power failure.
- Inspection regime and who arranges it.
Eight items. Our elevator guide covers whether an elevator is the right machine at all, and our dumbwaiter guide covers the much cheaper option for households whose real problem is moving things rather than people.
Smaller equipment ships free from our online shop.
Cab interiors
The part people spend the most time choosing and the part that matters least to whether the elevator works.
Wall finishes, flooring, handrails, lighting and controls. Two things here are functional rather than cosmetic: a handrail inside the cab, which somebody standing will use every trip, and control height, which decides whether a seated person can reach the buttons.
Ask for control height in inches and check it against a seated reach rather than a standing one.
Glass and panoramic cabs
Popular, and worth two practical notes. Glass shows every mark and needs cleaning that somebody has to do. And for some people, particularly with vertigo or certain cognitive conditions, a transparent cab is unpleasant rather than delightful.
If the person who will use it daily has not seen one, arrange it before specifying.
Lighting and what happens in an outage
Cab lighting should have an emergency source independent of the main supply, along with battery lowering. Ask what happens in sequence when power fails: does the cab lower automatically, does the light stay on, does the alarm work.
That sequence is worth hearing described rather than assumed, and it is the fear every household has about an elevator.
Maintenance access
Rarely considered at specification and it comes up at every service. A machine space behind a fixed panel in a finished room, or a controller in a location that needs furniture moved, makes every visit longer and more expensive.
Ask where the technician will need to get to and confirm it stays accessible after the decorating is done. Our service page covers what an annual visit involves.
Codes and what governs a residential elevator
Residential elevators are covered by their own safety standard, and local building departments frequently add requirements on top. In many jurisdictions there is an acceptance inspection before the elevator goes into service and an annual inspection afterward with a certificate.
What that means practically: ask at quote stage who arranges each inspection, what it costs, and what the annual figure is. Households approve the capital cost and meet the recurring one as a surprise.
Where the elevator serves a building covered by the ADA Standards rather than a private home, the Access Board guide sets out the technical requirements, and the specification changes accordingly.
Getting a comparable quote
Ask every supplier for the same nine items: drive type, pit depth, overhead, machine space location, rated capacity, cab internal dimensions, clear door opening, battery lowering, and the annual inspection and service cost.
Two elevator quotes are otherwise impossible to compare, because the equipment line is the smaller part of the number and the construction line is where they diverge. Our elevator guide covers the decision itself, and smaller equipment ships free from our online shop.