V

Appropriate uses for low-rise platform lifts include the following: ● In public buildings they are useful for overcoming a difference of level within a storey, eg giving access to a mezzanine floor in a shop, a raised area in a restaurant, etc. ● In private dwellings they can be used for travel between storeys. ‘ Throughfloor lifts ’ , as shown on the next page, are a sub-type specifically intended for such use, allowing disabled (qv) residents to ride effortlessly between the ground and first floor of their home (a maximum rise of 4 m) without leaving their wheelchair. They are neat and unobtrusive and can be safely operated by a disabled user without assistance. The system is as follows. Until needed the lift remains parked out of sight upstairs, the only evidence of its existence in the downstairs living area being a pair of vertical rails against the wall and a neat trapdoor panel in the ceiling. When the lift is needed downstairs the user presses the CALL button, and the platform descends through the ceiling trapdoor. The user enters the lift, presses the UP button, and the platform rises smoothly to the upper storey, re-closing the ceiling trapdoor behind it as it passes through. Through-floor lifts can easily be installed in existing dwellings, the main work that is required being the cutting of a floor opening for the lift to travel through, and the fixing of twin wall-mounted rails. In Lifetime Homes (qv) a floor area must be designated where a through-floor lift from ground to first floor can be installed in future. People on low incomes may qualify for financial help towards the cost of installing such a lift in their homes – see: Home improvement grants .