by Shaun Leary | Apr 4, 2018 | Blog
Have you been considering adding a residential elevator in your home? If so, congratulations! You’re already one step closer to future-proofing your house and making your home more valuable to potential buyers.
While installing a home elevator isn’t a renovation project to be taken lightly, residential lifts have become much more common than they were previously, and they’re becoming more popular with different kinds of people — not just the extremely wealthy and those solely concerned with mobility.
Before you make a call to set up your free estimate for your residential elevator, here are a few things you’ll need to think about.
Elevators Increase Your Home’s Value
Having a residential elevator properly installed and regularly serviced can add tremendous monetary and practical value to your home. Even though moving people between floors is a home elevator’s primary purpose, it’s also a great option for moving heavy furniture, luggage and more from level to level.
And if you decide to sell your home, your elevator will make it much more attractive to potential buyers because they’ll see it as a true forever home, one that will allow them to remain independent long after they can’t go up and down stairs easily. Additionally, for buyers who aren’t interested in using it as an elevator, your lift can be converted to a dumb waiter or extra storage space.
Regular Home Elevator Maintenance is Essential
Well-maintained residential elevators are extremely safe, but if you neglect routine maintenance, your home elevator can become a liability for you and your family.
When you’re considering a residential elevator, it’s important to work with an established elevator installation company that offers an elevator maintenance contract for your lift. Make sure you do your research before choosing an elevator company; because home elevators are long-term commitments, you want to partner with a company that’s stable, one you can trust will be around tomorrow.
A good elevator maintenance contract typically covers routine cleaning and lubrications as well as hardware inspections and/or adjustments.
Your Installation Might Include Remodeling
Elevator installation and maintenance companies have popped up lately to keep up with the growing demand for residential elevators, and that’s driven down the cost of installing a new elevator in your home, but be aware that there are more costs associated with an elevator installation than just the elevator. Depending on the age and layout of your home, you may have to do some remodeling.
A qualified elevator company will give you a free quote, make sure your new elevator will be up to your location’s specific codes and regulations and walk you through the installation process, including any remodeling that may need to be done to complete the elevator addition.
In short, installing an elevator in your home is a great idea that can change the look and feel of your space, but you have to make sure you’re thinking about your home’s resale value, how you’ll maintain the lift and what company you can trust to install it properly.
For those in central Arizona, Celtic Elevator installs, supports, services and maintains residential elevators. Call Celtic Elevator for your free quote today!
by Shaun Leary | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog
Are you looking to make a lasting impression during your next dinner party or holiday? If so, it might be time to consider installing a residential elevator in your home.
Nothing says “luxury” quite like a residential elevator, and when your houseguests see it for the first time and take their first ride up, they won’t be able to stop talking about it, even long after they leave.
Make Going Upstairs Easy
One of the most important benefits of a home elevator is that it makes your home a forever home, meaning that you can retain your independence as you get older, but having an elevator in your home is also an advantage for elderly houseguests, giving them their own independence when they visit you.
If your home has multiple levels, it might be impractical — or even impossible — for some of your older family members to visit, especially if they wanted to stay for a visit overnight. For some people, knowing that they have trouble going up and down stairs alone makes them feel like burdens, but with a residential elevator installed in your home, you make it easy and convenient for your family to go from level to level independently.
Choose Luxurious Accessories
One of the most exciting aspects of picking a residential elevator and having it installed is choosing its features and accessories. While you’re probably most familiar with the commercial elevators in office buildings, home elevators can be designed to be a reflection of you and your style.
In addition to choosing the right size and shape, you also get to make a decision about the elevator cab’s interior as well as exterior cab operating panels. While stainless steels works well in office environments, it can make your home seem cold or uninviting to guests. Finished hardwood floors and wall panels — including popular types of wood like cherry, maple and oak — are timeless and add extra warmth to your house, especially if you coordinate the wood type and color with your existing furniture and overall interior design.
Remember, a well-designed and properly installed elevator shouldn’t look out of place to houseguests — it should blend into your home décor seamlessly.
Use Glass to Accentuate Natural Light
If you want to take a more minimalist approach to your home elevator, consider one that utilizes framed glass for its doors and cab. Not only will your glass-framed elevator wow your houseguests, but it will also accentuate your home’s natural light, a feature that people will notice as soon as they walk through the door.
The more natural light in your home, the bigger, brighter and cleaner your space looks. An ample amount of natural light and a glass elevator will make your home appear much more contemporary and open.
Add beauty and increased practicality to your home with a residential elevator! Everyone — including your friends and family — will love the extra convenience it offers and the stunning aesthetic. If you’re located in central Arizona, you can wow your houseguests with an elevator from Celtic Elevator. Contact them today and get your free home elevator quote now!
by Shaun Leary | Mar 23, 2018 | Blog
Walking into a corporate office building, you hear the familiar whooshing sound of big, bulky elevators lifting people at high speeds up to different levels of the building and bringing them back down, and their stainless steel automatic sliding doors and matching control panels.
In the corporate setting, commercial elevators have an established look and feel, but if you’re looking for a residential elevator for your home, your options are virtually endless!
Home elevators don’t have to look like familiar commercial elevators at all. Residential elevators are available in a wide range of sizes, designs and finishes, so you can personalize your new residential elevator to fit your unique style and the other furnishing in your home.
Selecting Your Size
When considering a residential elevator purchase, size is often the most important thing to keep in mind. The size you choose will depend heavily on where you would like to place your residential lift, what you plan on using the lift for and the size of your family.
For some people, their residential elevator is the centerpiece of the foyer, quickly and conveniently moving houseguests and their luggage up and down several flights. For others, their home elevator is tucked away in a closet space, making it easy for people to remain self-sufficient without drawing too much attention to the elevator.
Finding the Right Finish
Your new residential elevator’s finish will say a lot about your own personal tastes, and it’s an opportunity to connect your home elevator with your home’s unique aesthetic style.
If you’re interested in a traditional wooden cab, be sure that whenever you’re getting your free estimate from an elevator company, you verify that their elevators are made from real, solid wood — not particle board or veneer. Whether you choose maple, oak or cherry, real wood is beautiful and much more beautiful than particle board.
While flat brushed stainless steel handrails and light fixture options are common in commercial elevators, there are many other options available. You can choose from a range of finish options, shapes and materials.
For your handrail, choose either a flat or tubular shape and choose a wood or metal construction. For metal handrails, you have brushed, black, brushed bronze and antique bronze finishes to choose from. Your hall and car fixtures should match your handrails.
Typically, residential elevators are available in single and double openings, and elevator manufacturers make home elevators with a wide variety of door types, including accordion gates, sliding doors, glass walls and more.
Deciding on a Design
Chances are, most of the elevators you’ve taken a ride in have been big square boxes, and while that design works well for office and apartment buildings, considering a more aesthetically-pleasing design for your home can add an interesting and attractive addition to your home’s interior design.
Traditional box-shaped elevators are still very popular for residences, but if you’re interested in a more modern design, consider glass designs.
Square, octagonal and tube-shaped glass residential elevators are beautiful and allow for natural light to pass through them without making your space feel small, and they offer 360-degree views of your home as they ride up and down the levels of your home.
Ultimately, when it comes to choosing an elevator for your home, you have a lot of options for personalizing your residential lift and making it your own. When you work with an elevator company you trust, you can feel confident that your home elevator will be a reflection of you and your personal style.
For anyone in the central Arizona area who’s interested in personalizing a home elevator, contact Celtic Elevator! The experts at Celtic Elevator will walk you through the design process to ensure you get the best residential elevator for your home.
by Shaun Leary | Mar 16, 2018 | Blog
For years, residential elevators have been a staple of luxurious homes of the rich and famous, but recently residential elevators have become much more common, adding a new level of sophistication and practicality to homes all over the country.
Because the demand for residential elevators continues to rise, new elevator companies are popping up everywhere to keep up. With so many options to choose from, it’s important that you know what to look out for when choosing a residential elevator company and how to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
If you’re considering purchasing a residential elevator for your home, here’s what you need to know about choosing the right residential elevator company for the job.
Free Home Elevator Estimates
Like other major home renovations, when you start planning for your new home elevator, you want to find a company that provides free estimates. A free estimate will help you budget for your new residential elevator and understand the scope of work.
While many companies claim to offer free estimates, every free residential elevator estimate isn’t created equally. When you’re calling around and scheduling free estimates with elevator companies, make sure you ask what’s included in each company’s free estimate.
Estimates should be detailed and performed by a residential elevator expert — not a salesperson — who can explain what the estimate covers and how long the project will take.
Residential Elevator Maintenance Contracts and Warranties
It’s recommended to have regular maintenance from a professional elevator company every six months, so once you’ve narrowed your list of potential elevator companies, take a close look at their maintenance contracts and warranty work.
An elevator maintenance contract — or elevator service contract — is an agreement that covers all routine elevator maintenance, ensuring that your residential elevator is safe to use. These agreements should cover all preventative maintenance — including regular lubrication and cleanings — as well as regular inspections and adjustments.
Having a comprehensive maintenance contract is important for maximizing the performance of your equipment as well as extending the life of the unit. Working with a company that will service your elevator manufacturer’s warranty will help ensure that if something does go wrong, you have a local and dependable partner you can call for help.
Ratings and Reviews
You trust your neighbors to rate and review local restaurants and shops, and they’re also a great resource for your home improvement needs. Do some quick searches online and read what your neighbors have to say about your local elevator companies.
Customer testimonials are a great place to start, and you can get even more information from various local contractor listings websites. Try to gather as much information as you can so that you’re ready to make an informed decision about choosing your residential elevator company.
In the end, the most important part of choosing a residential elevator company is finding a company you can trust. When it comes to having a personal elevator in your house, partnering with a reliable company for installation, maintenance and repair work is essential for keeping your elevator running safely and efficiently for the long haul.
For customers in central Arizona, Celtic Elevator is your premiere residential elevator service and installation company. Get in touch with Celtic Elevator today to schedule your free estimate!
by Shaun Leary | Feb 16, 2018 | Blog
Installing a residential elevator might not be feasible for your current design plans, but before you give up on your dream to easily transport items from one level to the other, there is something worth considering. If you are redesigning your home, dumbwaiters surely deserve to be considered. While many people associate dumbwaiters with commercial use, installing them in your house isn’t out of the question.
Dumbwaiters are technically small freight elevators, used to transport objects and not people. Before motors were added in the 1920s, dumbwaiters used to be controlled by ropes and pulleys… thankfully, that’s not the case anymore. We often see them in commercial kitchens, hospitals, schools, and some can have a capacity of close to 1,000lbs.
Safety
There is a significant amount of risk associated with shifting heavy items from one level to the other. Most of the injuries take place on the stairs, which is why it is more dangerous to be moving heavy objects around the house using the stairs. If you choose to install residential dumbwaiters, you will not need to worry about getting injured while performing such tasks and can easily give your home the makeover that it needs by shifting around the furniture with ease.
Transportation
For a minute, think about the agonizing task of transporting laundry or groceries from one floor to the other. With a residential dumbwaiter, you do not need to worry about going through that agony again. Also, your kids will be out of excuses when you ask them for the millionth time the reason for their laundry piled up on the floor, forgotten and eternally avoided. A residential dumbwaiter addresses all the daily struggles of a mother – teach your kids how to use it to complete simple chores, and continue to ease your burden.
Ease of Cleaning
A residential dumbwaiter will act as an assistant for household chores, especially for housekeepers (whether that is you, or someone you’ve hired). Quickly and efficiently carry all your cleaning supplies across the different floors of the house in minutes. A residential dumbwaiter will cut down the time it takes to clean the house by half, which can even save you money in the long run if this is something you outsource by the hour.
Minimal Maintenance
So, as the gatekeeper of your home, right now I’m sure you’re convinced of the many great benefits delivered by the residential dumbwaiter, but maybe you’re still not sure of how to fit this installation in your redesign plan… well, we have good news. You can also find small dumbwaiters (measuring up to 18” x 18” x 6”) that will easily fit in the structure of your house and will not require you to clear a huge space for it. And after installation, dumbwaiters do not require regular maintenance updates and are thus considered to be a home owner’s best friend!
Variety
You can find a variety of different designs and drive mechanisms for your dumbwaiter, all of which are considered to be extremely durable and long-lasting.
Additional Things to Consider
Before you start contacting professional dumbwaiter installation companies, it is important to figure out whether installing a dumbwaiter will be the right option for you. Here are some quick things to consider; a practical checklist so you can narrow down your options:
- Residential dumbwaiters need vertical travel lines that take them from one floor to the other. It is beneficial to first make sure that there will be no obstacles in the desired route, such as bathtubs, wiring, plumbing lines, or other such structures.
- You need about 4 square feet to get a hoist-way build. Even though you have limited room, ensuring the space will make the process easier.
- Another important thing to determine before the installation is the usage of the dumbwaiter. This mainly involves the kind of items that will be expected to be carried by the residential dumbwaiter. This will be important information that can be given to the professionals performing the installation, and will help you determine the right choice for you.
- Most of the residential dumbwaiters allow 3 to 4 stops, however, it is helpful to decide the number of stops beforehand, according to your needs.
If you are looking to install a unique feature to your house without having to compromise too much on space, residential dumbwaiters are definitely worth adding. Say goodbye to the hassle of transporting items from one place to the other, forever!
by Shaun Leary | Feb 2, 2018 | Blog
Residential elevators are often seen as a luxury, and it’s a common misconception we’re working to clear up. However, with the numerous advancements in technology, having a residential elevator has become a viable and affordable option for many homeowners. Residential elevators are no longer seen as a sign of wealth, but are considered to be a convenient, practical option when redesigning or restructuring homes.
In this article, we attempt to change the notion that homeowners hold regarding residential elevators by bringing forward the numerous benefits that can be associated with their installation. Think of the ease and accessibility it would add to normal everyday actions, and we can bet you’ll be considering ways you can work an elevator into your home reno budget.
Accessibility & Functionality
The use of residential elevators greatly impacts the accessibility to the different corners of the house. Whether you are looking to move objects around the house, or you wish to take large amounts of items from one place to the other, a residential elevator can greatly help you carry out such tasks with ease (and in minimal time). In addition to that, it is also an excellent option for people who find it difficult to move around the house. Installing a residential elevator can massively increase the independence of each and every individual.
Convenience & Value
An obvious advantage of having a residential elevator is the increased convenience that you can enjoy. You can quickly and easily move between floors, which is especially helpful if you have your arms full, or are wanting to move furniture between rooms. By installing a residential elevator, you will be saving up a significant amount of space in your house. Imagine having the option of conveniently shifting your grocery from one floor to the other without having to climb stairs, or to quickly transport clean laundry from the laundry room to the bedroom closets.
Increased Security
The likelihood of serious accidents taking place by the use of stairs can be avoided with the help of a residential elevator. It is general knowledge that children and elderly are amongst the most common victims of staircase accidents. A residential elevator is considered to be safe for all, and by installing the switchboard at a higher level, you can avoid the possibility of children using the elevator unnecessarily. Also, you can ask the installation company to provide you with options to use the elevator as a means to increase the overall security of your house. For example, this can be done by installing an alarm system inside the elevator.
Variety of Designs
Residential elevators are not limited to the stainless steel cases we are used to seeing in malls and other public places. For your residential elevator, you will have a variety of designs to choose from, such as a sleek tube or a cube that might better incorporate into the design or aesthetic of your home.
In addition to that, technology has made it possible for homeowners to come up with space-friendly designs that make your house look classy and sophisticated. You can also choose to make the interior of your elevator attractive and visually appealing.
Residential elevators are an affordable and convenient option that you can install in your house to increase the overall value. Today, more and more homeowners are looking to settle down in their existing homes, which is why it has become essential to consider make upgrades that will increase in value over the years. The reduced installation costs associated with residential elevators have made it an affordable option, and less of a luxury, for homeowners.
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