If you live in a 3-4 storey property with your kitchen on the lower floors and staff to cook your meals, you might consider installing service lifts AKA a dumbwaiters or microlifts, to make sure your dinners are served hot and on time and to save you the hassle of walking 3 flights of stairs every time you want something from the kitchen.
In our experience, residential service lifts are primarily installed in luxury Victorian homes in Chelsea and Kensington. These premium properties are unique in their high ceilings, traditional features, large doorways and intricate design work. If you walk down one of the premium roads in Chelsea, these stunning properties will take your breath away.
With a desire to modernise, yet preserve the properties traditional features, owners of properties like this in Chelsea and Kensington expect their architects and building contractors to find bespoke solutions to their requirements.
Having a service lift in your home is a statement of luxury; a statement of your lifestyle. In the last year, we have worked with homeowners who have had very specific requirements even of their service lifts, tailored in both design and function to suit their specific needs, whether its glass doors, LED interior cabins or special finishes to the surrounds and doors.
How much does a Service Lift Cost… approximately?
The simple answer is… it depends. It depends on several factors including:
Location – If you are set away from main cities or towns, chances are your price will be a little higher than more easily accessible locations. This in large part is due to additional travel time, mileage and potential cost of hotels, should the work be running over two or three days on site.
Floors – Probably the biggest factor in cost is how many floors the lift runs. This will increase the installation time but the bulk of the additional cost is the additional lift material as well as more complex electronics required to tell the lift what to do and where to stop.
Finishes – Cost of steel has risen dramatically over the past years which in turn has affected the production costs of service lifts as they are made primarily from stainless steel and mild steel for the actual lift structure.
Installation Time – This will depend on the nature of the service lift. For example, if the entrances to the lift doors are different sides this may take the installation team a little longer to setup. Other factors can be building sites which are difficult to access or move goods around or lift shafts which are easy to navigate around.
Service Lift Dimensions
Service Lifts come in a range of sizes and the dimensions are often decided by the goods the lift needs to carry. Whilst there are standard sizes, these service lifts can be modified to suit your specific requirements.
Can you install a service lift? Points to consider:
Will the service lift travel vertically through the floor to the correct landing? For example, if the service is installed in the garage to carry groceries, it must be able to travel vertically to the kitchen.
Are there any obstructions on or in the floor that may prevent the service lift from traveling straight up and down through the floors? Examples of obstructions may be toilets, bathtubs, plumbing lines, electrical wiring and weight-bearing floor joists.
Do you have enough space to build a hoist-way? The amount of space needed will depend on the model but be sure to leave room for the guide rail, cables and overhead. Generally, about 4 square feet is required. Having different door swings at different landings may increase the size of the hoist-way because of the interlocks.
What is the service lift being used for? Determine the use of the service lift. How large and heavy are the items that will be going into the lift? Is it carrying large loads of laundry, groceries both or something else? A typical car is 20″w x 20″d x 30″h. Residential service lifts generally have a weight capacity of 100 lb.–200 lb.
We have been working with homeowners of luxury properties in the Chelsea and Kensington areas who have or are in the process of installing service lifts in their properties.
If you need any help, advice or simply a team that can work with you to plan and prepare your home for the installation of a service lift, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 0208 191 7595. Or why not book a Free Consultation through our website.
We’ll be happy to visit your property and share some of our thoughts and recommendations.
