Accessibility contractors get shopped on a published $3,995 stair lift installed Facebook special. Those numbers cannot see the rail or the chair. A straight indoor rail with a standard seated chair on wood treads is a different job from a curved custom-bent rail with a heavy-duty power-swivel chair, open-riser attach, a folding rail, and a dedicated circuit.
Open the free stair lift bid calculatorA stair lift is a rail, then a chair, then an attach. A straight one-flight rail is a kit. A mid-landing is a second piece. Outdoor is weatherized. Curved is a template and a custom bend. Matching an installed special on a curved-plus-circuit job is how a sold aging-in-place install becomes a loss when the custom rail and the electrician eat the margin.
Homeowners usually start from the standard seated special, then ask whether a power swivel or a heavy-duty chair is “a little more.” On the same rail and the same attach it is not a little more. A power swivel is a motor and extra set time. Heavy-duty is weight rating and a heavier chassis. The calculator prices all five chairs on the stair you already counted so you can quote the upgrade instead of matching the standard number on a heavy-duty job.
The cheap special is almost always a straight indoor rail, a standard chair, wood treads, no fold, no electrician. A curved heavy-duty open-riser job is a different crew day. Matching a published installed number on that job is how a sold aging-in-place install becomes a loss.
A wheelchair ramp is carpentry — rise-to-run, landings, slope — a platform, not a chair on a rail. A walk-in tub is bathroom plumbing and an alcove. A walk-in shower is tile, slope, and glass. A home elevator is a shaft. This prices a stair lift: the rail, the chair, the attach, and the extras.
Owners also shop a second special: “I already bought one on Facebook — just install it for $795.” Zeroing the rail and chair invoices drops the bid. The set hours stay. A rail that is too short or missing brackets is a second trip. See should I install a customer-supplied stair lift for the three-way comparison on the same stair.
Families also shop a third special: “Mom comes home Friday — same $3,995 on Saturday?” A stair-lift rail ships from the factory. Next-day air is a starting expedite on top of the rail invoice. Working around someone who just came home is a slower set. Saturday is time-and-a-half plus a second dispatch. See should I expedite a stair lift for hospital discharge for weekday versus discharge week versus Saturday on the same stair.
Load the wage with payroll burden. Add overhead as a share of direct cost. Then take margin as a share of the customer’s price, not a markup on cost. The walk-away number is total cost. A proposed price under that number loses money before you take anything out of it.
This page is a walkthrough of the arithmetic in the stair lift bid calculator. It is not a building-code determination, an accessibility approval, a medical-device prescription, or a price you should copy onto a contract.
Charge from lift count, rail, chair, attach, and extras — not a published $3,995 installed special. A straight indoor rail with a standard seated chair on wood treads is a different job from a curved custom-bent rail with a heavy-duty power-swivel chair, open-riser attach, a folding rail, and a dedicated circuit.
No. A straight one-flight rail is a kit. A mid-landing is a second piece. Outdoor is weatherized. Curved is a template and a custom bend. Matching an installed special on a curved-plus-circuit job is how a sold aging-in-place install becomes a loss when the custom rail and the electrician eat the margin.
A standard seated chair is the cheap-special unit. Perch is cheaper. Power swivel is the last-minute upgrade. Power-pack adds a powered footrest. Heavy-duty is weight rating. Wood treads are the cheap attach. Concrete needs masonry bits. Open-riser needs more hardware. Folding rail, extra charge point, dedicated circuit, existing-lift removal, permit, and weather kit do not live in a published installed dump.
No. A wheelchair ramp is carpentry — rise-to-run, landings, slope — a platform, not a chair on a rail. A walk-in tub is bathroom plumbing and an alcove. A walk-in shower is tile, slope, and glass. A home elevator is a shaft. This prices a stair lift: the rail, the chair, the attach, and the extras.