Moving on up: elevators are an up-and-coming residential spec

Residential Architect, August, 2002 by Nigel F. Maynard

Once an oddity in residential applications, elevators are gaining favor among architects for their versatility in solving accessibility and design problems. A number of trends are responsible for lifting the humble elevator's residential profile. For one, the aging baby-boom generation will not likely go quietly to the old folks home. Boomers are going to want to age in place as long as possible, and elevators will help them do so. Additionally, the soaring cost of land means that, increasingly, building up is the most cost-efficient way to give Americans the square footage they crave. Elevators will make taller houses a more marketable building type. And, of course, many people with disabilities have long relied on elevators to enable them to use all of their house--not just a single floor.

Joe Coratola, a Bethesda, Md.-based architect, has included 10 elevators in the 50 houses he designed last year. Architect Tom Ahman in University Park, Md., is using two in a 38,000-square-foot addition to a single-family home. And Paul Barbee of Barbee-Curran Elevator Co. in Rockville, Md., is consulting on a 30-unit townhouse development in Reston, Va., where each five-level unit will have an elevator.

"The market itself is growing rapidly," confirms Scott Hollat, vice president and product manager for residential elevators at Matot in Bellwood, Ill. Although Matot is one of the smaller players in the market, the manufacturer sells about 450 residential units per year.

Larger market demand has brought with it more choices--from the mechanisms that drive the elevator to the materials that clad the interior. Prices vary depending on the number of stops the elevator must make and the opulence of its interior design. Modest units begin at $10,000, but some units are priced at $40,000 or more.

inner workings

Two types of drive systems operate residential elevators: hydraulic and cable drum. Determining which is the superior choice for residential applications depends on whom you ask. Barbee says a hydraulic unit--which starts slowly and speeds up--offers a more commercial feel and is what people are more familiar with in an office building. Cable drum is slower and more constant, he says. Coratola specs hydraulic systems because he believes they provide a smoother ride, quicker response time, and quieter operation. Hollat, however, considers the cable-drum system more reliable. "[Hydraulic systems] require more aftermarket maintenance once they are installed. Most of the time, homeowners neglect them, and they don't get the maintenance they need," he says.

No matter which drive system you spec, the possibilities for interior finishes are seemingly limitless. Residential Elevators in Tallahassee, Fla., manufactures and distributes a cable-drum elevator, a hybrid self-start/self-stop version, and a roped-hydraulic unit. Unfinished birch is standard on all units, but etched glass, raised panels, and exotic hardwoods are available as alternatives, vice president Steve Hawley says. Stainless steel, brass, and other metals also are options.

Inclinator in Harrisburg, Pa., offers a variety of elevators sized for virtually any project. They furnish prefinished hardwood or veneer raised and recessed panels, custom colors, and assorted styles of molding. Units also may be custom finished in the field.

Cable-drum custom cabs from Appleton, Wis.-based Waupaca Elevator Co. contain raised and flat panels in several species of wood, national sales manager Susan Nicewander says. Other options include brushed or polished bronze, brushed brass, chrome, stainless steel finishes, and two types of gates.

Cemcolift in Hatfield, Pa., makes three types of hydraulic-lift elevators that are built to order. In addition to standard finishes, designers can choose from stainless steel and bronze metal. Fully automatic safety doors that open if they encounter an object also are available.

If manufacturers' cab finishes are not slick enough for your clients' tastes, Forms Surfaces in Carpinteria, Calif., provides a pre-engineered interior system called CabForms. The easy-to-spec economical product (prices start at $5,000) looks like a custom interior system, says marketing manager Laura Camp. Just choose one of three systems--full-panel; stile, rail, and inset; or interlocking grid with eight standard configurations--and the company does all the take-offs, makes the components, and ships them out.

elevation regulation

Residential elevators abide by less stringent codes than commercial products, but the laws can't be ignored. "One thing you've got to remember is that you still have to deal with local codes with regard to rating the shaft walls and providing safety stops," Joe Coratola says. "Some of the same issues you have with commercial elevators still apply."

Distributors are a valuable resource. Many know the ins and outs of local codes and are especially adept at matching the elevator to the client's particular needs. "A lot of architects take the easy way out and simply download specs off of a Web site," Barbee says. "This often leads to a unit that doesn't fit the client."