Casestudies

We have recently supplied a lift refurbishment solution in the West Midlands for a new care home client, as their current supplier was 35% more expensive than us. For many years, we have been looking after care homes, the NHS and local councils in Staffordshire, Midlands, and Northwest.

Lifts are essential for care homes but have often been designed with only one lift on site, making reliability of the only lift absolute paramount. We currently look after many lifts in care homes throughout the UK, some as old as 50 years old, that keep running. Unfortunately, some suppliers installed cheap hydraulic and lift control systems from Europe in many of the care homes in the UK. These do not have the lifespan as say an old H&C traction lift would, so the client has to do upgrades within 15 to 20 years. LEIA do advise a control system upgrade after 15 years, so it is worth planning with clients for these upgrades before they become a problem.

The care home in the West Midlands was very dated and very unreliable. A lift refurbishment is a great solution for existing sites as we can typically start within 4 weeks and complete in 1 to 2 weeks dependent on the work. We started this project within 4 weeks and completed all the below work in two weeks, which was half the time other companies had quoted. The client is over the moon and already discussing future lift modernisation work with us.

OUR WORK ON SITE:

Control System

We replaced the lift control system, shaft positioning system, car top controls, car controls, landing controls, position indicators, safety edges and all associated wiring. The lift’s electrical system was 30 years old and very dated and unreliable. This now ensures the lift is reliable and safe.

Hydraulics

During our time on site, we upgraded all the hydraulic systems (new tank, valve block, pump, and oil), which were old and needed replacing. Now the hydraulics are reliable and work smoothly. Upgraded hydraulics can help reduce the chance of lift breakdowns, make the lift more reliable, improve ride quality and make floor levelling more accurate. Upgrading the hydraulics can also increase the efficiency of the lift and minimise noise at the Care Home.

Door Operator

We upgraded the door operator, as before they were worn and would typically cause the lift to break down. Now the new door operator is working like they are supposed to, efficient and smooth. Door operator upgrades greatly improve your lift reliability, as many breakdowns are lift door related. The refurbished lift at the West Midlands care home has been running well ever since.

Lift Interior

The lift interior had become very dated and tired. We offered a great solution that is modern and in keeping with the care home, client, and new lifts. We replaced the walls with nice grey laminated panels, added new wooden laminate flooring, new LED efficient lighting, new full width mirror and new handrail. In conjunction with the new car controls, it looks like a brand-new lift inside.

COST SAVING IN THE LONG TERM – Old lifts are a lot more likely to breakdown and the older it gets, the more it will breakdown, costing you more money in the long run. If a lift is over 15 years old, we recommend getting your lift refurbished (so does the lift association) as it will reduce the chances of breakdowns and make the lift generally all round better, safer, and more efficient.

More Eco-Friendly – Lift refurbishments are more eco-friendly than a full replacement lift, as you only replace the major components that cause the lift faults. Lift refurbishments are also more cost-effective as instead of paying for an entirely new lift, you pay for key components to be replaced to ensure reliability and safety.

FAST & Minimal Disruption For Your Business – A lift modernisation project can be started within 4 weeks and completed within 1 week. A new lift can be long lead times (16 weeks), 6 weeks on site and cause huge disruption. A modernisation is a great solution in existing and busy buildings as quicker, cheaper and no electrical or building work needed.

West Midlands Care Home Overview

Time it took to complete – 10 working days

Lift Age – Over 30 years old

Project Type – Lift Refurbishment

Engineers who completed the work – Neil and Steve