Home elevator installations are going up

Need a lift•

Fact is, more homeowners do, or are anticipating the day when they will, need an elevator in their home.

While home elevators are not a totally new trend, having been around for many years, their popularity has started to increase locally, particularly in upscale houses.

Builder Bill Fink of Paragon Homes is among those who can attest to that.

Of the nine townhome condominiums he built just off Grandview Avenue in the Mt. Washington section of Pittsburgh, eight have elevators.

'None were put in because a member of the household had a disability,' he said.

Most were for convenience, he said, although some may have been installed in anticipation of the time when the homeowner reaches an age or condition where they would be necessary.

Another good reason can be to accommodate elderly parents living with their children, he said.

Fink also has installed elevators in upscale houses he has built in Upper St. Clair, Peters Township and Cherrington (Moon Township), among others.

Elevators normally cost between $20,000 to $30,000, depending on the number of stops (floors) it serves, he said. However, some can be as low as $15,000 or $16,000.

'Some homeowners will delay the installation of an elevator, but they have an elevator shaft constructed and use the space for closets,' he said.

For Craig Pitcarin, the increased demand is welcome news.

He is president of James R. Pitcarin Inc., a vender for Inclinator Co. of America, which provides home elevators.

'In the past, we would do about 12 to 14 home elevators annually, but recently, that has increased to between 20 and 30 each year,' Pitcarin said.

His company, started in 1929, sold its first home elevator for $892.

Today, the cost ranges from $15,500 for a two-stop elevator to $32,000 for a six-stop unit.

Pitcarin believes the heightened popularity of his product is being fueled in part by the trend toward larger new houses, some as large as 10,000 square feet.

It also helps that Allegheny County ranks second in the nation in the number of senior citizen residents.

'Families want them because they consider their present house their last home, and they anticipate their need for it,' he said. 'Or it may be that their older parents may be moving in with them.'

Pitcarin has supplied elevators to a number of area builders including Montgomery & Rust, John Hobart Miller, Eddy Homes, Maitz Construction, Meritage Group, Pellis Construction, Ed Brandimarti Builders, Fred Becker and Arcadia Homes.

Another prominent supplier in the local marketplace is Pittsburgh Elevator Co., a McKees Rocks firm.

Sandra L. Greco, president and chief executive officer, said sales are up about 20 percent, with customers not limited to new home builders.

Existing homeowners also are contributing to the increased demand, she said.

But as with new homes, it's for many of the same reasons, including to make life easier for a live-in elderly parent, or for a member of the household who has become disabled.

'Many of the new home buyers are looking to the future, when they may need an elevator so that they can remain in their home,' she said.

Also, a few do it merely as a status symbol, she added.

At her company, the total cost of installing an elevator, including the cab, the shaft and wiring, can run between $40,000 and $45,000, she said.

Greco, a member of the Women Business Enterprise, said her firm now normally installs 20 elevators a year. That's up from the 15 to 17 it did previously.

S. Murray Rust of Montgomery & Rust doesn't necessarily agree that installation of home elevators is a growing trend, although he has installed a number of them in homes his company has built around the region, including Washington's Landing on the Allegheny River two miles from downtown Pittsburgh.

'Out of the 88 houses we built at Washington Landing, three had elevators,' he said.

Reasons were varied, he said.

One homeowner did it to accommodate a parent living there. The other two did it for future use as they aged, he said.

Also, a fourth home buyer had the house framed so that an elevator could be installed at a later date.

'We also will be installing an elevator in an upscale house we are building in Fox Chapel,' he said.

Other builders report they also have clients who want elevators.

'We're installing a three-stop elevator in an upscale house we are building in Treesdale,' said Mark Sosso of Dan Sosso Builders.

The owners want it, he said, because the wife's mother will be moving to the Adams Township (Butler County) house, which has both an attic and a basement.

In the past 14 months, the Meritage Group in Plum has installed four elevators in new houses, said Jim Rumbaugh, president of the development firm.

'Two years ago, we did none,' he said.

Rumbaugh said elevators seem to be more popular now than in the past, although he also doesn't believe it's a trend among new home buyers.

'We installed elevators in Murrysville (Westmoreland County) and at Nevillewood (Collier Township, Allegheny County,) in houses or condominiums priced $300,000 or higher,' he said.

For example, in Lake Ridge Estates, a 100-acre plus community in Murrysville, a home buyer who uses a wheelchair had an elevator installed, he said.

The complex, which will consist of 40 condominiums and 40 single-family houses, has 15 condos and 18 single-family houses sold with 14 under construction.

Average cost to include an elevator is $23,000 for a two-stop model, he added.

In the past, elevators would cost about $40,000. However, Rumbaugh believes the price will continue to decline.

Ryan Homes, one of the region's largest home building firms, hasn't yet seen a great rush for elevators in its new homes, according to Tom DiOrio, vice president of operations for the company's Mideast region.

'Probably, over the last five years, we've had one or two requests. And that was because of a family member having a disability,' DiOrio said.

Meanwhile, a number of builders point out that many buyers first consider other construction features, such as the installation of an additional first floor bedroom or bathroom for their parents or a disabled family member, rather than install elevators.