Home Elevator Cost in Maine

Which lift you choose drives most of the cost. These figures are the middle of the installed prices we found published, and our about page explains how we gathered them.

Shaftless and through-floor lifts do not need a full shaft. Not sure which kind fits your stairs and floors? Call us today, and a local dealer will measure your home and give you a written quote.

For a home with more than two floors, each extra floor may add roughly $9,000 to $15,000. If your home has no shaft at all, putting one into an existing house adds $5,000 to $25,000. That spread is wide because every house has different walls, floors, and wiring.

Maine elevator and escalator installers earn a median $69.08 an hour, well above the national median of $52.84 an hour, which is one reason a Maine quote may run higher. Carpenters, who frame a shaft or floor opening, earn a median wage of $29.88 an hour in this state.

A private home needs no state approval. Maine's elevator and tramway law leaves elevators in private residences alone when they serve only private use. So the state does not ask homeowners to submit plans, pull a permit, pass an inspection, or pay any homeowner fee for a lift at home. Your town, though, might still want a building or electrical permit for the job.

The Elevator and Tramway Safety Program, which operates under Maine's Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, watches over the elevators the law does cover. For those, the owner sends drawings to the state Chief Inspector before work begins, and the state then checks and certifies the unit, for a fee. Covered installations must meet the safety codes ASME A17.1-2013 and A18.1-2014.

If the public will ride your lift, say in a home business, the exemption may not hold. Maine's rules treat vertical and incline lifts as elevators. A lift that sees non-private use must be installed by a state-licensed mechanic and then checked by the state. When clients or customers will be riding it, mention that to the dealer before the quote, since it changes both the plan and the price.

Installing, repairing, or servicing an elevator in Maine normally takes a state elevator or lift mechanic licence. A private-use lift inside a private home is exempt from that licence requirement. That puts more weight on picking a dealer with real experience, because no state inspector will look over the job. Call us for an introduction to a local dealer who fits home lifts.

Under Maine law, a stair chairlift is not an elevator, so it stays outside the state elevator program everywhere, not just in homes. If a single staircase is your only trouble, a stair lift is a simpler, separate option.

Two Maine programs can help with the bill:

• MaineHousing Home Accessibility and Repair Program: offers grants to homeowners with low incomes who cannot pay for needed repairs. Accessibility changes are covered too.
• Kim Wallace Adaptive Equipment Loan Program (Alpha One): lets Mainers with disabilities borrow between $250 and $100,000 at 3.75% interest for equipment that supports independence and safety. Approval looks at your ability to repay rather than your income. Over 31 years the program has lent more than $20 million.

When you apply to either program, a written quote helps, and a nearby dealer can measure your house and write one up for you.

No two houses are alike, so a range only takes you so far. Call today, and a local dealer will measure your home and give you a written price you can plan around or use when you apply for a grant or loan.