The Straight-Up Guide to home lifts in Victoria

Everyone thinking about a home lift asks three things: will it fit, what will it cost, and who can you trust? This guide answers all three for Victorian homes, with every figure dated and every page written for any lift from any company, including us.

I've installed 142+ home lifts for other brands, and I get asked the same three things at every kitchen table. The whole guide is on this site, page by page, whether you're after a home lift, house lift, residential lift or home elevator. The worksheets come in the free PDF.

By Liam, founder of Rise Lifts. Published Australian figures, checked October 2026. Updated 1 November 2026.

Get the free PDF Book my free assessment

What's in the guide?

Skip to your bit. Each line is a full page that answers one question.

Do you need a home lift yet?

Score each line 0, 1 or 2, add up part A and part B, then read your outcome. There are no right answers. If you're doing this for Mum or Dad, score their house with them at the table.

Part A: the need

  1. Who finds the stairs hard today?

    0Nobody

    1Someone, sometimes

    2Someone, every day

  2. Who will live here in ten years?

    0We plan to move

    1Not sure

    2Us, and we're staying

  3. Where are the main bedroom and a bathroom?

    0Both downstairs

    1One up, one down

    2Both upstairs

  4. Could a downstairs bedroom and bathroom be made?

    0Yes, easily

    1Only with an extension

    2No

  5. Is a walker or wheelchair likely here?

    0No

    1Possibly

    2Yes, or already

  6. Any fall, or near miss, on the stairs?

    0No

    1A near miss

    2A fall

Part B: the timing

  1. What's happening to the house?

    0Nothing planned

    1A renovation within two years

    2Building or a big renovation now

  2. When could the money be ready?

    0Not yet

    1In one to three years

    2Within a year

  3. How long do you plan to stay?

    0Under five years

    1Five to ten

    2Ten or more

  4. Is there an obvious spot for a lift?

    0Not that I can see

    1Maybe one

    2Yes, one or more

Your outcome: find the first line that matches

A is 7 or morePlan now
If B is 5 or more, start with fit, then cost, and price the building work as well as the lift. If B is 4 or less, start with cost, then fit.
A is 6 or less, and B is 5 or moreBuild the space in now, the lift later
Put the pit, the rail wall, the space and the power in now, and keep the drawings.
A is 6 or less, and B is 4 or lessPrepare and wait
Measure the eight numbers and file this guide. Look again in a year, or sooner if someone's health changes.
Downstairs bedroom scored 0, whatever elseA lift may not be the answer
Price a downstairs bedroom and bathroom first. A lift wins only if it costs less or keeps a room you need.

A lift bought ten years early is ten years of servicing before anyone needs it. If you're building now and nobody needs a lift yet, build the space in and wait.

What do home lift terms mean?

The words you'll hear in quotes and on site. If a word on a quote isn't here or in your contract, ask what it means and what it costs, and ask what "standard installation" covers too.

Integrated lift; tower
Integrated: in a shaft inside the walls, so you see a door. Tower: its own frame, often glass, in a void or a room.
Shaft
The walled space the lift runs in, built by your builder.
Pit
The recess below the lowest floor; none to about 300 mm, measured from the finished floor.
Headroom
Clear height from the top finished floor to the underside of the shaft top; roughly 2.2 to 2.6 m.
Finished floor level
The surface you walk on, not the slab under it. Pit, sills and headroom are measured from it.
Section
A drawing of the house sliced through, so you see the floors, pit and headroom at once.
Lock-up; fit-off
Lock-up: roof, walls, windows and doors on. Fit-off: the finishing trades after that.
Check measure
The lift company measures the built shaft before the lift is made.
Commissioning
The final testing before handover.
Hold point
A stage where someone checks the work before the next step.
Tolerance
How far the built shaft can differ from the drawing and still take the lift.
Rail wall
The shaft wall the rails fix to. It has to take their loads.
Brick veneer; double brick
Veneer: one brick skin over a stud frame. Double brick: two brick walls, which can take rails.
Trimmer; lintel
Trimmer: framing that carries cut joists around a floor opening. Lintel: the beam over a door opening.
Structural and clear opening
The hole in the wall, and the smaller gap inside the door frame. A wheelchair needs the clear figure.
Landing door; door hand
The door at each floor; the hand is its hinge side, seen from the landing.
Power unit
The pump and valves of a hydraulic lift, in a cupboard near the shaft.
Sleeve
A conduit from the cupboard into the shaft for the hose and cables.
Isolator
The switch where the house electrician's circuit ends and the lift's wiring starts.
Autodialler
The cabin phone that calls for help: a 4G SIM unit or an nbn phone, with its own battery.
2:1 roped hydraulic
A ram lifts a pulley, and ropes over it move the cabin twice as far as the ram. No counterweight.
Traction; machine-room-less
A motor winds ropes over a sheave. Machine-room-less means the machine sits in the shaft.
Screw and nut
A motorised nut climbs a long threaded screw. Very shallow pit.
Vacuum lift
A cabin in a sealed tube, moved by air pressure. No pit or shaft, and small.
Shaftless lift
A cabin on its own rails through a floor opening; two levels.
Design registration
A regulator's record that an engineer verified the design. It isn't an approval or an inspection.
AS/NZS 1735.18
The Australian and New Zealand standard for automatic passenger lifts in homes (2002, under review).
Building surveyor
Issues your building permit, inspects at set stages and issues the final certificate.
Provisional sum
An estimate in your building contract, adjusted to the real cost later.
Making good
The plaster, paint and floors around the lift afterwards.
Liam, on site

Free 24-page Straight-Up Guide

Will it fit? What will it cost? Who can you trust?

Everyone asks me these three things about home lifts. This guide has my answers, and worksheets to work them out for your own house. Use it on any lift company, including us.

  • Where a lift fits, and the eight numbers that decide it
  • The all-in cost worksheet, and ten years of owning one
  • 15 questions to ask any lift company, including us
  • Who can help pay, and when a lift isn't the answer

Questions about the guide

What is the Straight-Up Guide?

A free guide to home lifts for Victorian homeowners, written by Liam, founder of Rise Lifts, who has installed 142+ home lifts for other brands. It answers three questions: will it fit, what will it cost, and who can you trust. It's written for any lift from any company, and the pages about Rise Lifts are marked.

Is the guide free?

Yes. Every part of it is on this site, and the PDF with the worksheets is a free download when you leave your name and email on this page.

Do I need a home lift yet?

Score the readiness scorecard on this page. If someone finds the stairs hard and you're staying, plan now. If nobody needs one yet but you're building, build the space in and add the lift later. If a downstairs bedroom and bathroom can be made, price that first.

What is a lift pit?

The recess below the lowest floor that the lift sits in, measured from the finished floor. It runs from none for vacuum and shaftless lifts to about 300 mm. The RISE 300 needs 150 mm, or 50 mm with a ramp into the cabin.

What is headroom on a home lift?

The clear height from the top finished floor to the underside of the shaft top, roughly 2.2 to 2.6 m. The shaft top often goes up into the roof space, so check the ceiling over the top landing first.

If you want our help

Rise Lifts supplies, installs and services the RISE 300 home lift in Victoria. A free Home Lift Assessment is one visit, then a written lift plan with a fixed price for everything we do. Our price is on the RISE 300 Series page.

Book my free assessment

General information for Victorian homeowners, checked October 2026. It isn't a quote, or engineering, legal, tax or financial advice. Every lift has to be measured, drawn and approved for its own site.