A chair you can getout of again.
Custom timber and standard plastic raisers that lift a chair, bed, sofa, or washing machine to a height that does not need help to stand up from.
The chair is fine.It is just too low.
Standing up from a seat uses more strength than almost anything else in a day, and it gets harder in a specific way: the lower the seat, the more the knees and hips have to do. A sofa that was comfortable for thirty years becomes a chair somebody needs a hand out of, and then a chair they avoid.
What follows is usually a decision nobody wanted to make — replacing furniture that is perfectly good, or buying a lift chair. Raising the existing seat by a few centimetres solves the same problem for a fraction of the cost and lets people keep their own things.
It applies well beyond armchairs. A bed that is too low to swing your legs out of, a sofa the whole household uses, and a front-loading washing machine that means bending to the floor twice a day are all the same problem, and the same fix.
Chair raiseroptions.
Two approaches, decided by the furniture and by how precise the height has to be.
Custom timber raisers
Made to your furniture and to the height that suits the person, which is what you want where the exact seat height matters or where the legs are an unusual shape. Solid, stable, and they can be finished to sit with the piece rather than looking like an aid.
Standard plastic raisers
Stock sizes that go under a bed, a chair, or a sofa quickly and cheaply. The right answer where the furniture is conventional and where the height needed falls close to a standard step. Available in more than one height.
For beds, chairs, and sofas
Including multi-seat sofas and recliners, though a recliner needs a closer look — see the note below. A bed is the one people most often ask about second, having done the armchair first.
And for the washing machine
Raising a front-loader takes the daily bend to floor level out of the laundry, which for anyone with a bad back or a replaced knee is often more valuable than the armchair.
Vital Ease at a glance
- Projects completed
- 300+
Projects completed
- Agreements with Home Care Package and NDIS providers
- 100+
Agreements with Home Care Package and NDIS providers
- Valued customers
- 200+
Valued customers
Who we dothis for.
Older people finding it hard to stand up
The commonest case, and one where a few centimetres genuinely changes whether somebody needs a hand.
After a hip or knee replacement
Where there is a minimum seat height people are told not to go below. A raiser is usually the cheapest way to meet it in an existing house.
Households that would rather not replace furniture
A raiser costs a fraction of a new lift chair and keeps a room looking like a room.
Carers and family
Helping someone up from a low seat is one of the commonest ways carers hurt their own backs. Raising the seat reduces the lift.
Before you book,two things to know.
Nothing is drilled and nothing is damaged
Raisers sit under the furniture. There is no structural work, nothing is fixed to the building, and they come out again — so they suit a rental, and they can go with you if you move.
We look at the furniture before we raise it
Raising a piece lifts its centre of gravity, so a chair that was stable can become one that rocks. We check the legs, the frame, and how the person actually gets in and out before fitting anything.
Some furniture cannot be raised safely
Recliners, anything on castors, pieces with splayed or slender legs, and frames that already flex are the usual ones. Where that is the case we will say so and suggest another approach, rather than fitting something that tips.
Higher is not automatically better
A seat too high leaves feet dangling and pushes somebody forward as they stand, which is its own hazard. The right height is the one where feet are flat and the knees sit slightly below the hips, and it is set to the person on the visit.
Brochuresand guides.
The documents an occupational therapist or a plan manager usually asks us for. We are preparing these now — ring or email in the meantime and we will send what you need.
Product brochures
- Plastic chair raisers — available heightsComing soon
- Chair raisers — technical informationComing soon
Quote request requirements
- Chair raisers — what we need to quoteComing soon
How the jobactually runs.
Quoting
Quoted to the occupational therapist’s specification where there is one. A photograph of the furniture and its legs usually tells us most of what we need. Funding is approved before anything is made.
Measurement
A first visit to measure the seat height, check the legs and the frame, and set the height with the person sitting in the chair rather than to a figure on paper.
Manufacture
Custom timber raisers are made to those measurements. Standard plastic raisers are stocked, so where those suit, this stage disappears and it becomes a single visit.
Installation
A second visit to fit them and check the furniture is stable with somebody actually sitting down and standing up from it.
Warranty
The work is carried out by licensed tradespeople and backed by the relevant warranties. If something is not right, ring the same number you rang the first time.
Getting up is easierwith something to hold.
Raising the seat reduces how far somebody has to push. A rail beside the chair, the bed, or the toilet gives them something to pull on as well, and between the two most people manage without a hand.
Rails are usually quoted at the same visit.
Questions
What people ask aboutchair raisers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How high should the chair be?
Can you raise a recliner?
Will it damage the furniture or the floor?
Can you raise a bed or a washing machine too?
Will the NDIS or my Home Care Package pay for them?
Can’t see your question? Call us on +61 3 8658 1358 — we’re happy to talk it through.
More from Vital Ease
The rest of whatwe do.
Let us make your homework for you.
Ready to start your modification journey? Contact our team.
Ready to make your home safer and more accessible? Our team is here to help from your first consultation through to the final handover. Let’s talk about what’s possible for your home.