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Universal Lifts

Home elevators, direct

A home elevator is a 21st century dishwasher.

You build the closet. We ship the elevator. Your local contractor puts it in.The package is $18,995, with the price right here on the page.

See how it goes in

02

It’s an appliance

You build the cabinet. We ship the dishwasher.

The drive ships complete

The machinery, on one truck

The lift machinery, controls and safety parts ship together to your job site: sling, rails, hydraulic jack, pumping unit, controller, battery backup, interlocks and the call stations. The cab finish and the local materials come from your installer.

950 lb capacity

Built for a wheelchair and a helper

The cab is rated for 950 pounds. Few residential elevators match it. Two adults, a wheelchair, the groceries.

Installs locally

Your contractor puts it in

Your contractor, HVAC, electrician or a certified installer does the work. Most certified elevator installation companies can install the package in under two days. Universal Lifts recommends installers and inspects the hoistway by Zoom.

The price

$18,995

the package, before local labor, shipping and the cab materials your installer supplies

The same number you see at checkout. No dealer, no visit, no quote in three weeks.

03

How it goes in

Six steps from a closet to an elevator.

This is the walkthrough Michelle gave at home shows for 18 years, drawn out. Scroll, and the house opens up a layer at a time.

25 sq ft5 ft60 x 60 in clear8 to 12 inMachine closet230 V, 30 A950 lbInterlockBaffleSection A-A, not to scaleStep 01 of 06

  1. Step 0125 sq ft

    The stacked closet.

    Two closets on top of each other, about five feet square. That's a shaft waiting to happen.

  2. Step 0260 x 60 in clear

    The framing.

    Your framer opens the floor and squares the walls: 2x4 or 2x6 walls, and 2x12 blocking behind every rail bracket so the rails have something solid to bolt to. Plumb within an eighth of an inch over ten feet.

  3. Step 038 to 12 in

    The pit.

    A shallow pit at the bottom, about 8 inches, up to 12. Your concrete guy does it in a morning.

  4. Step 04230 V, 30 A

    The rails and the cylinder.

    Rails bolt to the wall. The cylinder and pump go in. It is a sophisticated hydraulic forklift, nothing more exotic than that.

  5. Step 05950 lb

    The cab.

    The sling ships in the package. Your installer builds the cab on it, on site, in your finish: wood, stainless, any pattern.

  6. Step 06Interlock, baffle

    The doors and the test.

    Interlocked landing doors, the child-safety baffle, then the inspection. Then you ride it.

Not sure your closet qualifies? Ask Teddy, or book the $159 Virtual Home Assessment.

Book the assessment, $159

04

What it costs, honestly

Every line, where you can read it.

LineAmount
Home Elevator PackageResidential hydraulic drive, 950 lb. The cab is built on site by your installer.$18,995
Local installationPublished range for Tennessee, labor by a local installer$6,000 to $11,000
Site Readiness InspectionOne inspection, a $599 value, comes with the packageIncluded
Door bafflesOne per elevator door. Not in the total below; your door count sets it.from $345
ShippingPick up at a warehouse, use your own freight broker, or we quote it. Not in the total below.Quoted
All in, roughlyPackage plus the Tennessee install range, before shipping, baffles and the installer’s materials.$24,995 to $29,995

What moves the install number

  • Raw material prices
  • The season
  • The installer's schedule
  • State licensing (some states require a licensed elevator mechanic)
  • State code
  • Permitting and inspection
  • Your building timeline

A dealer’s quote bundles all of this into one number you never get to see. Here you do.

Install ranges are the figures Universal Lifts publishes for each state. Your installer sets the actual price and supplies the cab materials, gate, hydraulic lines, anchors, oil and electrical fittings. States not listed here have no published range yet; ask Teddy and Michelle will follow up.

Layaway: a deposit locks the package price, and the balance is due within 90 days.

Or call or text the sales team at 512-626-0219.

05

The lineup

Everything we sell, with the price on it.

6 products · ships from Tennessee

  • A Universal Lifts elevator cab, customer photo

    Home Elevator Package

    $18,995

    The drive, rails, controls and safety parts for a residential hydraulic elevator, shipped to your job site.

    • 950 lb capacity, 2 or 3 stops, battery backup
    • Your installer builds the cab on site: wood, stainless, any pattern
    • One Site Readiness Inspection, a $599 value, included
    Buy on universallifts.com
  • The Universal Stairlift on a straight staircase

    The Universal Stairlift

    $2,995

    A straight-run stairlift that plugs into a standard outlet. No wiring.

    • 350 lb capacity, folds flat, left or right install
    • 15 ft of track, wireless remote, 3 safety mechanisms
    • Battery backup runs 20 or more trips in an outage
    Buy on universallifts.com

  • Site Readiness Inspection

    $599

    A certified home elevator technician confirms the hoistway and machine room are ready.

    • Live on Zoom, before the install
    • Pass report, or a Fail report with the outstanding items
    • One comes free with the Home Elevator Package
    Buy on universallifts.com

  • Virtual Home Assessment

    $159

    A Zoom consult for the planning stage, before anyone cuts a floor.

    • Where to build the hoistway
    • Framing and electrical requirements
    • Other construction requirements, in plain terms
    Buy on universallifts.com

  • Home Elevator Door Baffle

    $345

    The child-safety space guard the code's 3x5 rule calls for.

    • One per elevator door
    • Measure the door and the gap before ordering
    • No refunds on baffles
    Buy on universallifts.com

  • Service Protection Plan

    $759per year

    A professional elevator technician on Zoom, as often as you need one.

    • Unlimited Zoom diagnostic calls
    • 15% off replacement parts
    • Serviced by Wiltek Service Inc.
    Buy on universallifts.com

The Universal Stairlift is also on Amazon. Here you buy direct.

06

Why buy direct

The elevator was never the expensive part.

The package is a fixed number. What a dealer adds on top of it is the part you never got to see. Here are the two ways to buy the same elevator.

The dealer way

  • A sales visit, on their calendar
  • A quote in two to three weeks
  • The install bundled into the number
  • No price anywhere on the website
  • The elevator and the labor marked up together
  • Roughly $30,000 to $60,000 all in, by the industry's own cost guides

The direct way

  • The price on the page
  • The package shipped to your job site
  • Your own local trades do the install
  • A Zoom inspection before the install starts
  • Labor priced by your installer, not by us
  • You keep the difference

$18,995 for the package, price on the page.

“If you educate people, they’ll trust you. If you don’t, you’re just using people.”

Michelle Peterson, founder

07

Two front doors

Most people arrive one of two ways.

Mom's moving in.

The in-law suite is ready. The stairs are the part that stopped being easy. For a straight run, the Universal Stairlift is $2,995, plugs into an outlet, and keeps running through an outage.

When the stairs are not the only problem, the elevator is the answer: 950 pounds, a wheelchair and a helper, parked at whichever floor you choose.

Straight run · 15 ft track · plugs into an outlet

The closet was built for this.

Luxury homes and townhomes often come with closets stacked floor over floor that nobody has used yet. That is a hoistway waiting for an elevator.

The $159 Virtual Home Assessment puts a technician on Zoom to confirm it and tell your contractor what to frame, before you order a thing.

Stacked closets · 25 sq ft · 2 or 3 stops

08

Meet Teddy

The guy at the home show, awake at 10 PM on a Sunday.

Teddy is Universal Lifts' AI guide. He knows every elevator and stairlift in the lineup, what your house needs, what the install runs in your state, and where the codes draw the line. He gives you the price without being asked twice, checks whether it fits, writes the quote, books the Zoom assessment, and remembers you next time. He is not a licensed mechanic, and he says so.

See how Teddy works

9:40 PM Sun · Daughter, Ohio

“Mom's moving in next month. The stairs are straight. What does a stairlift cost?”

Teddy: $2,995, fit checked against twelve feet of straight stairs, checkout link texted, the family remembered for Michelle.

Illustrative moments. People and times are examples.

09

Proof

Numbers you can check. People you can call.

Watch: how the Virtual Home Assessment works

Universal Lifts’ own video, 2 minutes 40 seconds: what the $159 Zoom assessment covers and why it comes before anyone cuts a floor.

Your state’s install range, published

Installation ranges for 36 states, in the open.

From $6,000 to $11,000 in Tennessee, Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas, up to $18,000 to $23,000 in Alaska and Hawaii. Almost nobody else in the category shows these numbers.

18 years of home shows

A 20-foot elevator tower, booth after booth.

Michelle took a 20-foot elevator tower to home shows for 18 years before the first website went up. The walkthrough above is what she showed people in person, one family at a time.

Technicians on Zoom

A certified elevator technician, on a video call.

The $599 Site Readiness Inspection confirms the hoistway and machine room before the install. The $759 Service Protection Plan keeps a technician one call away afterward, with unlimited Zoom diagnostics and 15% off parts. Serviced by Wiltek Service Inc.

Inspection
$599
Protection plan
$759/yr

10

Our story

Selling home elevators with the price on the page.

Michelle Peterson has sold home elevators for decades. The Yellow Pages first, then years of home shows with a 20-foot elevator tower, explaining the shaft, the pit and the cab to anyone who stopped to look.

Then she put the price online, when almost nobody in the category did. People trusted it because it educated them, and the elevator stopped being a mystery that arrived with a salesman.

Universal Lifts is built on one idea: a home elevator is an appliance, and the person buying it deserves to understand it before they pay.

A Universal Lifts elevator cab with the door open
A Universal Lifts cab, customer photo.
  • Chattanooga, Tennessee
  • Price on the page
  • 950 lb standard