Of all the stories your dad likes to tell about the 37 years he spent working in the passenger and freight elevator industry, you like to hear the ones about his years with the residential elevator installation company jobs. From large construction jobs where the elevator shaft is one of the earliest and easiest places to identify to the single residence homes where a home owner would rather put in an elevator than move to a different location, your dad has worked on a lot of sites. He has taken classes about how to install residential lifts and and he has trained others in home elevator repair, but the residential elevator installation company where he worked provided him a wide range of experiences.
The residential and commercial elevator installation industry is a fairly closed field where new workers often have to know someone already in the business to be able to find a job for the first time. When your father started, however, it was not that way. With mechanical experience that came from working on his own cars or from working on combines in the field during harvest, your father grew up in a town and in a time where the closest elevator to his home was 60 miles away. This lack of experience, however, did not matter at the time. Your dad knew a guy who knew a guy who said they were hiring elevator helpers at a new building going in at the county seat. Your father walked on the job site, asked for a job, and was immediately hired.
At first, as your dad explains it, he was doing little more than cleaning and carrying tools. In a short time, however, your dad got to the point where he could anticipate the next tool that would be asked for, so, like a nurse helping a doctor in an operating room, you dad became an a favorite. He knew to listen and only offer an opinion if someone asked, and he was weather hardy. Through the hottest and coldest of days, your dad was on the job and before he knew it he was in helping the lead mechanic when an assistant was injured and home from work.
Have You Ever Been in a Home with an Elevator?
When most people think of an elevator they think of tall buildings in big cities. Although there are many two story elevators in small offices, schools, and churches as well, few people think of a residential home having an elevator. The fact of the matter is, however, there are also home owners who work with a residential elevator installation company to see if there is a way to have a home elevator installed. From luxurious residences that have the largest of budgets to a small two story home with a basement, a residential elevator installation company can provide suggestion as to how to make your home more accessible.
Consider some of these facts and figures about how the elevator construction industry has transformed during its history, even to the point of offering small residential products:
- 900,000 is the number of elevators in the U.S., each serving an average of 20,000 people a year.
- In a trend that seems to be increasing, 10,000 residential elevators are being installed each year.
- Elevators carry the equivalent of the world’s population every nine days, according to United Technologies.
- There are 20 times more elevators than escalators, but only 33% more accidents, a statistic that indicates that elevators are 20 times safer than escalators.
- When combined, U.S. elevators make 18 billion passenger trips in a year.
- Passenger, freight, LULA, home, and personnel are the five primary types of elevators which can vary in both capacity and size.
Even if you do not have a father who worked his entire career in the elevator industry, you are surely familiar with this convenience that allows people to easily make their way through many floor of larges buildings, as well as easy access to a home basement or second floor even after you cannot climb stairs any more. If you enjoy the convenience of an elevator at the office, you likely understand the benefits one could have in a home.