I have a one story house with a full basement, and from time to time, I need to move heavy stuff up from the basement, or down to the basement. The basement does have an exterior door, but my tiny city lot has about 5' of side yard which is steep and treacherous.

I've been thinking about how I might make a small powered lift to move stuff up and down between floors. Say I pick up a nice 500lb. cabinet saw, for example.

I would probably try to build this into the existing stairwell, since cutting a hole in the floor and boxing in the joists, etc would be pretty drastic.

Anyone have ideas, or alternatives for me to consider?

There are fairly inexpensive dumb waiter lifts available, but the rub is in the regulation.

I went through this with an elderly client. Labor and materials were fairly inexpensive but the lift falls under some rigid regulations governing elevators.

An envisioned $3500.00 job quickly soared to over $10g's with licensing, permits and inspections. This for a dumbwaiter to handle laundry and groceries; no people

Don't forget that you are creating an internal chimney which requires some extensive fire protection. Double layers of drywall, blocking and more I can't remember.

Well, that's good to know. This is probably not feasible.

I have a new in box hydraulic pump from a car lift for sale(or trade for guns/ammo). It wouldnt be too hard to rig up something if you are handy with a welder and have a little mechanical knowledge. I think i have a couple hydraulic rams too, they look like they are probably off a tractor, so may not have the right length of throw but i'll throw them in too.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/ ... 77748.html

My wife just has me move heavy stuff.

Motorcycle platform lift or scissor lift. Make a small pit so it sits flush to the floor below, Have just an access door in the floor above. Remove floor panel, raise platform, load saw, lower platform, done.

You will probably need 8 feet of lift. That’s going to be expensive for any wife-approved installation. If you are single, just use a chain hoist

I'ma self professed and coworker verified chainfall master and have found that, around the house, it's just easier to hire a moving company with all their fancypants stair climbing/stair go-downing roller carts.

Block and tackle.

I have one in my garage to get stuff to my second level. My city inspector did not care how I got to the second story. I used one of those harbor freight hoists backed up by a 1 ton chain hoist. The harbor freight electric burned up in a year so i now jus use he chain hoist. The most I have lifted to my second story is a ton.

The family business was residential construction. i can send you pics but you will have to figure out your floor plan and how to make it work. You may not have the space and depending on your down stairs lay out you may have fire code concerns.

My shop is attached to the roof over the trailer but it has a fire wall I used two layers of 5/8 sheet rock but it was only required to be the height of the downstairs wall.

Powered stair climbing hand truck?

https://handtrucks2go.com/

Couple of honest comments/qwerschtions:

First: Is the garage and second level separated from the residence with a fire wall? If so, then , yeah, your inspector wouldn't have a problem.

and B: "I used one of those harbor freight hoists"

does the basement door have a few steps down and the side yard slope about half way down?

If a full set of stairs in the basement entrance an inclined wheelchair platform may be the right fit.

You may be able to get a door installed on the first floor directly above the basement door and dig a floor lift outside the house envelope and may get you out of a lot of hits in the inspection, depending on what the door open to. The other issue is the elements on such a build.