[Closed] So whats this I've found in my house....

Homebrew car lift?
edit: that was before I saw the pics.

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4526/24825268008_38ccf15cdc_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4526/24825268008_38ccf15cdc_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/DPHZhd ]2017-11-28_11-10-20[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/ ]darren_thorp[/url], on Flickr

use the BBCode option.

That is a Shatners basoon

[img][url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/37980258184_1836bd68fe_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4580/37980258184_1836bd68fe_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ZSbKxE ]2017-11-28_11-09-47[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/ ]darren_thorp[/url], on Flickr[/img]

[url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/37980595764_c3d4b00d94_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4564/37980595764_c3d4b00d94_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ZSdtU1 ]2017-11-28_11-32-07[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/ ]darren_thorp[/url], on Flickr

It's a vertical conveyor belt for harrier jets.

Thanks weeksy...obvious when you know how!

any ideas? It goes up into the second story above, with a similar control box. The trap door has all been boarded up now though. Looks like it has been like this for some time as this part of the house has been rented out in the past

coffee maker by the looks of it

Once switched on, you'll have to press the reset button every 108 hours.

Its something that goes up and down.

Was the previous occupant called Wallace? And did he have a dog?

Must be a dumbwaiter.

Vertical Stannah?

I think at one time it was a dumb waiter, the boxing to turn it into a shaft has been removed at some point.

How long have you lived in that house? And you've only just found this thing?

You can see where the boxing-in was, from the edge of the carpet.

What's upstairs?

It's clearly a lift of some sort, question what use for a lift in a residential house?
Was your house previously a business of some sort? (car jack?)
Where does it go to? is there a room above or just attic eaves etc?
Looks heavy duty and in good nick. Investigate selling it!

Mates dad has something similar to get him and his wheelchair to the first floor.

Here is upstairs

[img][url= https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4538/37810581385_fe71e24dfc_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4538/37810581385_fe71e24dfc_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ZBc7xB ]2017-11-28_11-52-27[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/44108154@N06/ ]darren_thorp[/url], on Flickr[/img]

I suspected it was a lift of some sort as the button on the right was visible, and thought something like a vertical chair lift or something, but it looks a lot more meaty than I expected

Selling it and getting some money out of the house would be a nice bonus, it is costing me a fortune to renovate...

Btw don't worry about the socket - I rewired 3 rooms yesterday - should really be filling / painting rather than ripping more stuff out

Wheelchair / disability would make sense - however there are multiple floor levels - no way a wheelchair could get there - in fact there is a double height step into the ensuite (leaky and knackered too) through the door in the picture.

Part of the project will be raising these floors to at least level of some of the house

Was the previous occupant a fatty?

How old is the house? Converted from what? Trapdoor would make me think grain lift or the like.

Re-reading this is in [part of] your house which was a garage? It'll be a stock lift for batteries, paint, gas cylinders etc which you really don't want to carry up stairs.

Step on it and say "Upstairs please Scotty"

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Looks a bit like a falling weight impact test rig for polymers. But it isn't.

Gigantic Pez dispenser?

Gigantic [s]Pez[/s] Pie dispenser?

We can see it goes up.

Have you checked for underground lair?

Mates dad has something similar to get him and his wheelchair to the first floor.

Lazy git....!

Gigantic Pie dispenser?

In which case, there's no need for it to have a Stop button. 😉

Document hoist, had similar in an old accountants premises

I’ve seen one of those control panels before - i can tell you exactly what each button does, if that helps?

DrP

What happens when you press up and down together? Does that open the hidey hole door to the dungeon?

Prototype Dropper

Does that open the hidey hole door to the dungeon?

benp1 ..that just makes you sound like a [s]curious[/s] scared teenager 😛 🙂

[img] [/img]

I’ve seen one of those control panels before - i can tell you exactly what each button does, if that helps?

DrP

Surely as a GP, there's a £50 fee for that sort of thing? You could throw in a free prescription for antidepressants as a sweetener?

You could throw in a free prescription for antidepressants as a sweetener

Never use them as sweeteners. The don't work, though you care less

I know very little about the house 1930s. had planning in the 60s for a double garage. then at some stage the bit between the garage and the house was filled in with a two story extension which holds this 'lift. at some stage this was converted into a two story annex, and then more recently the stairs removed and the upper rooms added to the house and rented out the downstairs as a bedsit.

I've also found a small reinforced glass window type jobbie going from the annex toilet to the garage. the sort you see in car garages with an office. starting to think the back of the house was a business premise at some point in it's life.

anyway the exciting plan is to remove the lift build a laundry shoot from the dressing room to what will be the utility. this will also be my turbo area so possibly could put in some sort of.slide to make the trip down early doors quicker/more intresting

and I have found another trap door under the hallfloor but all it had down there was a rat skeleton and a 1970s Aston villa football card

Never use them as sweeteners. The don't work, though you care less

They are also zero calorie!

anyway the exciting plan is to remove the lift build a laundry shoot from the dressing room to what will be the utility. this will also be my turbo area so possibly could put in some sort of.slide to make the trip down early doors quicker/more intresting

Keep the lift, install spiral slide with lift betwixt exit and entry point. Obviously.

sadly it appears not work. not surprising given several wires appear to have been cut and tapped up. anyone got any idea of the age from the look of the motor? Or where any id markings may lurk?

Batpole? to the turbo room, where you magically appear in bib shorts and a retro cycling vest...

Is it for lifting your bikes to the upstairs store room / workshop?

Is it part of the My Hermes automated logistics infrastructure and delivery system?

igm - Member

Is it for lifting your [s]bikes[/s] Orange Fives to the upstairs store room / workshop?

😆

I'd go with wheelchair lift.
I looked at a house years ago that had one in - it was still working and had a ruddy great hole in the bedroom floor/lounge ceiling.

The Villa card is probably worth more than the lift lol.

In your last picture, the upstairs floor in front of the lift is plywood not boards. It looks to be the size and shape for a wheelchair that was retrospectively boarded over.

I would go for a general purpose lift for moving stock when the building was a business premise. Seen several similar ones in various old buildings such as the old Prudential Insurance one in Reading. The size of the hole looks about right for a few boxes of documents or car parts.

Wheelchair less likely if the floors upstairs are multi-level. Plus the views on disabled back when it looks like that was fitted were somewhat different. Can't climb the stairs? Live downstairs then.

Plus the views on disabled back when it looks like that was fitted were somewhat different. Can't climb the stairs? Live downstairs then.

Although the current Government policy recommends living on the street / starving to death....

Idelly they would leave the country before starving to death - this would allow them to reduce the number of street cleaners required

anyway the exciting plan is to remove the lift build a laundry shoot from the dressing room to what will be the utility. this will also be my turbo area so possibly could put in some sort of.slide to make the trip down early doors quicker/more intresting

Sliding down a Firemans pole in the morning would be ace.

jobbie going from the annex toilet

Is there a date on the motor plate?

Sliding down a Firemans pole in the morning would be ace.

I'm game for most things...heres my pole

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Sliding down a Firemans pole in the morning would be ace.

He hasnt quite got the staring into the distance thing down has he? Otherwise not bad.

EDIT: He's more staring and sniffing, maybe he's sensing a fire?

howsyourdad1 - Member
That is a Shatners basoon

Not to be used while under the influence of clarky cat (or triple sod).

Remember I read in the Daily Mail that Tony Blair's Labour Government were offering grants for these to people on the dole... it's to get your taxpayer funded crates of Special Brew upstairs to your bedroom without agitating the cans excessively.

Do you regret buying this house? I would never ever ever buy a house with woodchip wallpaper.

What would Thora Hird do

Is anyone humming the thunderbirds tune

reckon the boys would love a firemans pole.

I could rig up a set of bib shorts wallace like and slide down straight into them for the turbo session.

don't regret yet, I knew it was a project and will be awesome when finished. however everything is turning into a massive job which all seems dependent on some other massive job. probably easier to knock the whole thing down...

My fokes had one when they moved house. Wheelchair lift. Could not sell it. In the end they gave it away to someone from nw London to the new forest who came down over two or three weekends to remove it. They had a wheelchair bound child.

Serious answer.... I've not read the whole thread but I will second...

Wheelchair lift (or rather part of one).

The lift goes up through the first floor pushing a trap door open as it goes.

As it comes down the trapdoor closes behind.

The platform on which the person + wheelchair went up and down is possibly missing based on the picture at the bottom, although I've not looked at all the pictures as I should be getting ready for work.

Sliding down a Firemans pole in the morning would be ace.

[img] [/img]

Did you buy the house at auction ,on a whim? After a liquid lunch?
Will you be on homes under the hammer? 😀
I'd be tempted to leave the filling and painting to after the rip out.

It’s a floor lift used for disabled people to allow them to stay in their home.

Its for a disabled cat to go out for a wee at night.