Ever since we started living in our money pit I had been thinking about where to install an elevator and how to acquire one that was priced reasonably, under 18K.
I started researching at a home improvement show. I ordered manufacturers catalogs and asking for price quotes. We were about a year and a half into our efforts to make this place a home when we discovered that we were at the end of our resources and needed to regroup. The elevator was quickly put on the back of our priority list.
I continued to drag building materials up our 21 step stairs. I quickly discovered how to make carrying chunks of firewood easier. I strapped a plastic trash container to my hand truck and pulled a very heavy load of fire logs up the stairs (clunk, clunk, clunk, ….).
Though the elevator stayed on the bottom of our list, I found myself checking out various elevators on eBay. I came across many types, the most common were lift systems used in warehouses. I just could not justify using any of those devices or one the many chair lifts that mount and travel up and down stairs. I found web sites that offered people with health issues a way to move around in their homes.
Residential elevators seldom came up on eBay but I kept checking and dreaming. It was December 2004 that I came across two MATTOT elevators in the BUY NOW category for 2K each. They were completely dismantled. The seller was a contractor in Phoenix, Arizona. I had a catalog for this brand and had considered one of their models. I got the serial numbers and a little background information.
The home the elevator came from.They were installed in two new homes that were under construction. Something happened with the financing and the bank made the decision to remove them. The contractor got a price for removal by the company that installed them. It was unacceptable so the contractor got instructions on how to safely dismantle them. There are many delicate sensor switches and a master controller that must not be damaged. I was given the persons name and phone that installed the elevators. I call him to ask a few more questions. He told me that the elevators were never inspected and certified for use because the phone line had never been activated and the elevator phone was a necessary item that had to pass inspection. The elevators were moved to the basement of each project. The contractor asked what he was suppose to do with them. When he was instructed to get rid of them he any way he saw fit so he took pictures and had them put on Ebay. This sounded rather fuzzy to me but if I could acquire a 20k system for 2k!
This happened during the Christmas season. I never was able to speak with anyone at MATTOT. I called my buddy Don Rawlings who was once an elevator maintenance person that was hired by GSA to oversee elevator projects. He reviewed the systems for me and told me that they were very good systems especially for that price. The auctions were coming to an end and I had to make a decision especially when one disappeared. Jeanne had given me the go ahead after I came up with how to pay for it. After all, we told ourselves, we got lucky buying our Subaru on eBay.
Not long after the first one disappeared I found myself nervously buying the last one. I started to figure out how to get that elevator to Andrews. This issue turned out be be very difficult. I contacted shipping companies and settled on one that made it sound like they would make it happen. This turned out to be such a total miscommunication mess that I made other attempts. The contractor agreed to load the elevator parts into a shipping container that I tried to arrange to have shipped, but that fell through.
The electronics, cable motor and rails - in pieces.
I called my ex-step-father-in-law Douglas to ask him if he could help out. He lives in Las Vegas, which is a few hours away from Phoenix. He said he would try but that he would have to get assistance from his brother. It appeared that this plan would work but several days later that fell through. These attempts lasted almost two weeks. I was asked by the contractor to try to remove the elevator within a month, the sooner the better.
The best and most affordable option was to do a road trip. After all my researching was done I hired my brother-in-law Mike, to help with the driving to Phoenix to bring it to Andrews. We departed the car rental place in Atlanta on the Sunday that was part of the three day holiday weekend for MLK, which I did not realize until several hours later and seeing every state trooper in Georgia, Alabama, on into Mississippi, where we spent our first night in Meridian. The next night was we stopped in El Paso. We arrived at the Phoenix airport to trade the rental car for a rental truck and arrived at the job site mid-afternoon. We were actually in a neighborhood at the base of the Camel Back mountains. The elevator parts were loaded and secured in the truck and we were back on the road in less than two hours.
The truck with the elevator loaded.
We stopped in Vicksburg, Mississippi where I bought Mike a birthday dinner at one of the gambling casinos. I gave Mike the balance of the money that I agreed to pay him for the assistance. I felt real bad after hearing he lost all of his pay in less than an hour.
The road trip route was I-20 to I-10 and returned the same route. We had unbelievable weather conditions for that time of the year - no rain, no snow and mild temperatures. Mike refused to let me drive so I just sat back and enjoyed the trip. We arrived back in Buford, Georgia, where Mike was living, late Thursday evening. I unloaded the elevator parts into the building next door Friday morning and returned the rental truck in Murphy. The elevator system was safe and sound and remained next door until I could put together the installation process which will be told in part two of our elevator story.
What a road trip! I can't make this stuff up!
Desert views - Arizona
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