Our house is built on a slope, from the front of the house to the back. The main living floor is one story above the street in front; the street level is the 1-car garage plus more living space, and this level has the deck out on the back side. The yard is a little more than one story below this deck, and there are three levels of the yard, much less than one story each. (Note: this is San Francisco, we have zero lot lines, so there is no passage from the front of the house to the yard in the back except through the house).
Back yards often require heavy stuff: bags of garden soil, bags of mulch, bags of gravel. Also, my workshop is in the house level below the deck, so that sometimes requires other more-or-less heavy things. I have reached an age where I am not confident of my ability to carry, say, a 2-cubic-yard bag of garden soil down the stairs, I have to drag it behind me bumpity bump one step at a time. There is also the rarer occasion where I have to carry heavy things up the stairs, like green waste from the yard in those big paper bags from Home Depot.
I have this mental image of cutting out one section of the back railing on the deck, putting it on hinges, and then outside that gate having a platform on which I could load stuff and gently lower it down. But that’s as far as my mental image goes. I have no idea of what kind of mechanism would be good for that, but I know I want it supported from above somehow, not from the garden level because it would be majorly in the way down there. The default position for the lift would be up and out of the way.
This needs to be safe, of course, but I won’t be applying for any permit for it, because I’m sure I’d never get one. And although I’m fairly handy, I’m not sure I have confidence in my ability to build such a thing. Or if it’s even really possible. So if you have the knowledge, you have the chance to either put me out of my misery so I can stop dreaming, or make my dreams come true.
I think I get the drift. I would need to build something to support it on the deck, because there is nothing above the deck to hold it. It would need to swing out (I think) so the items could be loaded in maybe a large net on the deck, and then raised up a little, swung out, and lowered down, without the rope rubbing against the edge of the deck; the support would need to be able to lock in both the in and out positions. I’m thinking an electric winch would be a nice refinement, as much as I might like to show off my rippling muscles to the neighbors and my husband (I trust that /s is taken as given). Definitely food for thought. Thank you.
You don’t need to open the railing, just have your lift mechanism reach the top of the railing. A gate on the railing is potentially very dangerous. A small electric or hand winch could help you out. Perhaps an arm on the deck rail that swings out a foot or so with a pulley on the end to lift a basket full of goods.
Wouldn’t two cubic yards of garden soil weigh several hundred pounds?
I have a smaller version of this (jib crane) mounted in the bed of my pickup. The task it does is analogous to yours: Lift heavy object from below, and swing it over an obstacle (truck bed, or in your case, railing). I also have an 8:1 snatch block attached to mine. I use a variety of lifting straps to secure whatever load I’m handling.
You would need to ensure a very sturdy base for it. I have longitudinal metal “beams” underneath the floor of my truck bed (the sheet metal is too weak of course). If you look at the “customer images” in the web page, one customer is using it on a dock, to lift jetskis. This is sort of similar to your case (stationary at home, rather than on a vehicle).
Even though our yards are smaller than others, Google confirms my suspicion that “A cubic yard of wet topsoil can weigh around 3000 lbs , whereas a cubic yard of dry topsoil will weigh around 1500 to 2000 lbs.”
I know this isn’t something you’d actually do, but Tom Scott recently did a video on almost exactly what you’re looking for, even mentioning lugging heavy bags up the stairs when you’re starting to get a bit older any don’t want to risk getting hurt.
You need to take into account a safety factor of at least 3 to 5. If you are lifting 3000 lbs, the straps, line, carabiner, whatever need to be rated for 10000 lbs at least. I looked at an old rusty carabiner I have lying around and it says 25 kN; that would not be enough.
Instead of raising/lowering from the deck, what about a mechanized trolley/wagon alongside the steps?
A friend installed a chair lift in his home for his father. When his father died, we were discussing ways to repurpose the stair lift, but he ended up selling it.
How about a ramp - easier to slide things down/up than lift (without pulleys). Could be as simple as a couple of 2x12s, or as complicated as a set of industrial roller tracks.
Similar to what’s described in the video above, Any company that does access solutions for folks with disabilities can solve your problem in various ways. I’ve seen vertical outdoor elevators that have three or more landings. They will fit a power wheelchair, so size isn’t an issue.
Yes, obviously, cubic feet, and thank you for not saying that the OP might be an idiot.
I like that very much. It doesn’t take up a lot of space when not in use, and even a smaller one would have plenty of muscle for anything I’m likely to need. I would need to figure out a way to attach it to the support structure of the deck. I don’t know if it would provide enough height to get something over the railings, though, which are 40" above the deck. I’ll have to think about that.
I can pretty much rule out cablecars, elevators, and chair lifts, pleasant as they would be to use, but not practical for us for various reasons.
What about building a sled that would ride up and down the stairs with a surface that remains level?
Does that make sense?
I’m imagining some plywood that when laid on the stairs, has a section that sticks out parallel to the ground. Put your stuff on and use an electric or manual winch to haul it up.
Essentially, a simpler version of this. No tracks or wheels, just mounted it on some wood and let it slide up and down the stairs.
Plus, if it’s light enough to move, you could get it out of the way when you’re not using it, or if you have the space, you could set it up so the winch can pull it off the stairs and out of the way.
Or perhaps the powered ladders that roofers use to hoist shingles upward? Those are cheap (compared to hiring contractors to build something), and can be disassembled and stored when not in use.
This one is around $2500, and claims to lift 400 lbs. up to 28 feet. I watched our roofers use one of these, and they’re pretty quick. The drawback is you’d need to lift the load off at the top by hand.
The OP’s problem calls for what the nautical industry calls a “davit”. Here’s one representative website.
The major points being it’s an outdoor weatherproof electric crane that can be plenty tall enough to swing your load over your railing, and plenty strong enough to lift whatever, including things far heavier than you’ve been hand-carrying up or down the stars so far.
As to permits, anything that’s hard-wired into your house’s electrical system probably requires an electrical permit. Something powered by an extension cord plugged into an existing outlet won’t need electrical permitting. You’d need a local contractor to opine on the need to permit the crane installation, and on any additional reinforcement under the deck to support the crane and the crane’s rated load.
Thanks for the additional interesting suggestions.
I’m still liking the pickup truck crane better. Much cheaper, easily put out of the way when not in use, easily restored to use without having to re-assemble anything. I found one that also included an electric winch that has a household current mode, which I like.
Yes, but I think the pickup truck crane is essentially the same thing, but appropriately smaller and much cheaper. Boat davits (when the seller is willing to quote a price online) seem to run into the thousands, which is not surprising considering what they are expected to lift.
