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kenmtb Asked April 24, 2024

Need a cart that can help carry laundry up and down stairs.

Hello-
I am trying to come up with a way to allow my mom to safely use the cellar laundry room without having to carry a basket up and down stairs. Due to potential code enforcement issues and cost, it may she may not be able to move the washer and dryer upstairs. Chair lifts are expensive and may require a permit to even install one.


 


I am looking at electric carts that can climb stairs. Has anyone come across any of these that would work for a senior with limited mobility?

LoopyLoo Apr 25, 2024
I found a cart that's like a laundry hamper on 3 sets of wheels. I don't like it because it's LOUD and so clunky on my wooden stairs (No basement but w/d is downstairs, and master bedroom is upstairs). I switched to a laundry holder that you wear on your back like a backpack. I feel like a sherpa, carrying goods from afar. But that probably isn't safe either if one's balance is poor.

JoAnn29 Apr 25, 2024
There are carts that have special wheels for this purpose. But I need to agree, if Mom has Dementia time to find a nice AL if she can afford it. She should not be going down cellar steps. My MIL had a house like this. TG she went to a rancher. I would put a lock that cellar door.

Those stackable washer/dryers are easy to hook up. May need a different outlet. They can be put in closets.

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sp196902 Apr 25, 2024
Better solution is mom needs to find a place that fits her needs as her mental and physical decline continues.

Grandma1954 Apr 25, 2024
Honestly if mom is still living alone and she has been diagnosed with dementia she should either have full lime help or you need to begin looking at Memory Care facilities for her.
This is not just a laundry issue there are a lot of other safety factors that are at play here.
What happens if she forgets to turn the water off in the sink..what happens if she turns the stove on and leaves a pan on the burner....does she know how to call 911, her address, or in an emergency would she call you? how long would she be at the bottom of the stairs before she would be found?

cwillie Apr 25, 2024
I think all of the workarounds are either going to be impractical or expensive and it's time to acknowledge that it's just not realistically possible. A temporary fix is to have someone else do her laundry weekly but I think it's time to make plans for more supportive housing in the long term.
I found a discussion on reddit that may give you some ideas

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/18xzxrk/mom_is_having_hard_time_carrying_laundry_up_from/
Anxietynacy Apr 25, 2024
YUP
Grandma1954 Apr 24, 2024
I have not seen electric carts but I have seen rolling bins, on wheels that have 3 smaller wheels in the back on each side rather than the bins with just 2 wheels i the back.
Just Google Stair Climbing Folding Cart. Just saw Home Depot has one on their website I am sure there are others.

Anxietynacy Apr 24, 2024
Wow if you find one I need one too. Mom 88 yr old moms washer and dryer is in basement ( don't get me started, I'd never allow this if I was POA)

Anyways she insists on doing laundry pretty much daily, even though I'm there 3 days a week, would do it or bring it home. But that's her stubbornness. She throws the clothes down, and the most days one of us is there to bring them up. If not she takes one step at a time and sets it on each step. Horrible way to do it but nothing I can do about it.
That's how we do it anyways. And since she does it daily it's not a heavy load anyways

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