Custom Home Elevator Finishes & Cab Design in California
Cab Design That Matches Your Home
A home elevator cab should look like it belongs in your house
The elevator is the one piece of equipment in your house that people step inside. A cab that looks like an office lift will always feel like an add-on. A cab finished to match your cabinetry, your floors and your trim feels like part of the original design.
Advantage Elevator designs and installs custom cabs in San Diego County and Orange County. We start with Savaria’s standard options, which are broader than most people expect, and we go further when a project calls for it. We work with Cambridge Elevating for custom and glass cabs, and with your architect, designer or builder when you have one. We are a licensed California elevator contractor (CSLB C-11 #1027832) with more than 20 years in business and 4.9 stars across 300+ Google reviews.
- Cab walls: melamine, MDF, veneer and solid hardwood
- Fixtures: clear or bronze anodized, or white powder coat
- Glass and acrylic cabs on the Vuelift and Cambridge glass cabs
- Doors: bifold, Savaria Automatic Slim Doors and commercial-style doors
Custom wood elevator cab
Light maple cab with automatic door
Grey laminate cab with stainless handrail
Where custom finishes start
Cab walls
Fixtures and hardware
Glass and acrylic
Cab walls, in the order we usually discuss them
Melamine and unfinished MDF are the standard options. Melamine is durable and easy to clean. Unfinished MDF is a blank panel that a painter or cabinetmaker can finish to order.
Luxury MDF and routed white MDF give you raised or routed panel detail, so the cab walls look like wainscoting rather than a flat sheet.
Wood veneer brings real grain. We match the species and the stain to your cabinetry or flooring where we can, and we show you a sample before we order.
Solid hardwood is the top of the range. It is the right answer when the cab is going to be looked at closely and touched daily.
Savaria cabs come in several sizes, with standard heights of 80 inches and 84 or 96 inches optional. Custom sizes are available. If you need a particular cab footprint, tell us on the estimate visit.
Glass, acrylic and the Vuelift
The Vuelift is the elevator for people who want to see out. It comes in round and octagonal versions, with low-iron glass or UV acrylic panels and a powder-coated frame. The standard frame color is black sandtex. Silver, white and grey Velvacoat finishes are offered, along with a choice of about 200 RAL colors. That is real custom color, not a swatch of three beiges.
For a full-size glass cab with more floor-plan options, look at Cambridge Elevating, which builds glass-cab elevators and offers a wide range of cab sizes. See our Cambridge Elevating page and our Vuelift page.
Doors: bifold, slim and commercial-style
The door is the part of the elevator you see from the hallway. It deserves as much thought as the cab.
Bifold doors fold in the middle and save space on the landing. They are a favorite in tight Southern California floor plans. See our bifold elevator doors page.
Savaria Automatic Slim Doors open and close on their own and have a lower profile than traditional swing doors. They suit homes where someone will use a walker or a wheelchair.
Commercial-style doors have a clean, architectural look that suits a modern home.
The right choice depends on landing space, who rides, and what the hallway looks like. We show you each option against your actual floor plan.
Matching the cab to the house
Our best projects start with a design conversation. In Rancho Santa Fe, the custom homes are large, single-story and hacienda style with two-story Spanish Revival houses mixed in, and the cab usually has to feel like another piece of the original millwork. In Newport Coast and La Jolla, the elevator often serves three or four levels on a hillside lot, and the cab wants to complement views and stone or plaster finishes rather than compete with them.
If your home has custom cabinetry, we can match species, stain and profile so the cab and the rooms read as one design. We work with your millwork contractor, or we coordinate custom millwork to match. Paint, stain and trim are best chosen when the walls go up, so we ask to be involved early.
Working with architects, designers and builders
If you have an architect or a designer, bring us in before the plans are final. The hoistway size, the overhead clearance and the landing layout all depend on the elevator you choose, and changing them late is expensive. We mark up your drawings, give you the cab and hoistway dimensions for the specific model, and attend design meetings when it helps.
Advantage takes on custom requests that other dealers decline. Send us what you have in mind, and we will tell you plainly what can be done. Pricing depends on the model and the finishes. Pricing depends on the model, number of stops and construction — see what a home elevator costs. See our cost guide, or call for a free estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What cab wall materials can I choose for a home elevator?
Savaria offers melamine and unfinished MDF as standard, plus luxury MDF, routed white MDF, wood veneer and solid hardwood. Fixtures come in clear or bronze anodized or white powder coat.
Can I get a glass home elevator?
Yes. The Savaria Vuelift uses low-iron glass or UV acrylic panels, and Cambridge Elevating also builds glass-cab elevators. Ask us for the current spec sheet on sizes and options.
Can the elevator match my cabinetry?
In most cases, yes. Unfinished MDF can be painted or stained to match, veneer and solid hardwood can be matched to species and stain, and we work with your millwork contractor on the details.
What are Savaria Automatic Slim Doors?
They are automatic doors with a lower profile than traditional swing doors. They are a good fit where someone uses a walker or wheelchair. We compare them with bifold and commercial-style doors against your landing space.
Do custom finishes change the price?
Yes. Pricing depends on the model, number of stops and construction — see what a home elevator costs. We quote the finishes you choose in writing after a free in-home estimate.
Have a design in mind? Let’s talk about it.
Free design consult in San Diego and Orange County. Call (833) 865-7887.
