REI Elevator Service & Repair in San Diego & Orange County
Local Technicians, Factory-Direct Parts
Service and repair for REI home elevators in Southern California
REI stands for Residential Elevators Inc., a family-owned company headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, with its factory in Crawfordville, Florida. The company builds custom residential elevators. Its own materials describe traction machine-room-less units and hydraulic units. If you own one in San Diego County or Orange County, you own an elevator from a maker on the other side of the country, and that distance shapes how you should plan for service.
Advantage Elevator services REI elevators from our Carlsbad office, with a second crew based in Costa Mesa for Orange County. Our technicians work on the door system, the drive, the controller, the leveling and the battery-backup lowering on units like yours. We are a licensed California elevator contractor (CSLB C-11 #1027832) with more than 20 years in the business and a 4.9-star rating across more than 300 Google reviews.
- 24/7 emergency response if the elevator stops between floors or someone is inside
- Troubleshooting that starts at the safety circuit, not at a guess
- Written quote before repair work begins, with the part lead time stated plainly
- Maintenance plans that keep the manufacturer’s maintenance requirement on record
Drive unit at hoistway top
The Advantage Elevator team
Advantage Elevator crew and service fleet, Carlsbad
What we repair on REI elevators
Doors, gates and interlocks
Leveling and ride problems
Controllers and battery backup
Who REI is and where the company stands today
What we can say from public sources is simple. REI is an active manufacturer. The company is family-owned, it is based in Tallahassee, Florida, it builds at a factory in Crawfordville, Florida, and its public materials describe custom-built residential elevators in traction and hydraulic form. We found no recall of REI elevators in the research we did for this page, and REI was not named in the January 2022 federal announcement on child-entrapment recalls. That is not a promise that no notice has ever been issued, so if you want certainty, check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list for your serial number.
We do not know the year your particular unit was built until our technician reads the data plate, so we do not guess at age. We would rather read the plate than assume.
What usually goes wrong, and what we do about it
The failures we see on home elevators are less brand-specific than people expect. The same handful of parts cause most service calls, and an REI is no different.
Door and gate contacts. Interlock and gate-switch contacts wear and collect dirt. In Carlsbad, Encinitas, Coronado and Dana Point, salt air makes it worse. Contacts that looked fine last year can turn intermittent, which is the maddening kind of fault where the elevator works Monday and not Tuesday.
Leveling. On a hydraulic unit, leveling depends on the valve, the fluid and the position sensors. On a traction unit, it depends on the drive and the brake. Both are adjustable, and both drift over years of daily use.
Control boards. Boards and relays age. Heat in an attic or a closet speeds that up. We trace the fault through the wiring and the safety circuit before we recommend replacing a board, because a loose connection is a much cheaper fix than a new controller.
Battery backup. The battery that lowers the car to the nearest floor during a power outage has a limited life. After a Public Safety Power Shutoff is the wrong time to find out it has died. We test it on every visit.
Parts: what we can and cannot promise
REI sells parts directly from the factory, which is the normal route for a current manufacturer. That is good news compared with an orphaned brand, because the maker is still there to answer questions. The honest limits are these. We cannot promise that every part for every REI built over the years is on a shelf in Carlsbad. We do not know today’s factory lead time until we order. And we do not know which older parts have been superseded until we have your serial number in hand.
So we do it in a fixed order. The technician reads the data plate, diagnoses the fault, and tells you which parts are needed. We check availability with the factory before we quote, give you the lead time in writing, and make the elevator safe in the meantime if it has to stay out of service. Common wear items such as switches, contacts and relays are often available much faster than a controller or a drive component, and we tell you which is which.
Finding your REI data plate
You do not need to know the exact model before you call. Our technician locates the data plate on the first visit, reads the model and serial number, and uses them to order the right parts. If you want a head start, our guide to identifying your elevator brand lists the common places to look, and a photo of any label you find helps us prepare the truck.
Modernization options for an aging REI
When an REI has had a long working life, you often do not need a new elevator. You need new parts in the places that wear. The common upgrades are a replacement controller, new door operators and interlocks, a fresh battery-backup system, LED cab lighting and a cab refinish. Each can be done on its own schedule. We lay out the options and the order that makes sense on our modernization pages for San Diego and Orange County, and we price each one separately so you can decide what to do now and what to leave for later.
If you are not sure the elevator is safe to keep running, a residential elevator inspection gives you a written list of what is sound and what is not.
How to book REI service
Call (833) 865-7887. A person answers, asks the brand and what the elevator is doing, and asks whether anyone is inside. An entrapment goes to the top of the dispatch board. For everything else, we schedule a visit as soon as we can, and you can also use our online booking page.
After the first visit, a maintenance plan keeps the elevator on a schedule. Plan members pay $550 per visit instead of $600 and get priority scheduling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who makes REI elevators and are they still in business?
REI is Residential Elevators Inc., a family-owned company based in Tallahassee, Florida, with a factory in Crawfordville, Florida. It is an active manufacturer, so parts come from the maker rather than from a closed brand’s leftover stock.
Can you get parts for my REI?
Yes, through the factory, but we confirm availability before we quote because lead times vary by part. Common wear items such as switches and contacts are usually quicker than controllers or drive components. We give you the lead time in writing.
Is my REI covered by any safety recall?
We found no REI recall in our research, and REI was not named in the January 2022 federal child-entrapment announcement. Check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall list with your serial number to be certain.
My REI elevator stops between floors. What should I do?
Stay calm, use the alarm button if someone is inside, and call (833) 865-7887. Do not try to force the doors. We dispatch emergency calls with a rider inside immediately.
Do you service REI units in Orange County too?
Yes. We cover both San Diego County and Orange County. Our Costa Mesa office handles Orange County, and our Carlsbad office handles San Diego County.
REI elevator down? Call now.
Technicians dispatched 24 hours a day across San Diego and Orange County. (833) 865-7887.
