A wheelchair ramp is a must for accessibility in the United States, and installing one on your home is necessary for it to be hospitable for disabled individuals. The rise in the disabled population has led to an increased demand for handicap access ramps which you can install on your home.
This article will go through the various ways that you can build wheelchair ramps at your home.
Elements and Considerations for Planning a Ramp
Making the right material choice: Materials for building a wheelchair ramp include concrete, plywood, and metal. While concrete is most commonly used for the base of the ramp (its prominent footing), metal and wood are good choices for components that will be exposed. Plywood is cut into strips and stacked in grooves. Plywood supports load well but can warp in extreme temperatures.
Handrail and railings: Your railing should be able to support the weight of a wheelchair, which can be upwards of 500 pounds. You can use pipes, metal tubing, and lumber in your railing design.
Rectangular Versus U-Shaped Ramps: A U-shaped ramp is easier to navigate and requires less steepness and length than a rectangular one. However, a rectangular ramp is preferable in most contexts because it provides more interior space for wheelchairs to turn around or pass through each other.
Planning for drainage or water run-off: If your wheelchair ramp is installed from the top of a sloping ground where it rains often, you will need to install a gutter system on it. This will reduce the likelihood of flooding and enable water run-off. Some wheelchair ramps have a built-in device that automatically opens when it senses rain or water pouring from the gutter.
Choosing the Suitable Ramp Material
Concrete: Concrete is the most durable of the materials used for wheelchair ramps. It’s also one of the more expensive alternatives.
Plywood: Although less durable than concrete, plywood is still a viable option in some circumstances, particularly when you want to minimize costs.
Metal: The newest addition to the list of materials that you can use in building your wheelchair ramp is metal. However, this is an expensive alternative since there are regulations on using them in residential settings.
Wood: Wood is another alternative material. It can be used for both the base and supports of the ramp, but it is also more expensive than concrete.
Building a Ramp
The design of the ramp and the materials you use will affect how you construct it. Converse with your neighborhood region to decide whether you’ll require a structure license or examinations to guarantee a protected wheelchair ramp. The means laid out beneath will direct you through the overall cycle of building a private home’s wooden availability slope.
Determine the Ramp’s Length
Measure the range from the upper landing area. This distance, and accepting a 1:12 incline, will give you the data expected to figure them all out slope length expected to guarantee safe home access.
Determine the Shape of the Ramp
Since you know the total run distance or slope length required, select a ramp design that will work for your home. If your porch is 24 feet tall from the ground, you’ll then need 24 feet of slope. This can be best obliged by an L-formed slope with arrival or a U-shaped ramp with an arrival. The particular design and slope lengths are a component of what will best oblige your home.
Measure and Layout the Landing
Start at the upper arrival by finding the arrival stage along the ideal edge of the house or deck.
- Whenever you’ve chosen the specific area of your arrival, place a reference nail 1-3/4 creeps in on the two corners of your arrival. This will be the connection point for the string to spread out your arrival. Remember that the base arrival size is 60 inches in length.
- Find hitter sheets roughly 7 feet opposite from the house edge where you put your reference nails.
- Utilize the 3-4-5 triangulation strategy to check for squares. This should be possible by cutting a piece of bricklayer line roughly 2 feet longer than the proposed landing stage.
- Bind one finish of the string to the reference nail denoting the left edge of the stage, and append the opposite finish to the player board.
- From the 3-foot mark, change the line in or out with the goal that the separation from the 3-foot imprint to the 4-foot mark is 5 feet.
- When appropriately adjusted, drive a nail into the player board and bind the string to it.
- Join a line level to the line and change the string up or down on a case-by-case basis to level the string.
- You currently have a level line squared to the house. Play out similar strides on the right edge of the arrival stage.
Adjust the Batter Boards
Expecting a 60-inch landing stage, measure 58-1/4 crawls from the divider along the strings on the left and right edges of the stage and imprint them.
- Drive-in batter boards are 2 feet outside of the two existing design lines.
- Cut a piece of bricklayer line and bind it to the two new player sheets. The rope ought to converge the imprints you made for the proposed incline width on every one of the initial two ropes.
- Change the player sheets, so the last line you tied scarcely contacts the highest points of the left and right edge strings.
Mark the Ground
You currently possess three squared and level lines. The meeting point of the corners addresses the external edges of the corner posts. Imprint the ground with stakes or shower paint where you need to burrow footings for the posts.
Install the Footings
Burrow your footings, so they reach beneath the ice line. Neighborhood construction standards will give you the necessary profundity, width, and state of your footings. A few codes may require the lower part of a balance to be more extensive than the top or may require rock at the lower part of the opening for seepage.
Pour the Concrete
It’s better to utilize a solid cylindrical structure, or you can empty the solid straightforwardly into the openings.
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Conclusion
Building a wheelchair ramp is not a very technical job and can be done by anyone handy with tools and can read and follow instructions. The most important things to keep in mind or consider when building one would be the measurements, planning for drainage or water run-off, choosing the suitable ramp material, contingency of access, and the ground leveling where you want to build it.
