I need instructions on how to buold a cheap and easy ramp for my small porch making it easy for me to walk up?

Answer 1

This is going to sound terribly cliché; unfortunately, it's just how things are: each building site is different, so there is no practical way to provide a 100% "correct for your needs" set of instructions.

Having said that, there are some general guidelines that should enable you to plan your own project. You might want to take a look at http://ambucs.com/pdf/rampguide.pdf.

Don't let pride get in your way of seeking financial or other assistance if that would be of any assistance to you: it's no different from asking the assistance of us to help you come up with a set of plans for building your project.

If at all possible, you need to plan for the future possibility of requiring a wheelchair AND -- regardless the design of your ramp -- you should make sure a medical stretcher can get in and out of any room in your house with an adult patient onboard.

I mention "any room in your house" because most houses have more than one entrance, but sometimes the inside walls and doorways are so arranged that a stretcher -- loaded an adult patient in the supine (lying "flat") position -- can't negotiate the turns from "any point in the house" to "every outside door."

Usually, this problem is addressed by letting each "outside" door serve only a certain part of the house; however, that is not a particularly good solution.

You also want to make sure the ramp can drain properly. Disasters tend to happen in groups, and you don't want to need to use the ramp only to discover it has a thin sheet of ice on it.

Additionally, the materials of the ramp itself should either be waterproofed. If wood is used as a construction material, make sure it has been treated -- and even if you go that route, you'll want to treat the ground to protect against termites and other potential problems.

Generally speaking, you should be able to use 2x6 "runners" parallel to the direction of travel (5.5-inch side perpendicular to the ground), with 2x4 "flooring" (3.5-inch "flat" side parallel to the longitudinal axis of the runners) arranged transversely.

You can use a coarse-grit belt sander to "round" the tops of the 2x4 boards. Use glue and a pair of deck screws to secure the flooring to the runner at each place the flooring crosses a runner.

Here's an idea (sorry the text characters don't line up here; copy and paste them into an OpenOffice Writer or a MS Word document, highlight them and change the font to Courier New):

┌┐ ┌┐ ┌┐ ┌┐
||=||=||=||
|| || || ||
||=||=||=||
|| || || ||
||=||=||=||
└┘ └┘ └┘ └┘

Where = is the narrow side of the 2x6 and you're looking down on the top of the ramp. The transverse rectangles (only 4 are shown) are the 2x4s, which are lying down so that each board is 3.5 inches wide. You'll want to leave about a half inch between the 2x4s.

The ramp surface should provide good traction and be at least 3 feet wide. If you want to go for minimum width, you can get 5 "floor boards" from a 16-foot-long 2x4.

Put the 2x6 runners on 16-inch centers, which means the 36-inch long 2x4s will have an overhang about 1.25 inches on the outer sides of the outermost 2x6 runners (a "2x4" is actually 1.5 x 3.5; a "2x6" is actually 1.5 x 5.5).

Make sure you round the tops of the 2x4s BEFORE you "glue & screw" them. Use a pair of 4x4 posts at each point in the runners and, measuring parallel to the runners, make sure the centers of the posts are no more than 96 inches apart.

Remember your math when you're calculating the length of the runners (which will also determine how much board you need for flooring). Also remember that you can't get 8 boards 36 inches long from 3 "8-foot-long" 2x4s. Figure your materials carefully.

For a 16-foot-long ramp section, figure 3 "16-foot-long" 2x6 boards and 10 "16-foot-long" 2x4 boards, a 5-pound box of "coated" deck screws (288 screws for the flooring, maybe 60 more for the supports).

The lengths of the 4x4s will depend on both the pitch of the ramp and the pitch (or, more accurately, the relative height) of the ground. Determine how high the post needs to be above the ground, then add 24-48 inches (depending on how far above the ground the post has to reach).

There are a variety of ways to fix the vertical posts to the ramp, and you may need to use a transverse 4x4, and if the ramp is high above the ground, you may want to use triangulation or "X-bracing" between the transverse vertical members.

Answer 2

Hello, I noticed you had posted a couple of these questions and wanted to step in for a second as well. I would personally look into or print out the information found on http://www.ambucs.org/members/rampbuilding.aspx . Then get all the data you can and see if they will help build one for free. If they do not there are other options depending on your location I had a list of sites for each state but not in my bookmarks here. Anyway, besides that for ADA information and comparisons take a look at the articles/details found at http://www.discountramps.com/access_ramps.htm more specifically the "Other helpful modular and access ramp links" section of that page where it contains a pretty good selection of ADA information. Best of luck and I hope you get your accessibility problem taken care of with a working ramp solution as soon as possible.

Please keep in mind, depending on your location if you do choose to build a wooden ramp make sure to use a sand paper style non-skid surface or another form other than the wood itself as the wood will obviously get rather slippery when wet.

Answer 3

If you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near by, take measurements of all angels of your porch and take the measurements to them and they usually will tell you how to building or give you some type of instructions.

Answer 4

Go to DIY.com and ask they have several different designs.

If you need assistance in building; contact the local red cross.

Answer 5

IF YOUR HAVING PROBLEMS WALKING UP YOUR STAIRS, MAYBE THE STEPS ARE TOO DEEP. HAVE SOMEONE SHORTEN THEM, THAT WOULD BE ALOT EASIER FOR YOU TO GO UP AND DOWN THAN A RAMP WILL. GOOD LUCK.

Answer 6

If you are having trouble walking up stairs
You probably should not be building ramps
Hire someone