An elderly relation that my spouse helps out has mobility problems so trips out usually involve a transport chair. She's in her own house so of course there are the standard three or four steps to ground level. She initially rented a 12' metal ramp but the slope was higher than anyone was comfortable with. To add insult to (potential) injury, the rental cost was insultingly high - you could lease a new Hyundai Elantra (no money down) for about 20% more per month.
We looked at other options for her, but a "proper" wood or metal ramp or a chair lift from mobility suppliers were both about half the cost of that Elantra which on a fixed income wasn't going to cut it. I decided to build a wooden ramp which would be wider, have a more gradual slope and cost less than two months worth of the current ramp's rent. It's not to code but is better in every way than the current metal ramp.
Construction was straightforward using screwed-together brown treated wood, utilizing 2x6 rails with 2x4 cross-beams and 1x6 planks for the deck. It consisted of a 10' ramp (made of two 5' sections for easier transport), a 4-foot-square landing and an 8' ramp to the ground. Structural screws were used for load-bearing connections and deck screws for the rest. The deck is coated with a sand-infused latex paint to provide good traction and metal brackets are used to hold the sections together.
| Material: | Brown pressure-treated wood |
| Construction: | Screws |
| Finish: | Exterior latex plus sand on deck |
| Size: | Ramp width 36-5/8" outside, 33-5/8" inside. |
| 27" total height, 18' of ramp at 1.5"/ft slope. |
| Done: | Nov 23, 2024 |
