Building a Wheelchair Ramp at Home

LESLIE: Matthew in Texas needs some help with an accessibility question. What can we do for you?

MATTHEW: Yes, I needed some help on suggestions of how to build a ramp.

TOM: OK.

MATTHEW: My grandmother had hip surgery and we can’t get her in the house without a ramp.

TOM: Alright. Tell me something. How high are the steps off of the house right now?

MATTHEW: They’re about four feet high.

TOM: OK. So you’re going to need quite a long ramp. There’s a good organization out in Minnesota called The Wheelchair Ramp Project and their website is WheelchairRamp.org and they have, on that website, a complete manual on how to do this. But the key issues are going to be the number of feet that you need to run that ramp so that you could go down at a rate of about one inch per foot. So in other words …

MATTHEW: Right.

TOM: … if you’re going to go out one inch per foot, you need a ramp that’s 12 feet long to drop a height of 12 inches. So, that’s why you have to carefully plan this. You know, it may be – I don’t know – but perhaps another door of the house is lower to the ground but that’s the kind of thing you have to go through. And then the other thing is it’s going to be real important, Matt, that you check with the town to determine what types of restrictions they may have on the zoning.

LESLIE: Mm-hmm, and what permits you might need.

TOM: And then the permits. That’s right.

MATTHEW: Yes, sir.

TOM: Alright?

MATTHEW: Well, I thank you guys.

TOM: You’re welcome, Matt. Check it out; WheelchairRamp.org. Good site, OK?

MATTHEW: Yes, sir.

TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.