LESLIE: Bill in Utah needs some help with accessibility. What can we do for you?
BILL: I had a wheelchair ramp built on the front of my house and it’s a little bit steeper than code and the hot sun bakes down on it. And when they covered it, they put an asphalt material on it and when I put my electric wheelchair on it, it ripped it up.
TOM: Hmm. Did they put like an asphalt like a roof – like a rolled roofing material or something of that nature?
BILL: Yes, something kind of like that.
TOM: Yeah, well that’s not – see, that’s not rated for any type of foot traffic or wheelchair traffic.
BILL: Well, I was wondering what could I put on it. Could I put like an Astroturf or something like that so …
TOM: What’s the deck made out of?
BILL: It’s just made out of wood.
TOM: OK. Wood plywood or what?
BILL: Plywood and it’s got 2×2 rails on the side of it.
TOM: OK.
LESLIE: You know, what you’re looking for is something called anti-skid tape. If you go online, one of the websites that sells it is SharpeSafety.com. I mean there’s a ton of different resources. They sell it in a variety of thicknesses, different levels of coarseness but it’s really made for that. So what you’re looking for is anti-skid tape.
TOM: Yeah, the key here, Bill, is to make sure that you have a clean, dry surface to apply it to. You’ll have to remove that old asphalt roofing material that was definitely not rated for this type of application. Get a good, clean, dry surface; apply this and I think you will be good for several years with this type of a product.
BILL: Great. I appreciate it very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Bill. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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