Posted on 03/14/2008 7:04:27 PM PDT by Conservababe
I need some advice/information from fellow Freeper wheelchair users. I am going to be using a wheelchair for a number of months while getting physical therapy. I ordered a four foot ramp outside my door for access over an eight inch step. I now find that the one inch difference between the ramp and my floor is too much to manuever. Does anyone know of something I can use to level it off so that I can get on the ramp?
Have you contacted a local carpenter?
Lean one wheel in first. Don’t go at it with both at the same time.
What about one of those transition things made to bridge the gap between one type of flooring and another? Lowes? Flooring company?
Get you PT and OT to look at it.
I tried Lowes but their transitional peices weren’t sloped.
#4 has the right idea. It’s like a piece of moulding.
Easiest, fastest, way is to shim below the bottom of the ramp with a 1x4x3 or similar.
If you have a wooden ramp, can you build it up from below? Put one inch high shim pieces underneath it, enough to make it stable, and raise it to the correct height?
ADA code calls for a slope of 12:1. That means for an 8” step the ramp needs to be 8’ long. I think a private residence may have a slope of 8:1. For an 8” step that means a 5’4” ramp. Either way yours is to steep. Get a carpenter to make it right.
Hard to tell without a drawing, but a good carpenter with a circular or reciprocating saw should be able to take off a wedge of wood across the width of the ramp that would eliminate the bump from your floor level without reducing the ramp’s strength.
Best of luck with your rehab.
Great minds, and all that. :D
The ramp is an aluminum one that I ordered online.
I think your ramp may be a bit short, if I remember, ADA is 1 on 12, meaning your ramp should be eight feet long.
I could cut a piece of wood like that in short order with a skill saw. It shouldn’t be hard to get a carpenter or maybe a shop teacher at school to do it.
Or, it would take longer to do it, but you could take a block plane to a piece of wood. The ramp is sloped at about 1:6, but you could probably do it with a 1 x 2 or a 1 x 3 piece of board, since I don’t think it would cause any problem if the bottom bit was a little steeper.
The standard rule for ramps(as per ADA) is 1 inch of rise for every 1 foot of length. So an 8 inch high step should have am 8 foot long ramp.
That being said,you haven’t provided enough information for me to help you. So let me ask you some questions.
Is it an exterior ramp? Is the step up or down? How well can you use your legs? How well can you use your arms? What kind of chair is it? Are the leg rests fixed or removable?
Remember the maximum slope should for every 1” up, 12” out.
Will a doorway threshold ramp work? I put this link, hope it works, but if not google disability aids (there are several websites) and click on wheelchairs, they’re pretty common and you can order the height you need, they start at 3/4 inch and go higher.
The ramp is on the exterior and leading up to my home’s door. What I need to do is traverse the one inch bump between the ramp and the floor. I can’t bear weight on my legs and I am frail. I have removed the leg rests from the wheelchair. Sorry if I am not explaining myself well. I appreciate the help from you all.
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