Building a Wheelchair/Walker Ramp?

[David Stone]

My 96-year old Dad uses a walker and has trouble getting up stairs.  My new house has five steps to get in (front or back):





I was thinking of one piece from the driveway to the walk, and then two pieces with a 45* bend to get up to the house.
Any suggestions on construction?  How much rise per run?  

Thanks in advance.

[MauleSkinner]

ADA says 1:12 max slope. When I built ramps for my parents, they were slightly flatter…I’d say 1:12 is plenty steep.

Landings for the turnarounds need to be fairly large as well, which fortunately I didn’t need.

https://www.access-board.gov/ada/guides/...urb-ramps/

[DaveR1]

If you can share some dimensions I could model it for you to give you an idea of what you'd need. I've done it for a ramp inside the garage in the house we are just buying.

[rlnguy]

I'll add a few random thoughts, by a long time wheelchair user. I also sold and installed ramps and lifts, before I retired.
Eyeballing your photos, looks like about 5' of rise, that means about 60' of ramp-not including required level places for your father to stop and rest.
There seems to be debate as to whether ADA applies to ramps on private homes, but local building officials have the final say.
The limited space, and the tight turns, in your photos, present challenges.
A ramp that long is going to use up a lot of area-and cost to build and maintain. You might be better off searching for a used wheelchair lift-and putting it in the garage.
What does the back door look like? Could you wrap the ramp around the end of the house, and into the back door, with a straighter approach?
Looks like the house is a split entry/level-once inside, are there more steps?
Do you have to worry about ice/snow?
Here are s couple sources of ideas, that I have found helpful:
http://www.klownwerkz.com/ramp/default.htm
I like the modular design outlined here:
http://www.klownwerkz.com/ramp/rampman/a...ndyman.htm
Hope this helps.
Cheers

[David Stone]

If you can share some dimensions I could model it for you to give you an idea of what you'd need. I've done it for a ramp inside the garage in the house we are just buying.

Sorry I didn't have time to take better photos, but hopefully this makes sense:

At the top landing, from the door to the wall is 39".  From the lip of the top stair to the back wall is 43".
The two upper stairs are about 8 1/4" high and the lower stair is 10 3/4" high.
From the bottom of the stair to the rock border at the ornamental grass is 32 1/2".
From the house wall to to lawn is 76".

The steps from the driveway up are 33 1/2" wide.  (It's 38" from the right of the step (under the hanging grass) to the grass across the step.). The first step up in 8" and the second step up is 5".

Hope that helps.

[David Stone]

I'll add a few random thoughts, by a long time wheelchair user. I also sold and installed ramps and lifts, before I retired.
Eyeballing your photos, looks like about 5' of rise, that means about 60' of ramp-not including required level places for your father to stop and rest.
There seems to be debate as to whether ADA applies to ramps on private homes, but local building officials have the final say.
The limited space, and the tight turns, in your photos, present challenges.
A ramp that long is going to use up a lot of area-and cost to build and maintain. You might be better off searching for a used wheelchair lift-and putting it in the garage.
What does the back door look like? Could you wrap the ramp around the end of the house, and into the back door, with a straighter approach?
Looks like the house is a split entry/level-once inside, are there more steps?
Do you have to worry about ice/snow?
Here are s couple sources of ideas, that I have found helpful:
http://www.klownwerkz.com/ramp/default.htm
I like the modular design outlined here:
http://www.klownwerkz.com/ramp/rampman/a...ndyman.htm
Hope this helps.
Cheers

This is the back of the house.

The front of the house has six steps up from the street (no sidewalk).  Then a long run of walkway to two steps into the house.  If I could figure out the steps from the street, this would be ideal.
Here's the front:



There's a driveway to the left of the lawn, with a short retaining wall -- about 3'. I guess I could do a ramp to the top of the retaining wall, but he'd have to walk across the lawn to get to the pathway.

The garage leads to five tight steps to get to the main floor level.  No room for a ramp.

Oh -- and this would have to be easy to put in and take out. He doesn't visit very often. (I go to him.)

(Anyone know how I can get the correct bb code from flickr so the image will appear? The way I used to grab the code doesn't seem to be working.)

[rlnguy]

Maybe you should consider another option, given the physical constraints involved.
You said your father "has trouble" going up stairs, is the problem lifting his feet high enough? or trying to control the walker, AND lift his feet? or??
If it is controlling the walker, on the stairs, maybe adding hand rails, on both sides of the stairs would be enough. If he's strong enough, he could use the rails, and someone could carry the walker up.
Another option might be low rise, wide tread steps, but that'd be more or less permanent install-difficult to pick up and store.
Or, if there are other people available to assist, maybe pick up an inexpensive evacuation wheelchair, and use it to get him up and down-they're made with hand holds, to facilitate going up and down stairs.
Amazon has several. I would avoid any with swiveling casters on the rear-hard to control when going up/down steps. They have straps to help hold the person in, so they don't loose their balance. They are similar to the boarding chairs airlines use to board disabled passengers.
If he is a large man, they are available with battery assist.
Once he's in the house, he could resume using his walker.
Hope this helps,
Cheers

[Cooler]

Just slightly off-topic here.

There are motorized wheelchairs available nowadays that weight as little as 55 pounds.  The best of the bunch is Yamaha, but that is not imported to the USA.  We smuggled a Yamaha wheelchair into the USA from Japan.  

If customs flagged it, we would have been liable for the return freight, but not the goods.  And maybe, since we broke the law, incarceration.  Luckily that day they were busy with heroin or fentanyl and missed the errant wheelchair. 

You can get it in Canada and drive it across as long as it is out of the packing materials.  You can fold it flat like a regular wheelchair and it can travel in a conventional car.  It has been years since we broke the law.  So I don't know the current pricing. 

It seems that Yamaha is getting around the FDA issue by selling retrofit wheels with motors.  It is too bad because their wheelchair was a piece of art as far as they used aircraft quality welds on an aluminum chassis. 

The wheelchair was available as a powered version and a power-assist version.  The power assist was applied when the resistance got too heavy.  They also had a joystick version.  I don't know what they are offering nowadays.

https://yamahanavi.com/


It beats buying a specialized wheelchair van every few years.  I saw a used Chrysler Pacifica lift van selling for $72,000.00.  I don't know what a new one costs.

[Wild Turkey]

If it's for occasional use I'd look at something in the garage.  I put a ramp along the garage wall leading to a large landing in our new house while LOML was having problems with her hip.  She still uses it but it's days are numbered


Take a long look at how often it will be used and how much a permanent ramp will cost in labor, material and landscape disruption.

Then I'd look at something like this platform lift for use in the garage.  Roughneck Ultra Low-Profile Lift Table Cart — 1,000-Lb. Capacity

[Cooler]

If it's for occasional use I'd look at something in the garage.  I put a ramp along the garage wall leading to a large landing in our new house while LOML was having problems with her hip.  She still uses it but it's days are numbered


Take a long look at how often it will be used and how much a permanent ramp will cost in labor, material and landscape disruption.

Then I'd look at something like this platform lift for use in the garage.  Roughneck Ultra Low-Profile Lift Table Cart — 1,000-Lb. Capacity

The fire marshall would not like that solution.  I would worry about it too.  But then fires scare me.