To the right, you can see where we've already begun construction of our ramp: "hugging" the home's exterior wall on the driveway side of the building. We'll be constructing our wooden ramp directly over the original concrete steps leading to the side (kitchen) entrance of the home. The plateau of the ramp deck will be made as flush with the entry threshold as possible to assure an easy transition from the deck to the home's interior. The ramp itself will pitch toward the rear of the home, coming just past the end of the exterior wall. Regular stairs will access the ramp's deck from the end nearest to the front yard.

We've chosen to construct our ramp along side the home because the front face of the home does not allow enough room for a safe construction. For safety reasons (as well as to comply with building codes), a ramp must rise no more than one inch per foot of length, to prevent the ramp from being too steep. Fortunately, though the front yard proved too small to allow for this type of safe construction, the side just managed to fit the bill, providing enough space in the area leading back from the home's kitchen area entrance to construct a safely pitched ramp. The driveway proved wide enough that construction of a proper ramp would not impede vehicle access to the driveway nor to the garage. To the right, you can see some of the ground preparation steps that are taken in constructing our ramp. The underpinning is properly pitched and run completely into the ground, since the ramp itself should be as flush with the ground as possible at the base to assure an easy transition. The support beams at the side of the ramp may appear oddly tall now, but they will be cut to an appropriate height when the rails are installed. What may not be apparent is that these beams are sunk several feet into the ground and are packed in tightly with a cement compound to assure long lasting support and stability. When the underpinning and other support members in place, you can also see that we've begun laying down the slats for the ramp deck itself, starting at the top and moving down.

The ramp slats and railings have by now been constructed. As you can see, the ramp meets perfectly flush with the surface level of the concrete drive, and has been formed to fit with the curvature of the poured surface. A previously existing fence has been put back into position to serve as a border between the ramp and the actual back yard. The safety rails for the ramp itself have been constructed of the same materials as the ramp, with handrails set at heights convenient for users both seated and standing.

The Finished Project.

A more complete view of the finished ramp. As you can see, we've managed to take up as little space as possible while still providing a safe, useful access to the home. The placement of the standard stairs at the front allows for more traditional access to the ramp deck and kitchen door, and by keeping the deck shorter at the front, we have allowed for the continued usefulness of the home's dryer vent and hose attachment, both located forward of the ramp deck on this exterior wall. Also, we've still allowed for complete use of the driveway. And while we were at it, one more convenience came to mind...

The owner of this home is regularly taken out for rides in a van. To make her transfer into the van even simpler, we've installed a gate at the plateau of the ramp, which conveniently is at a good height to gain access to a van. The gate swings inward, allowing the van to pull right up to the side of the ramp, and is offset in such a way that the home's side door can be swung open at the same time, allowing a quick, seamless transfer from home to waiting van. It also makes returning home all that much simpler. Just goes to show that there's more than one way to use an access ramp to make a home accessible!