need ramp advice-

Thanks, Jennifer. will check it out.

By the way, my brother & his family live on your side of the pond, in Maidenhead.

Al-

We tried a 6ft. ramp on 2 stairs- you must be "Evil Knievil"!
Jim said it was pretty scary- and, he wouldn't dare try it after some wine- frontwards or backwards!LOL

Decided to use a 6ft. for the patio (1 step), and since it folds twice can take it along with us if we need it somewhere. Not sure where we will go with the power chair; not many people we know have homes that can accomodate it. (spacing of furniture, doorways etc.)

As for the garage entrance, decided on building a 10ft. ramp with platform at the entry door. Price was just under what the roll-a-ramp would have been; and decided that the roll-a-ramp probably wouldn't work the way we first thought.

The ramp will run parallel to the wall & door, therefore not take up too much room.
Now, have to find a place for all the "stuff" that is along that wall. Does it ever end?!?

Re: Al-

mare said:

Does it ever end?!?

Click to expand...

I have not got to the end yet.

I needed 38 inches at back door and 41 inches at front door. Imagine the length of ramp for that. So , a new garage is being built to accomodate a porch lift into a new door in the kitchen.

The roll in shower is done , but need to widen the doorway to get a chair in.

Glen

Re: Al-

GlenBrittle said:

I...The roll in shower is done , but need to widen the doorway to get a chair in.
Glen

Click to expand...

If you have a wide enough wall to accommodate it, you might consider installing a sliding door instead of an oversize swinging door. I went that route and find it much more convenient than a swinger.

John-

Do you mean a pocket door? One that slides into the wall?

I thought of a pocket door , but the wall is not that thick.

So far , the walker is managing just fine. {{if I am careful}}

Glen

Glen-

Would even a shower/commode chair be too wide?

Let me start over.

I have a narrow hallway that a wheelchair can go down. But , being narrow , there is not must room to turn before entering the doorways.

My bathroom has lots of room , once you get in , there is lots of room for the chairs etc in the roll in shower. I have a commode chair in their right now. Its kinda comfy to just sit in the shower.

I have 3 doorways that will need to be widened , bedroom , bathroom , and office . I will be having the same contractor that is building my garage, make the changes.

Glen

OK, the fog is lifting! Fortunately, we only have to widen 1 doorway. The rest will work with off-set hinges.

You'd think we would have been smart enough when we bought our houses to realize we would need these things some day! LOL

Had I known this, I would have had a minor in architecture! GEEZ!

If only we could have seen that in our future. Wanda and I had just finished 3 years of renovations ourselves. Now we are starting over again. *sigh*

Wanda & Glen-

I feel your pain! Same thing with us. In 2007 we put in a new kitchen- the kitchen of my dreams! Went way over budget, but said "what the heck, we are only doing this once.
When we are 70ish we will move to a retirement community."

We are now ripping out some of that in order to accomodate the w/c! Oh well! Don't look back!

On a brighter note, Jim did get some great meals! (and, we had great parties) Not much cooking going on now- hoping to get back to it soon! My sons are hoping I get back to it soon as well. I overheard one of the boys saying "my mom is a great cook!" Nice to hear.
And, you know you are doing something right when they call you for a recipe!

Re: John-

mare said:

Do you mean a pocket door? One that slides into the wall?

Click to expand...

Yes. Mine is about 3' wide and being off a narrow hallway, it makes it very easy to make the turn. Actually the door is rarely closed even when in use unless we have visitors.

Glen, I think my wall is about average thickness, 4 3/4". The pocket door and track take up only 1 3/4". Could you steal an inch from the bathroom side of the wall to thicken it up a bit? Your contractor would know.

Update-

So, we finally have our ramp. We opted for a ramp built from "decking" material. The cost was equal to what we were looking into; and we decided that it needed to stay in place.
Ran it front to back, so didn't take up too much space; although we can't use that bay to park a car in. Luckily, we have a double car garage! But hey, the scooter needs a garage too!

So, to re-cap, 16' rise- we did a 10' ramp. This is a comfortable angle for Jim. (inspite of what Al says! He is a true dare-devil saying 6' is fine! LOL)
Now, inside we have a 12" rise in the sunken family room. We have a temporary ramp of 6' set up there. He can navigate this fine. However, last week he was going down this ramp & whoosh! I said, "What was that?" His answer, "One drink too many!" (he had 2 drinks!) So, we are considering an 8' ramp here!
I have posted pictures in an album for those who wish to see.

Again, just info for those looking into this process. Consider what works for you!