Got the Handicap ramp permit Friday

The head of the County building department was very helpful.  He knew the reason for the ramp, and actually helped us with an alternative design which will save us about $500.  I have no love loss for permitting, but he really did help us.  We have set a one inch drop for each foot of ramp.  The door is a little over two feet drop to the ground so we needed to have a 24 foot template.  We took 2 2 x 6 treated and bolted them together to make 23 1/2 boards.  We made three supports and then took a jig saw and at five feet cut an angle of descent to one inch.  We then set joist hanger after drilling in a level header board bolted to the concrete steps.  We have hung the ramp and are now putting supports on the full 23 1/2 ramp.....technically we are out of compliance by 1/2 inch but I could solve that by simple cutting three quarter inch treated plywood and put indoor/outdoor carpet on top and then put a threshold to the blacktop.

We should this completed by next weekend, but will be taking a trip mid week to Galena, so I will miss some work this week to get it done.  The handrails will be standard spindle with nothing fancy, but I would like to put treated plywood and apply real stone on a masonry grid which will give it a nice finished look.....that will cost another $500, but it will look much sharper.  My wife is doing 90% of the work now and is actually doing a great job as we go very slowly.   I get about 10 minutes of work now and twenty minutes of rest, but we really got a great deal done this afternoon and still had time to take the dog into the river to swim. 

I probably will be limited in what I can photograph, but I will try to post something later this week.

Your story brings to mind the father of a very good friend of mine.   A self-taught automotive mechanic and welder, Mr Oscar opened his own shop in the late 40's after WWII.   He built his auto repair/welding shop himself - two story with a residence above where he & his wife raised a family of 3 children (all of whom are now relatively successful.)   In the 1970's he began to become disabled (blindness & cancer) & difficult to use the long stairs going from the shop up to the residence.   So what did he do?    Built himself an elevator.   No permits necessary in that area of the country.   Mr Oscar is now deceased but his widow is now in her 90's & disabled herself.   That elevator is still in operation today, requiring only periodic routine maintenance by one of the sons who lives nearby.  

Now, no doubt some city "inspector" today would find a hundred "violations" with the way that elevator is built, but it's never been a problem & Mr Oscar's elevator is still working fine, nobody's ever been injured on it .... and it was all built with zero "permits."

I'll leave further commentary on that (as contrasted with your experience building a simple handicap ramp) to the rest of the board.

Just curious ... you speak to saving $500 here & $500 there.  How much is this whole thing costing you?  

I've built quite a few things myself, & finding it hard to figure how one would spend more than $500 total in materials to build a wood constructed handicap ramp. (or maybe I'm just not clear on the entire scope of your project?)

Seaoat, this company sells all kinds of different ramps:

http://www.discountramps.com/

I have purchased products from this company for a family member who is mobility-challenged, and they have seen good use. One ramp is now 13 years old and has held up well.

If your strength and mobility are being challenged because of your illness, there are a host of products available that can help you. The key is recognizing that there is a problem, and accepting it. You wage a "fighting retreat" from your physical abilities. When you can no longer do something safely, you find a different way of doing it, using adaptive equipment, if necessary. When it is no longer safe period, you stop doing the activity and move on.

Make sure the ramp you built has a hand rail. If walking is becoming a challenge, do not be ashamed to start using a walking stick, or even a walker. I can also suggest a model of walker to you that is basic, works well, and folds up to stay out of the way when not in use. Fall prevention is paramount when walking becomes hard.

If you have difficulty getting up and down from seats (this comes with walking difficulties, especially as the thigh muscles weaken), I can give you some secrets here, too.

The original deck design had an eight by forty deck with a zig zag handicap ramp which went 12 feet in front of the house.   The material to cover and build the same would have been $500 more than simply not building the large deck the entire forty foot length and make a smaller 8 x 12 deck by the other door.  The other design had handicap ramp to BOTH doors.  This one has a 24 foot single ramp which only can go to the front door.  I will be relocating to the middle bedroom as I decline and will be using the front door so we did not see the need to spend an extra 500 bucks on material, and would rather face the front of the ramp with real stone under the deck boards which matches the flagpole stone.  The stone will cost us almost four hundred bucks.

We had a flood on the islands in 2012 which badly damaged a deck we had built that year.  We are reusing those deck boards for the ramp, and will be power washing them, and then probably dipping them in stain.  Our final coat will be a sand mix deck stain.  We will then take shingles which match the roof and nail them in strips on the deck boards to provide a gripping surface for the ice and snow.  My wife broke her tibia in March slipping on black ice and one of the disadvantages of sealing your blacktop up here is that on a warm day in March which in the evening drops below freezing a thin invisible ice forms on the surface.....very dangerous.

We will come in on this project reusing deckboards, masonry facing, and hand rail system at about $1,200.  I have built three handicap ramps and the one for my MIL was much more challenging.   We should be complete by Sunday.

Forget about putting shingles down, Seaoat. They will become a stub-and-trip hazard. Instead use a non-skid deck paint or stain. Here is an example:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sure-Step-1-gal-Anti-Slip-Acrylic-Latex-Interior-Exterior-Floor-and-Concrete-Paint-SU-0922/100672153

We are looking at metal decorative handrails which have images of fish......the suggested deck paint will be used but I have used the shingle method and 95% of the time it is not needed, but when you get snow and ice it is a lifesaver.  We did a demolition of the old stairs and deck to the other door, and we got into carpenter ants as the prior owner did not use treated lumber.  We are going to have to have the house treated now, so this actually has been a good thing.  The rot and infestation in that deck was incredible and this deck was built 20 years ago and who would not use treated lumber when it was readily available.

Exhausted but still moving forward.  It will be quite functional when complete.  I have to go to work today, but will start back Wed.

Your handrail idea is good, but there is a better solution to using roofing shingles to provide a non-skid surface on your ramp. What you need is adhesive non-skid floor tape (a solution if you do not want to paint a non-skid paint on it). Like here:

http://www.kofflersales.com/p/bath-shower-anti-slip-tape.asp?cid=23




You can get a 60 foot roll of 4 inch wide tape for around $50 at that site.

I remember non-skid tape and paint from my military service. The Sikorsky CH-53A/D was a large aircraft, with the rotor head being about 12 feet off the ground. You had to climb up on the aircraft to work on it and preflight the aircraft. The top of the helicopter was covered in non-skid tape and paint (in some spots) so you would have sure footing while climbing around up there.