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building ada wooden ramps

12K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  SAW.co  
#1 ·
Time and time again I hassel with figuring materials on building a ramp. The ramps im building have a 5x5 landing then go out x amout of feet. I cant seem to grasp the concept of figuring the planks. Ive searched for calcjlators or apps even programs to speed up the process , but no luck. Any sugestions.
 
#10 ·
You mean something like this only different?

How far apart do you want to put your posts (meaning how much do you like digging holes), and what do you want to use for joists?, how high off the ground id your landing going to be.. Lots of questions, before anyone can give you any answers.
 

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#14 ·
deckman22 said:
I think to be ADA compliant you need the ramps to be 5' wide also, not 4' as Greg24K shows.
Ramps only need to be 40" here. Landings minimum 4' by 5' so someone can manipulate a wheelchair effectively. Most all wheelchairs are designed to fit through 35" or the typical 36" doorway.
 
#16 ·
deckman22 said:
Funny, the ADA ramps I start tomorrow the architect drew up everything 5' wide, thought that ADA rules were nationwide. All the ramps I put on school buildings here have always been 5' wide, but then everything in Texas is bigger. :laughing:

Especially the egos.. :whistling:

Id bet 6' would be better. All heck lets just spec 124' just to make it easy.

Good luck finding an inspector who knows what it's supposed to be.
 
#18 ·
If the accessible route makes a 180 degree turn around an element which is less than 48 inches wide, clear travel width shall be 42"
minimum when approaching the turn, 48 inches minimum at the turn and 42 inches minimum leaving the turn.
If you have a clear width at the turn which is 60 inches then this minimum compliance is not required and the minimum clear width of a ramp can be 36" min, 32" min after railing or kick plate... we always made it 42 if there is no room restriction and landing 60", again if there is no room restrictions.
 
#21 ·
I cant seem to grasp the concept of figuring the planks.
Figuring this out isn't even really construction related. This is one of those 5th grade arithmetic problems where you say:

1. I have a ramp that's 20 feet long.
2. My boards are 5½ inches wide.
3. 1 foot equals 12 inches.
4. My ramp is 240 inches long.
5. Divide that by 5.5
6. I need to make 44 planks.
7. Each uncut board is 12 feet long
8. For a 5 foot wide ramp I can get 2 planks out of each board.

The rest should be easy enough.
 
#24 ·
The way I figure decking is to take the total square footage and multiply by 2.25 this will give you the total lineal footage, when using 2x6 decking.
Then you can divide that by any length you want to use and know exactly what to purchase including 5% for wast of corse.

works for me every time:thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
As far as I knew, ADA ramp in a private home are not required....good suggestion but not required
From this webpage
http://www.eeoc.gov/index.cfm

Q. Does the ADA cover private apartments and private homes?
A. The ADA generally does not cover private residences. If, however, a place of public accommodation, such as a doctor's office or day care center, is located in a private residence, those portions of the residence used for that purpose are subject to the ADA's requirements.