Build A Handicap Access Ramp -- Not Hard At All 

First off thank you for the comments everyone. I just want to clarify a few things. I apologize for using the title of handicap ramp as I am aware that this is not 1/12 pitch. The premise for the project was simply to give her much easier access in walking up to the door as she was very sick and could not navigate stairs. The idea of the video was more or less just a quick build ramp to ease the height increase and I just wanted to show how to whip up a ramp that would be sturdy and hold the test of time just fine. Also I know a lot of you commented on the door and I did address some of you. The storm door frame was removed so that it wouldn't be in the way and the wood entry door opens in and out of the way. I hope I could at least provide viewers with at least some pointers and tips on building any kind of ramp and thank you all for the comments and watching.

Your video is still helping people 2 years later. We made some adjustments to meet compliance, but used your technique to build. Really appreciate you doing this video. Thank You.

You did what you could with what you were given. The home owner can come home now. It's not to code but it suits her needs. That's what is important. Take care and God bless.

Nine work. Twenty-five years ago I built a ramp for my mother and now I need a ramp built for me to use.

Good point James. The storm door did in fact swing out and the wrong direction so I had to remove that. The wood door swings in and was in the perfect direction so it all worked out. If they do want to add a storm door we can just put on a new one that swings the right way, not a big deal

Hi Tommy Boy, thank you for this lesson. I've watched many of videos on how to build a WC ramp and I've hired several people that did it wrong. Today I will take it apart again and this time I hope to complete it myself. with what I have learned from your video. You have explained it the best. Many thanks, Cheryl.

Great job. Thanks for sharing and for helping out the homeowner.

Thanks for helping someone in need I now know how to cut my runners with just a level and pencil . Great video thanks for shareing.

This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much for posting this. Now I need to calculate my materials. Mine will be approximately 25 foot with a 29 inch rise (Non ADA Compliant). ~~~~~~~~ Again, thank you for a great video!~~~~~~~~

great work. i thankfully learned (w/ the help of this videos and others) to avoid lag bolts and instead to use carrier bolts.

Good job, and good in ya. It's so much better than what was there before. I'm gonna have to do this for my folks and don't have enough time or money for a 1/12 pitch. This is not commercial/ government standard construction. It's just doing your best to help someone.

Thanks for the vid. I’m going to use it to build my church access for the elder and disabled folk 😁

Awesome exactly what I needed. And good call with those carriage bolts cheers

I'm thinking of building one for my nephew. Ramp needs to be at least 2 ft. Height. Thanks for this video.

Good job man that’s a pretty nice way to build a ramp, given that there was already a concrete porch existing

I'm glad you addressed the storm door. Also, this is a killer dental asmr....

Thank you. Building one in a week for someone at church.

Thank you for showing how to trim the end of the board with a level. I've been wondering how to build a ramp for some stairs but have zero experience doing it. Was hoping you'd show how to notch the ramp to fit on the stairs.

Im needing a ramp myself. Figured i would watch so i could tell my neighbor to watch your vid.

Great video! Thank you for this!

Nice work, I need to make one for my dad, thanks

Excellent Carpentry for the Project at hand.

Perfect, I think the storm door will be an issue so I will take a hard look at that on my project.

A lot of great information. Thanks. Building one for a friend of mine here in Hawaii, and this answered some questions that I had.

Great video Job well done I’m going to build one for my sister. Thank you you

THAT LOOKS GREAT. IF I WAS IN A TALL HOUSE WITH A LOT OF STAIRS I WOULD HAVE TO GET SOMEONE OUT TO INSTALL A PERMANENT RAMP JUST LIKE YOURS. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO HAD A RAMP PUT IN A FEW YEARS AGO. I WAS THINKING OF THE WORD HANDLE BARS BUT THEY ARE CALLED RAILS I SEE.

Great Video....very helpful and nice work.

Great job

Thank you for the video.

Looks good, you should buy a lapel mic with a dead mouse cover to protect from the wind. And perhaps a tripod.

You made my day with the ending 🤣 Handy Crap Cap the ramp project

Amazing project I Love it!!!!! getting from Honduras, you have a subscriber ☝🏻

My thanks be to you for this video

Very nice.

Perfect video

great job

this is great. I need something 1:12 for my old dog, but with a little higher 'fence' on either side. A carpenter will likely add rug so she has traction. I'll ask him to make it wide enough for my eventual old age use too !!)

Very good handy work. I really wish I had this ability . Can you do a video for a 5ft step portable wheel chair ramp.

Wow!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Im actually going to build this for my dog 😊

I’ve got a video of a code and ADA-compliant ramp build on my channel. I definitely understand the circumstances here but that 1:12 pitch maximum is pretty important for a wheelchair user. Something this steep will definitely require a helper. Either way, I like the zest to get the job done helping someone out.

Hopefully you suggested to the customers to give a different storm door that way it opens to the left that way when they're coming up the ramp they can go ride in instead of having to go around past the door then open the storm door

thank you!

How do they open the door? It looks like it swings towards the ramp.

Nice job helped me in 2023

I noticed that the storm door is opening on the wrong side for your landing. I hope that that got fixed. Thanks for the video. I will be building a ramp for my brother. If I can get the funds together. Wood is so stinking expensive now.

Just what I was looking for. Thank you. Only think I would have done different is turn the door around so it opens the other way. Left to right instead of right to left. Unless that's a camera thing.

great work! this helps a lot- how much did that cost?

Hey we are using your video as a guide to build a ramp for my grandmaw. She has parkisons and has a really hard time relying on others and her walker to get her in and out of the house. Would you please share more of how you got the angle to notch out for the joist to fit over the stairs and be even with the platform you built?

It's a nice looking ramp. I like the way you added the lower handrail. I'm wondering why the 4x4 at the top doesn't go all the way down to the step or the cement. Thanks for the video.

Nice video-very helpful. How did you determine the cut out for your stringers where they attached to the porch? You explained how to determine the angle for where they connect to the ground. Thanks again for your video.

How far apart are the 4x4 supports? What is the total length of the ramp? I have to build a ramp for my wife. This is an awesome video to learn from. Thanks for posting.

Great job!!! Only problem is the volume.

Nice video. Thanks. Just thought that the ramp should have been off the other side of the stairs and done at a 90 degree from a platform/landing. A landing 1/2 or 1/3 of the way up might be beneficial for someone who has difficulty walking a distance. Could have extended it out to keep a walkable pitch. Also, the storm door could have remained. Granted the chosen location is closer to the garage if the current owner still drives. Future owner wont be able to utilize the second garage stall.

That was my thought exactly. "The Door"???can we say oops 😮😮😱😲🙄 otherwise nice build.👍

So are you going to change the way the door opens?

Very helpful! Thanks!

I especially like the lip along the sides

Love the design layout. But I wonder, due to the view in the video, how steeped is it?

I appreciate the insight on how to build a ramp I was looking at the door after you built the ramp. Wouldn’t that door swing open the wrong way

Very nice project. I like the rails.

Thanks for posting this - learned good tips. Did you mention 1” in 12” drop?

Outstanding. How much for materials total?

Yeah, the door opens back towards the ramp???

Too bad the door opening wasn't a left handle opening. Nice work

Great work . Are the 20 foot joists 2x4 or 2x6? Thank you

how much did you spend on materials

Enjoyed vid but a question. Did you have the porch end of the joist already cut when you used the level to cut the ground end of the joist? Thanks

Hi did you leave any gap between the planks because of the wood contraction and extraction

Please help me to design for the back yard wheelchair access? Thanks

This is a nice size ramp! What is the length and width of the ramp you built?

What can you use to make the ramp slip-proof for someone who walks up and down and does not use a wheelchair?

Tommy, did you attach the 4x4 post to the concrete? Hwo did you get the angle for the birds mouth and top angle?

Great, only no post protection where the timber sits on the ground so wood rot is inevitable. No paint or joist protection either.

I'm building one soon here average cost of materials? How many hours to build it two men on average

what's the grade? How do i figure the angle of the 2"x 6" at the top?

Without a dought one of the best videos on youtube! How far apart are the 3 stringers that the ramp sits on? And what is their dimension? Thanks

Are the posts at the bottom in the ground, or just sitting on the concrete? If the latter, does the rail wobble?

What lumber did you use for the decking

Do you have a list of materials used to make this. Just the ramp part. I dont need the riser though.

Nice ramp but it looks way too steep. An ADA ramp is for every inch you rise you need 1 foot out. This would mean that you really needed to go down and turn with a level landing. The ramp needs to be a minim of 36 inches wide and if I was you I would of built the ramp all the way out to the original railing. It looks like you sort of blocked off that big pad of driveway on the other side of the ramp plus if a vehicle was to want to park in that garage that makes that more difficult without someone not hitting the end of the ramp. Since that front porch had two sets of steps I would of built the ramp off the other set of steps and wrapped the ramp around the front of the porch and but some flowers or a water feature between the original porch and the ramp leading to the edge of the driveway. On the porch level it looked like a drop off between the new platform and the original railing. If a wheelchair ever needed to get in the front door and it turned the caster wheels have a good chance to go off between the railing and the platform. That extra space is so important especially when making that turn.

Awesome. Just curious whats the "code" for the drop on the ramp? It looks like shes gonna sail down super fast lol. I wanna make one too but I need to get the " codes" first from our township.

Do you cut the angle for joist before I cut at bottom???

How did you calculate the notches for the stringers?

Hey brother thank you for the video I just wanted to know real quick about how much did that ramp and railing in a costume and would not labor included because I’ll be doing it haha😅🤘

Hello what size boards did you use for the decking?

any description on the lumber material???

If I'm doing one with balusters, how do I figure the decrease in baluster height? As in how much to take off each one going down?

I used the same wood and in two years my wheelchair went through the deck!!, Should've i used real PT pressure treated wood ,and also i noticed your not using Galvanized nails.Treat lumber will rot those nail Hmmm!

As another’s have said the front door swings out so the wheelchair user would not be able to get into the house . Solution !.......make the flat platform in front of the door longer and box over the steps, so the wheelchair user can pass the door spin back and enter the house 👍🏻👍🏻

How do they get in an out of the door with the wheel chair? Should the door swing open the other way?

Hey tommy boy I’m doing a very similar Project for a neighbor. My question is does it matter which end do you start with first? Should you start at the bottom of the ramp and cut the angle there first or start at the top and get you 2x6 notched over the step first.

Chec the door. D s the problen ?

What kind of nails are you using? Is that a framing nailer? Great video!

One little problem. The way the front door opens, it will sweep the wheelchair right off the porch.

Discuss how you figure the notches. That part was skipped and it’s critical. Thanks

How do you figure the rise? Our slope is approx 30"?

What was the pitch for this build? I need to build my dad a ramp and it has a 36” rise with 20 ft of run so I’m trying to gauge how steep it will be

Great video but one flaw. Not cutting you down just some constructive awareness. Once the wheel chair is at the top how do you open the screen door without interference? Looks like the wheel chair and screen door will clash.

good video not quite done yet but I'd like to point out that the screws used for the Samson ties for the ramp risers but not just screws they're structural screws you should have pointed that out because will not pass code if you just use regular screws because the sheer value not enough with regular deck screws or wood screws.