Ever since Mum got out of hospital I’ve noticed that the transition from the garage floor to the ramp was really not very safe. The way the ramp went out from the door into the house straight down to the garage floor meant that Mum was having to navigate around the side of the ramp instead of come straight up. Also, when using the wheelchair there was no way to go down the ramp to the car, because the ramp leads straight across the front of the car. I had to take the car out of the garage and then wheel Mum down the ramp into the empty garage.
I decided to change it. I bought some 12mm plywood and rummaged around for some timber. Luckily I still had some 90×45 treated pine that I found in the ceiling and another length of 90×45 of a different kind. My plan was to build a level platform extending from the door into the garage and then have the ramp coming off it, parallel to the car so that Mum can access the car without having to navigate the edge of the ramp.
I unscrewed the ramp and rotated it 90° but positioned it further into the garage. Now I needed to build a platform. The ramp was physically connected to the house by a length of 90×45 that had had the top angled to match the slope of the ramp. I unscrewed that and put it with the ramp. Then I began figuring out the design of the level platform. It was a little complex because of the door jambs and getting the plywood sized so that the existing ramp could be made to mate with it.
I cut a new mating piece to join the new platform to the rest of the house and then laid out the rest of the pieces of timber according to the positions dictated by the geometry I had to work with. Once I’d figured out the timber sizes, I screwed them together and cut the plywood to size, using the original ramp as a dimensioning guide. That being done, I laid the plywood in place over the timbers and checked it for fit. It was just a bit high so I dismantled everything and took off a mm or so from the timbers. Then I drilled and screwed the most important timber in place: the piece along the side of the platform where the ramp would be screwed. I took the half assembled platform to the work table and finished drilling and screwing the plywood down.
Once the platform was mechanically complete I put it into place and screwed it to the mating timber, fixing it to the house. Then I did the same with the ramp, first attaching the mating timber to the side of the platform and then attaching the ramp. This all went quite well but there are a few gaps between the pieces of plywood that I would have preferred were not there but they will not affect the use of the ramp.
The last thing was to sand and begin finishing the new plywood. It still needs a few more coats but the job is largely done. The only other thing is that I might add a grab rail next to the door for added safety.
The new arrangement seems much safer. Getting into or out of the car means the passenger can now naturally access the foot of the ramp and go straight up onto the level platform and then turn into the house, or vice versa. It will make trying to use the drill press and the other tools on the workbench right there a little bit more awkward but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.