Ramping up
Apr. 29th, 2022 06:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
offcntrLess than a week before Denise's knee surgery. The living/dining room, hall and kitchen are mostly cleared. Still working on the bathroom with the walk-in shower, rather than the tub, and she's picking up meds--what she can, Walgreens seems to be out of oxycodone--trying to arrange for physical therapist, and plotting out schedule of pre-surgery prep--showers, anti-microbial wipes, nose swabs. Wondering how to explain to the cats that they can't sleep on the bed with us Tuesday night. And dreading the 5 am check-in on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, I've been building ramps.
I researched on-line, and found that a standard, ADA-compliant ramp has a rise of no more than one inch per foot, so our three-step front porch would have required a monster, with switchbacks. The side door, where I already had a home-brew ramp for moving clay into the studio, was only eight inches high. Crowded, though, ware boards and tool storage and the slab roller cart. In addition, there's another four-inch step in the hallway, just outside the kitchen door.
So again, I had to start by moving a bunch of stuff. My power tools are currently all in pottery totes, piled up in the studio, and I'll have to do some serious reorganizing before I can make pots again, but for now, there's a navigable path. All it needs are ramps.
And here they are! An eight-foot, straight-line ramp from the studio door that'll be a permanent feature--much easier to roll in clay--and a four-foot ramp in the hallway that'll probably come out once Denise can manage steps again. Special thanks to Jack Craven, husband of Saturday Market jeweler Teri, for design help and tool borrowing. I'd never heard of textured porch and deck paint, and he helped me figure out how to cut 2x8s on the diagonal to make the supports. Also loaned me his SkilSaw, after I'd made a perfect cut, only to discover that mine only cut three-quarters of the way through the board.
Also thanks to Jerrys, for the supplies. Two eight-foot 2x8s, three eight-foot 2x3s (for curbs), a 4x8' sheet of 3/4" shop sanded plywood, conveniently cut into three pieces, two 33" wide for the big ramp, one 30" for the smaller one. And the paint, $39 for a gallon--and that's cheap. Had I been building an ADA-approved ramp for a business, I'd have had to use the $149/gallon stuff, with about eight steps in the application process. As it was, I paid just under $140 for everything, though I sourced all the screws and a couple of short lengths of 2x4 from around the house.
I still need to paint the walking surface of the small ramp, and sometime this summer, I'll flip over the big one and give it a good coating of paint, for long-term waterproofing, but for tonight, I can check this off the list and go back to getting ready for Saturday Market tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I've been building ramps.
I researched on-line, and found that a standard, ADA-compliant ramp has a rise of no more than one inch per foot, so our three-step front porch would have required a monster, with switchbacks. The side door, where I already had a home-brew ramp for moving clay into the studio, was only eight inches high. Crowded, though, ware boards and tool storage and the slab roller cart. In addition, there's another four-inch step in the hallway, just outside the kitchen door.
So again, I had to start by moving a bunch of stuff. My power tools are currently all in pottery totes, piled up in the studio, and I'll have to do some serious reorganizing before I can make pots again, but for now, there's a navigable path. All it needs are ramps.
And here they are! An eight-foot, straight-line ramp from the studio door that'll be a permanent feature--much easier to roll in clay--and a four-foot ramp in the hallway that'll probably come out once Denise can manage steps again. Special thanks to Jack Craven, husband of Saturday Market jeweler Teri, for design help and tool borrowing. I'd never heard of textured porch and deck paint, and he helped me figure out how to cut 2x8s on the diagonal to make the supports. Also loaned me his SkilSaw, after I'd made a perfect cut, only to discover that mine only cut three-quarters of the way through the board.
Also thanks to Jerrys, for the supplies. Two eight-foot 2x8s, three eight-foot 2x3s (for curbs), a 4x8' sheet of 3/4" shop sanded plywood, conveniently cut into three pieces, two 33" wide for the big ramp, one 30" for the smaller one. And the paint, $39 for a gallon--and that's cheap. Had I been building an ADA-approved ramp for a business, I'd have had to use the $149/gallon stuff, with about eight steps in the application process. As it was, I paid just under $140 for everything, though I sourced all the screws and a couple of short lengths of 2x4 from around the house.
I still need to paint the walking surface of the small ramp, and sometime this summer, I'll flip over the big one and give it a good coating of paint, for long-term waterproofing, but for tonight, I can check this off the list and go back to getting ready for Saturday Market tomorrow.