Choosing a Ramp for Your Single Family Home, Part 1

Hello, and welcome back.

In our previous segment, we introduced the question of how to choose the best ramp to fit your needs, and because of its complexity, we decided to write a seven part series that will review detailed information to better help your decision.

Location and Purpose of Your Ramp

In this segment, we will address the ramps use or purpose, and its location within the home or building.

What does that mean?  Good question.  If the ramp will solely be used for a front, side or rear door entrance, we would recommend a portable suitcase ramp.  We carry this type of ramp in six different styles, with ramp lengths from 2 feet to 12 feet in length.

Ramps Compatible with Vehicles

There is another application for using portable ramps and it entails vehicles, specifically SUVs and vans.  Most of our suitcase ramps have a lip on one or both ends of the ramp, allowing for easier changeover from ramp to surface.  For vehicles such as a Jeep or similar, getting a wheelchair into its truck becomes a bit more difficult with the higher bumper.  To overcome this, a top lip extension (or TLE) can be attached to certain suitcase ramps extending the standard 3” lip to 9”, allowing easier loading and unloading of a wheelchair.

If, however the ramp will be utilized at a doorway where there is a ½” to 3” difference between levels a different type of ramp should be used.  This type of ramp is called a threshold ramp, and it’s designed specifically for an area such as a garage or sliding door leading to a patio where a suitcase ramp would be too large and bulky for its space.  Due to their compact size, threshold ramps cannot and should not be used to get over stairs.

We Want to Hear from You

If at any point a question pops in your head about something we’ve covered, please do not hesitate to contact us.  The biggest reason an unsatisfied customer returns a ramp is because it was the wrong length.  We don’t want that to happen to you.  This is why we created this tutorial because we believe that the best customer is an educated customer.