Before you go about selecting or purchasing a threshold ramp, do yourself a favor – take 5 minutes and measure the three critical dimensions needed for a successful threshold ramp purchase and installation.
Remember, a threshold ramp is generally considered appropriate for a single step, or rise of up to 9 inches. If you’re looking for a ramp that covers multiple steps, you’ll need a different, longer type of ramp.
Selecting Dimensions for a Threshold Ramps
We have created the guide below to help you determine the correct dimensions for the ADA-compliant threshold ramp that you will need.
Here’s the Handi-Ramp guide for the three things you should measure before you purchase a threshold ramp.
The first measurement to take is the rise in inches from the walking surface to the top of the door’s threshold, landing, or step where the ramp will be used. Measure the height of the rise on each end of the threshold. It’s important to measure the rise on both sides of the entry to understand if there is a variation in height at the corners. If one side is higher than the other, we’ll need to select a style of ramp that can accommodate a slight variance in rise.
For sliding door threshold ramps: You must measure the rise on both the inside and the outside of the door threshold. The indoor and outdoor measurements are most often different from each other.
The second measurement needed is the width of the door or entry. Threshold ramps come in standard widths of 32 and 36 inches which correspond with most door openings. However, every situation is different and if you’ve got an especially wide sliding door, or something just a bit smaller than 32 inches, that dimension will determine the width of the ramp needed. If measuring for a sliding door, be sure to measure how wide the door opens, and not the width of the door threshold overall.
The higher the rise that must be accommodated, the longer the threshold ramp that is required. For an inch or less of rise, you’ll only need a threshold ramp that extends a foot or so onto the walking surface. However, if your rise is 4 inches, you may need two feet of space for the gradual, safe incline of the ramp.
What if you’ve got a walking surface that meets a landing at an angle? You need to understand how much space you have from the threshold to the end of the walking surface to know for sure if a longer ramp will fit in the required space.
