Wooden Wheelchair Ramp Building and Seven Things You Must Know

I have recently noticed a great deal of interest in information on building wooden wheelchair ramps. While I recently wrote an article that covered the building of concrete ramps here at my own residence. I thought I would cover building a wooden wheelchair ramp. I have in the past built several wooden ramps.

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Wooden ramps come in a wide range of sizes and materials. So we will cover the general rules you must follow in order to build a sturdy and most importantly safe wooden wheelchair ramp. I say most of all safe because I have seen and even used some wooden ramps that to my mind were more dangerous than not having a ramp. There are seven thing you must know in order to build a safe and sturdy wooden ramp.

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1. Do I really need a wooden ramp here or would something else be better?

2. Remember the rules of ramp building. Your angle is 1:2 or 1" rise = 12" run, every 30" rise a landing of 60" long. Avoid long runs break them up if you can.

3. Materials must pressure treated or rated for outdoor use. Use stainless steel or galvanized carriage bolts and screws. You'll round footing forms and post brackets as well.

4. The tools you will need are very basic. You will need a hand saw or circular saw. A drill with a 1/2" bit to drill holes for the carriage bolts. A ratchet to tighten the nuts. A tape measure, a carpenters square, level, and cordless drill driver are other tools you will need. You will also need a post hole digger and a shovel.

5. Any structure is only as good as it's foundation. So we take special care with the footings of our wheelchair ramp. They should be place every six feet forming a 6' x 4' rectangle with a post bracket embedded in the top.

6. Don't make it too steep. Always check your angle and use the ratio. If it is too steep the user won't make it up.

7. Put it together right! Use screws for the decking and nuts and bolts at all the joints. Think of the ramp as a bridge for a wheelchair and build it as such. Don't just nail it together.

As we can see building a wooden wheelchair ramp is not a simple undertaking. It is however within the skill level of the average do-it-yourself builder. And while I wrote an article covering the building of a concrete ramp it was a rather simple threshold ramp you would encounter in typical slab construction home. I would not however recommend a concrete ramp project of the scale I have just described for the do-it-yourself builder unless you have prior experience with concrete projects of this scale.

Wooden Wheelchair Ramp Building and Seven Things You Must Know

My name is Gary M Renick and I am a 55 year old retired engineer. I have be handicapped since the age of three when I was stricken by polio. I have spent the last 37 years confined to a wheelchair. The last five in a power chair as I now suffer from Post Polio Syndrome. My experience as a wheelchair user helps me to write about accessibility problems and solutions. My blog is called "Ask Gary ADA" and it deals with answers to accessibility problems and other handicap issues and changing government policy. You can visit my site at http://www.askgaryada.com

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Building an AR-15 - Lower Receiver

Lately, I had taken up a growing interest in firearms and decided to purchase an AR-15. I'm kind of a cheap-o, so I went with the DIY route. Basically, the AR-15 is divided up into two parts - the lower and upper receivers.

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The lower receiver is made up of 3 main items:

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1) Stripped lower receiver - basically a hunk of metal with holes and openings, no moving parts
2) Lower Parts Kit (LPK) - contains all the parts you'll need to complete the lower and assemble the trigger, trigger guard, hammer, magazine catch, and bolt catch
3) Stock - these all vary in styles, from fixed A2 style to 6 position collapsible stocks

I found my DPMS stripped lower receiver at a local gunshow. I would strongly recommend that you check out a gun show before ordering online/locally. Usually, there are some decent deals around and you won't have to pay the FFL transfer fee as you would if you bought it online. By the way, the only part that is regulated by the government is the stripped lower receiver. This means that background checks and laws apply to lower receivers the same way they apply to fully completed rifles, pistols, etc. On the plus side, once you have the stripped lower receiver, you can order/buy all the other parts without any hassle and have them shipped directly to your door.

For the lower parts kit and stock, I went with DPMS. This was because I got a good deal at SportsmansGuide.com on the parts and I was trying to keep things as cheap as possible. I ended up paying shipped for the LPK and shipped on the 6 position stock.

Putting the lower receiver together is not very difficult, but it can get frustrating at times. I used this guide from the AR15.com forums from start to finish. I recommend that you print out the guide first, lay your parts out as shown in the diagram, then begin assembling the lower. No special tools are needed, however, you will want to have some punches to punch in the roll pins. You can just get the standard pin punches, no need for specialized roll pin punches if you want to save some cash.

I started putting together the lower without any punches, but when it came time to punch down the trigger guard roll pin, I was wishing I had one. Trying to improvise, I used my Swiss Army multifunction tool to hammer in the pin. After at least 15 minutes, I had finally gotten the pin in, but left the trigger guard all scratched up from my barbaric hammering. Not only that, but when you have to drive the bolt catch roll pin in, you will wish you had a punch. There is not enough clearance between the pin and the rifle to McGuyver something to drive the pin; you must use a punch!

Other than that, the rest of the process went fine. Only thing is, I'll need a CAR wrench to tighten down the stock, but it should be too big of an issue.

Building an AR-15 - Lower Receiver

Visit http://www.IsYouGeekedUp.com for more info.

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Tips For Chicken Coop Building Plans

Before you actually sit down and construct a home for your chickens, it's a very good idea to have a set of chicken coop building plans that you've either made yourself or received from a reputable source.

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Here is a list of commonly used materials:

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* 2" x 4" planks. These make great planks for making sturdy walls for your coop to keep predators out, and can also serve as roosts for your birds to sleep on. 2" x 2" planks or thick wooden dowels are also good materials to use for roosting.

* Large sheets of plywood or some other similarly weighted wood. These sheets makes excellent floors, ceilings, and can serve as the basic layer for the walls of your coop. However, it is not a good idea to have them as the only thing in your walls, because they are not particularly sturdy and may not be predator-proof.

* Chicken wire or a similar commercial-grade wire. You will need a lot of this, as it will keep your chicken run enclosed and safe from any wild animals that might wish to harm your birds. However, make sure that the holes are not large enough for your chickens to escape from! Chicken wire does not make a good wall for the coop itself, as birds like to have something to hide in and feel safe.

Of course, you will also need nails, and other common construction materials to actually put your chicken coop building plans into action, as well as any paint that you want for cosmetic purposes. Make sure you don't paint the inside of your coop though, nor finish it with anything that will be harmful to your birds. A natural (unfinished) surface is better to avoid having your chickens accidentally inhale chemicals from finished woods. Painting the outside is okay.

After you have a good workable set of chicken coop building plans, you'll want to go about procuring the materials to use when actually building it. Hardware stores like Lowes or Home Improvement are obviously a great place to start looking. Make sure you know exactly how much you need of each material before you go shopping around, as this will save you time and keep your expenses low. If you're not sure how to figure out what you'll need, make an educated estimate.

But don't feel that you absolutely have to go to a commercial store to get your materials. In many cases, it's possible to build a coop entirely for free. That's right, free! How you do this is by looking around at garbage dumps, furniture stores, or on the sides of the street after people have put out their garbage. People will often throw out perfectly good construction materials that you can use to complete your chicken coop building plans.

In addition, you can often make parts of your chicken coops out of discarded furniture or other items. Old lockers can make great nesting boxes, since they are already the right size. Just make sure, again, to remove any paint from their insides, or to cover the metal up with wood inside in addition to bedding material. Other great "second-hand coop" materials include chests of drawers for nesting boxes, wooden clothes hangers for roosts, and cat doors for easy entry flaps. You're limited only by your imagination and the sturdiness of the materials.

Tips For Chicken Coop Building Plans

Kor Rassad is a chicken coop enthusiast. For more great tips and advice on chicken coop designs, visit http://www.chickencoopadvice.com.

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How to Hire the Right Building Contractor for Your Home Remodeling Project

Finding and hiring the right home remodeling contractor for your home remodeling project can be daunting and confusing. You can easily search the web or look in the yellow pages and find many home remodeling contractors listed in your area but the question remains - which one do you hire for your home remodeling project. Which one will perform quality work, charge a fair price and get the job done on time.

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To reduce the risk of hiring the wrong home remodeling contractor you should first do a little preparation yourself for the home remodeling project. Sketch out and write down what you want remodeled. Provide a copy of this information to each prospective home remodeling contractor as this will help to minimize misunderstandings of requirements.

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If you are adding a home addition, use stakes and string or even spray paint and mark the area on the existing lawn/ground.

Next talk to your local building inspector to understand what permits and building requirements are necessary for your home remodeling project.

Visit home improvement centers such as Lowes and Home Depot, and look at materials expected to be used on your project (e.g. lumber, doors, windows, appliances, countertops, roofing material, etc.). Make note of their costs so you will be able to compare material costs proposed by prospective contractors. While visting home improvement centers also talk with some of the employees about costs and lead times for particular products of interest. For example, there are many types of doors and windows and frequently there can be significant lead times for deliveries.

When you start calling prospective contracts ask for references and previous work that you can visit.

Finally, make sure you get multiple quotes and make sure that they are in writing. Also ask how long the quotaion is vaild.

For further help in hiring a home remodeling contractor for your next home remodeling project visit HomeAdditionPlus' Home Addition Bid Sheets. Home Addition Bid Sheets include the tools and information you need to ensure you hire the right home remodeling contractor for you home remodeling project. Each bid sheet contains a comprehensive checklist of questions to ask prospective contractors, as well as cost and timeframe estimates. Home Addition Bid Sheets help ensure that your home remodeling project will be accomplished on time and on budget.

How to Hire the Right Building Contractor for Your Home Remodeling Project

Over the past 20+ years Mark Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. For more home improvement information visit http://www.homeadditionplus.com and http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com.

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Building A Dog House - Is It An Easy Task?

If you decided to have a dog house for Fido, remember that not every dog owner has the time or skills to design and build a dog house from scratch. Assistance abounds for people who want to build a special home for their pet, but who have one or both of these limitations.

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Doing a keyword search on the Internet will reveal many sources for dog house blueprints, or woodworking plans for dog house designs. These special plans can range from simple box-like structures to custom-designed dog mansions that rival the homes of the highest-paid celebrities. Many times, free dog house blueprints are also available to download from the internet, you just have to do some researches.

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For those dog owners who have neither the skill to design a workable dog house or to build one on their own, "build it yourself" dog house kits are also available, both online and from a variety of retail sources. These house building kits may be available at pet supply stores, feed stores, or building supply stores in your area. Most of these "do it yourself" kits are designed to be as simple as possible, while still providing adequate shelter for your dog.

The primary advantage to build it yourself dog house kits is that they gather all of the materials that you will need together and put them into a single, organized pack. There is a far smaller possibility that the cut pieces will not fit together or that the connectors will not hold them in place because they have all been designed to work together as a complete unit.

A second advantage is that it is time saving, reducing the amount time required compared to traditional building. As the wood has already been cut and, frequently, all the parts have been marked with numbers or letters intended to guide you through the construction. In some kits, the pieces even have pre-drilled guide holes drilled at the proper connection points.

Build it yourself dog house kits are relatively easy to put together within a relatively short time. From opening the box to sorting out the parts to fastening on the roof the average dog house kit may take as little as two or three hours to put together, even for the architecturally challenged. Once the house is together it is up to you to customize the house for your own dog, through an attractive paint job, shutters, or other accessories.

The cost of a build it yourself dog house kit is somewhat more than that of buying a dog house from a department store or pet supply store. It also costs only about a quarter of the amount that a professional carpenter might charge for building a similar house. If you are willing to invest a few hours of relatively pain-free craftwork, you may be able to save hundreds of dollars for a similar result.

Building A Dog House - Is It An Easy Task?

Moses Wright is the webmaster of Dog Habitat Home. More useful guide on Dog House and Dog Door can be found online at his website. You are welcome to reprint this article if the content and live links are keep intact.

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