The rise decides everything - measure it before you call anyone

What is wheelchair ramp installation?

Wheelchair ramp installation means building a sloped, guarded route from ground level up to an entrance so someone using a wheelchair, a scooter, a walker or a rollator can get in and out without stairs. The whole job is driven by one number: the rise, the vertical distance from the ground to the top of the threshold. Gentler slopes are safer and easier to self-propel, and a gentler slope means a longer ramp - so as the rise grows, the space the ramp needs grows faster than most people expect, once level landings are added at the top, at the bottom and at every turn.

Signs you need wheelchair ramp installation

• Someone is coming home from hospital or rehab and there are steps between the car and the front door
• A wheelchair or scooter has arrived in the house and there is currently no way to get it out of the house
• A family member is being lifted or bumped up the steps by hand, which is unsafe for both people
• The front steps have become the reason someone declines invitations, appointments or a walk outside
• A walker or rollator gets carried up the steps separately, so the person climbs unaided at the exact moment they are least steady
• Emergency responders would have no straightforward way to bring a stretcher or chair out of the house
• A condition is progressing and the household would rather build once, ahead of the need, than improvise later

Seeing something not on this list? Browse wheelchair ramps problems by symptom →

How wheelchair ramp installation actually works

1. 1

   Measure the rise at every possible entrance, not just the front door

   Rest a straight board on the top of the threshold, run it out level, and measure straight down to solid ground. Do this at the front door, the back door, the garage and any side door. The numbers are often very different, and the door with the smallest rise is frequently not the one anyone had in mind.

   Watch forMeasuring to grass or to a soft flowerbed rather than to the finished ground the ramp will actually sit on. A few inches of error at the bottom changes the length and the landing.

2. 2

   Decide which entrance the ramp should serve

   The right entrance is the one that combines the lowest rise, the most room to run the ramp, a door wide enough to pass through, a place to put a level landing outside it, and a route indoors that does not immediately hit a narrow hallway or a step down into a sunken room.

   Watch forA ramp designed to the front door for appearance reasons when the garage or a side door has half the rise and a driveway already at the right height. Ask the contractor to price both.

3. 3

   A site visit that looks at the ground, not just the steps

   The slope of the yard, where water runs, where the downspout discharges, where the gas meter and the utility connections sit, where the septic field is, and how far the run can extend before it reaches a fence, a driveway or a property line. All of this constrains the design before any product is chosen.

   Watch forA quote produced from photographs. Photos flatten grade, and grade is the thing that decides whether a straight run works or you need a turn.

4. 4

   Design to the slope your jurisdiction requires - and get that in writing

   Maximum slope, landing sizes, ramp width, handrails and edge protection are governed by published accessibility standards and by your local building code. Residential requirements often differ from those for public and commercial buildings, and both vary by jurisdiction. Your contractor should tell you plainly which standard they are designing to.

   Watch forA verbal "it will be to code". Ask for the standard named on the quote. If nobody will name it, that is your answer about how the job will be built.

5. 5

   Establish whether a permit and an inspection apply

   Some jurisdictions require a permit for a ramp, some exempt residential accessibility work, and some treat a ramp attached to the house differently from a freestanding one. Whoever builds it should know, and should be the one who files. A permitted, inspected ramp also protects you when you sell.

   Watch forA contractor who offers to skip the permit to save time. That decision transfers all the risk to you and to the person who will use the ramp every day.

6. 6

   Choose the material and the delivery model

   Site-built timber, prefabricated aluminium, a bolt-together modular system that can be rented, or poured concrete. This is genuinely four different decisions about permanence, speed, upkeep and what happens when the need changes - not four prices for the same object.

   Watch forBeing sold the material the contractor happens to stock. A company that only builds in one material will always find that one material is right for you.

7. 7

   Foundation, frame and surface

   Depending on material this is footings dug below the frost line, screw piles, adjustable ground pads or a prepared gravel base. The frame goes on next, then the walking surface, then handrails and edge protection. The surface has to stay usable when it is wet, iced or covered in leaves.

   Watch forSupport posts sitting directly on the soil or on a paving slab laid on grass. That is how a ramp develops a sag and a lip at the landing within a couple of winters.

8. 8

   Handover - with the person who will actually use it

   Before the crew leaves, the person using the ramp should go up and down it in their own chair, in their own shoes, with their own hands on the rails. A carer should push it too if that is how it will be used. Wet it down if you can.

   Watch forA handover done with an empty chair or with an able-bodied installer walking up it. A slope that a walking installer calls gentle can be unmanageable to self-propel.

What does wheelchair ramp installation cost?

Ramps are priced by the rise you need to climb and the material you build in, because the rise sets the length and the length sets nearly everything else. A single step and a high porch on a tight lot are not the same project. The Cost Guide carries ranges by material and configuration.

See the full wheelchair ramp installation cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →