Concrete ramps: pro or con?

April 4, 2007 12:06 PM

(Demolition Filter) Should I remove the large concrete ramp that leads to the back door of my new house?

I am buying a house (in Los Angeles) and the previous owners made a lot of accessibility changes. The most notable is a very large concrete ramp that runs up to the back door(s) of the house. The ramp is well made and looks pretty new but I have no need for it and it takes up quite a bit of space. It's also not very attractive and I think I would prefer a deck (the deck will not fit on top of the ramp -- it would block the doors).

I'm wondering: (1) if it will be very expensive to take out this concrete structure; and (2) whether this ramp adds or detracts value to the home.

posted by GIRLesq to home & garden (11 comments total)

Perhaps you could just remove enough of it so you can put the deck over it. Concrete is cheap.
posted by zeoslap at 12:18 PM on April 4, 2007

You can go ahead and remove the ramp, but as soon as you do, you're going to want to bring a piano in through that doorway, and wish you had a ramp right there...
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:24 PM on April 4, 2007

Demolishing concrete isn't hard, just labor intensive. If you can get away with only demolishing part of it and building the deck over the rest, that'll probably be the cheapest route.

But I do agree that once you get rid of it, you'll probably end up kicking yourself the next time you buy a couch / refrigerator / grand piano and have to haul it up the stairs instead.

I don't know what the market value of such an thing is (I suspect not too much, because the market is limited...although if the rest of the house is single-level, and it's the ramp that makes it into a really "accessible home," it might be -- there are a lot of aging Boomers looking for retirement houses). You might just want to give a call to the realtor that you used to buy the house and ask them. Since you've already bought the house they don't have much of a reason to BS you -- just make sure you make it clear that you're only thinking about it for the future, and you're not trying to retroactively determine if you got ripped off. To put a value on it is going to require someone who knows the characteristics of the people shopping for homes in that market.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:42 PM on April 4, 2007

Assuming it's not a huge monolithic pour (and it probably isn't, concrete is semi cheap but dirt is cheaper) what you do is dig a hole under one corner and then give the unsupported concrete a couple of smacks with a 10lb sledge. Concrete is very weak in tension and pieces will snap off. Keep digging the hole under the slab and breaking pieces off. It helps to have two people to trade off the digging and hauling. It's horrible back breaking work so if you know any size 40 shirt 2 hat types you might want to pay them to do it.

Now if you decided to keep the ramp under your deck what you do is pour a topping a level concrete topping over the ramp right at your doors sized so you can run a stringer along side the pour at your deck height. That pour will be fairly weak and easy to remove in the future should you or the future owners want a ramp while still allowing you to have a mostly wood deck.
posted by Mitheral at 12:57 PM on April 4, 2007

FWIW, don't underestimate the size of the leftovers; you'll have a lot of heavy concrete chunks to get rid of at the end of the project, and you'll probably need to make special arrangements with your local hauling company.
posted by jenkinsEar at 1:03 PM on April 4, 2007

Keep the ramp and build a deck.

Done properly, only a bit of the concrete would show.

Ideally, the deck would have a removable or hinged portion that would permit access to the ramp, so that you could use the ramp but then hide it with the deck non-permanently. Effectively you build two separate decks on either side of the ramp, then make a separate cover for the ramp such that it lines up with both deck halves. Need to move a piano or a ginormous fridge? Pull out the middle section of the deck to access the ramp, then put it back when you're done. A half decent architect should be able to design it.
posted by yesster at 1:33 PM on April 4, 2007

One thought -- your currently accessible house is an asset to you. Think how cool it will/would be when you can invite your wheechair-using friend over to your house.

I wish I lived in an accessible place. There are so few residences that are accessible.

You may want to research "visitability." See here re Visitability Initiative.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 1:45 PM on April 4, 2007

Sounds like fun for skateboarding. I'd keep it just for that but YMMV.
posted by jamaro at 3:02 PM on April 4, 2007

I have no need for it

Many otherwise healthy people find there comes a time when this isn't so, even if it is something temporary. Yesster has a good idea.
posted by yohko at 3:06 PM on April 4, 2007

Oh, you know, they might drop the bomb on your home town, but does that mean everyone has a bomb shelter¿ No.
Preparing for the unexpected is one thing. Buying a home and staring at a grossity of a concrete ramp — no way. Bust it up. Rent a jack hammer and get it over with.

Or slide by a construction crew with a case of beer and say, can some of you boys drop buy on your way home¿ Convince them you really do live there — show them your beer fridge, again. Wait till it's in the 100'sF. What a plan.

Good point made, what of the removal of busted up said ramp... another one, breaking it up just by the door and covering in deck, if the design works...we want to see some blueprints./

Girlesq, it didn't prevent you from the home purchase, in fact, I hope there wasn't an upcharge for the thing....

Don't move piano's, fridges and the like yourself. That's why there are the burly guys for hire. Sod the ramp. Take out concrete a la Johnny Cash, one piece at a time.
posted by alicesshoe at 4:20 PM on April 4, 2007

It's about 20 feet long (running the whole side of the house) and maybe two feet wide. So this is a big job.

I think I'll look into grinding down the portion by the door and putting the deck over it. I love the idea of being able to flip up a portion of the deck to use the ramp if the need ever arises.

Thanks all! You guys are the best!
posted by GIRLesq at 3:50 PM on April 5, 2007