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In this video, I want to talk to you about what I call micro ramps
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I've touched on these elsewhere in the course, but things like this are often necessary
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both indoors and outdoors. A micro ramp is just a small ramp, sometimes permanently installed, like this wooden one here
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and other times they're portable or movable. This is a custom-cut wooden micro-ramp
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micro ramp so it exactly matches the change in height required for this spot. It's stained and
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finished the same way as the floor around it so it looks quite nice and it's perfectly sized for the
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situation. So I really do like the custom cut wooden micro ramps for a lot of applications
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But you have to have someone who's pretty good at woodworking to be able to make one of these
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for you. Maybe you can do one yourself. But this quick video is just about giving you ideas for indoor and outdoor micro ramp applications
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And here we have a manufactured indoor micro ramp. That's what you see on the left
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That's an aluminum one. I guess the main drawback with something like this is that it not necessarily custom for the change in height that you dealing with So that really the main drawback There are many different designs of ready micro
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There's the aluminum ones. I'm going to show you plastic one in a minute. But the trick is getting the height correct
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And there are lots to choose from. Amazon is a great place to look for ramps
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They've got all kinds of ramps there with specifications and things. So that is the best one-stop shopping opportunity I've ever found for micro-ramps
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And over here on the right, you can see where something like this might be used
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I mean, that's a rubber ramp, too, actually, that are installed on a door leading out to a deck
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And as I said before, homes often have little, you know, one or two-inch changes in height
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little bumps to go over door thresholds like this. Even when the floors are the same height
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there's often a door threshold that creates a kind of a bump. And it can be difficult to get over with a wheelchair
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It can also snag the feet of walkers or things like that
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So a ramp is always a good idea, even if there's only a small rise to involved
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Here are some outdoor options. The one on the left is a kind of rubber synthetic kind of thing It meant for outdoor use and I would only recommend you use synthetic ones like this outdoors
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Some people find the smell coming off this material a little bothersome
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kind of a synthetic rubbery sort of smell. That dissipates after a while, so you could use these indoors
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but they're really meant for outdoor use. Another thing to keep in mind is to perhaps travel
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with a ramp, or if someone's helping you to travel, have the ramp in the vehicle there
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The ramp on the right-hand side is a folding aluminum ramp. It can handle a lot of different changes in altitude, and it's just something you carry in the vehicle
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You deploy if you have to get up a curb or onto a porch or veranda that's not too far from the ground
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Something like this is good. It gives you flexibility and resilience. when you're traveling you won't run into any situations that might give might give you trouble
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now one one last thing to consider with micro ramps is the slope that's safe so the chart here
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shows that the the upper limit for wheeling yourself up and down a micro ramp would be about
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three inches or so over a two span once you get higher than that you should really consider having help to get up there and especially if the ramp is at this angle
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more than three inches over two feet, but if the micro ramp is even longer
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the longer it is, the more important it is to have help, as well as the steeper
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And certainly anything four inches of rise and higher, you should have some help
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One thing to remember, too, is the electric three-wheeler's, which you see fairly often
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aren't always as stable as you might think. I mean, they're going to be fine on the flat
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They're going to be fine on anything you'll deal with outside, sidewalks or roads that you're crossing
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But when you get up to on a ramp, there's a little bit more of a danger
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because if one of the rear wheels goes off the ramp, then the whole three-wheeler can tip over
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Three-wheeled vehicles are by definition, less stable than four-wheeled ones. So you need to keep that into consideration
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The whole micro-ramp thing is really something that you'll have to customize for your situation
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And if you have any concerns or questions, just contact me. But there are lots of options out there
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And it might not seem like a big deal, but micro-ramp can make
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micro-ramps can make it very much easier to navigate both inside your home
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and then outside over small obstructions too
