- 1). Check local building codes. Rules are often quite strict if the ramps will be used for wheelchair access. In those cases, you will usually have to install handrails and have flat areas at the top and bottom of your ramp.
- 2). Buy a piece of plywood 4-feet wide. The length should be whatever length you want for your ramp. If your ramp will be carrying wheelchairs, the maximum recommended slope is 1 in 12, meaning that a 2-foot ramp will need to be 24-feet long. Shorter ramps are fine for walking or boarding on. If you cannot find a board that is long enough, just buy several. For example, if the ramp was 24-feet long, you could by 3 boards that were 4-foot by 8-foot and line them up together.
- 3). Lay your board (or boards) flat on the ground and draw a line from corner to corner. If you are using multiple boards, treat them as one, and draw a single line that crosses all of them.
- 4). Use a jigsaw or circular saw to cut along the line. The resulting triangular boards will be the sides of your ramp. If you wish to make a ramp with a curved surface, draw a curve from corner to corner with a pencil, then cut along it with a jigsaw. Flip this piece over to use as a pattern for the second side.
- 5). Join the two triangular side pieces using 2-by-4 joists spaced every 12 to 16 inches along all three of their sides. Attach the joists to the sides using deck screws or metal joist hangers and a power drill. The length of the joists will determine the width of your ramp.
- 6). Attach another piece of plywood as the ramp's surface, using deck screws to attach it to the joists running between the angled sides of the end plates. If you are surfacing a curved ramp, you can still use a single sheet of plywood. Gently bend the curve into it, then attach it with deck screws, not tightening any all the way until all of them are halfway down. Your ramp is now complete and can be dragged into place.
- 7). Add any necessary features for wheelchair users. You may need to build handrails. To do so, use deck screws to attach 4-by-4 posts at the points along the side where the joists meet the side plates. Cut these off using a circular saw, then attach two 2-by-4s to the tops of the posts to form a railing. You may also need to create a flat area at the top or the bottom of your ramp. For the top, use spare wood to build a 2-foot high box the width of your ramp, then place that box against the building being entered and butt the ramp up against it. You can join them together with a few long deck screws. For the bottom, build up the ground around the bottom to ensure an equally sized flat area.
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