ShareThisQ: I found a home that I adore. The problem is the concrete steps from the driveway to the house are so steep and crooked that I think they are a hazard.They look fine, but the staircase seems like it has shifted to the point that the actual step feels wavy. I have never seen such a thing, but the seller's agent mentioned to me after we had viewed the house that everyone has been saying that.Apparently the seller is not planning on doing anything about it. I really need a limited mobility-accessible home. A sidewalk could possibly be run from the street up the middle of the front yard to the front door. But those steps are a hazard for anyone who uses them. Is it a major job to break out a concrete staircase and replace it, or is there a way we could hide them somehow and grow the yard back over that area?A: The concrete steps have settled away from the structure as most exterior steps do. The steps are most likely hollow with dirt or sand fill under the concrete and can be broken with a sledgehammer and a lot of backbreaking work.A wheelchair or handicapped access ramp can be built from the street to the front door or from the driveway to the door depending on the depth of the front yard.A few things have to be considered before constructing the ramp. With a motorized chair the ramp can have a rise of 1 foot for every 12 feet of ramp, but for a self-powered chair, walker or cane, the ramp should have a gentler slope of 1 foot for 16 feet or maybe 1 foot for 20 feet depending on the size of the yard. Once this has been determined, you may elect to have a turn or switch back in the ramp from the driveway to the house in order to have the length of ramp necessary.The turn also provides a resting place if the person is navigating the ramp alone. Make sure the ramp is well secured to footings poured in the ground and the ramp has expansion points so that it can move with the changing seasons.A ramp should be 36 inches wide or wider depending on the chair size and the flooring should be smooth planks, not plywood. Plywood tends to buckle when exposed to the weather and can become slick from rain or snow. The ramp should have a sturdy guardrail on both sides for safety.Also make sure the starting and ending edges of the ramp are flush with no bumps to transverse. If you do not have a carpenter or handyman to call, try a local church. Church members are always looking for ways to help.(Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 286, Evansville, Ind. 47702.)
Replace dangerous house steps with a ramp
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