Ramp for Outdoor 4 steps up to house

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k9sandkitties
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Ramp for Outdoor 4 steps up to house

Post by k9sandkitties »

We only have 4 steps to go up to get into our house, so years ago my Dad came up with a narrow ramp next to the house over part of the stairs. Recently I modified that idea with a much wider ramp on the open side of the stairs. Roughly it is 4 feet wide by about 15 feet in length. The original ramp by my Dad was covered in remnants from carpet installs saved over the years. My modification was to use store bought indoor/outdoor carpet over the plywood on the ramp. Initially this seemed fine, but now I realize my mistake. The carpet is just slippery enough to cause my dogs to slip with every few steps they take when traveling down the ramp. Now the slipping has caused an injury to one of my dogs. So I need to take action now to make this ramp skid proof for both my senior dogs.

One thought I had was to paint Slip Doctors TUFF GRIP either directly on the indoor/outdoor carpet or directly on the plywood. Another suggestion was to put sand in regular outdoor paint and roll that onto the plywood. I thought of replacing the carpet with some sort of anti-slip mat but finding this large enough is a huge challenge. Obviously I want to do something economical but if I need to start over, I will. I don't want my dogs to slip anymore.

Are there any suggestions as to what I should do?

Linda
I
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CarolC
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Re: Ramp for Outdoor 4 steps up to house

Post by CarolC »

Well I've never built a long ramp. I've only had 2 short ones. The one we have now simply has an entry mat on it and it's been fine, but it is not as long as yours. It's not very steep. I will post a picture below.
MerlinRamp.jpg
But what you said reminded me of something Bobbie said, she has done a lot with ramps. She did use sanded paint. Here is her post where she mentioned it.

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... int#p58493

If you would like to find out how well it worked, whether it was durable, whether anyone slipped or had any problems, you could post a reply to her message and she might see it and give an update on how the project went.
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critters
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Re: Ramp for Outdoor 4 steps up to house

Post by critters »

How about covering it with those rubbery "puzzle tiles?" They're non-slip, cheap, and durable. I suggest nailing them down, but they're easy enough to pop up if one gets worn, torn, etc. I did most of my house with them.
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critters
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Re: Ramp for Outdoor 4 steps up to house

Post by critters »

PS--Puzzle tiles are easy to cut to fit with scissors.
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