How can I transition from brick pavers to a concrete slab for wheelchair access?

Question

I’ve looked at narrow wheel chair ramps but can’t find anything that will fit. The width 48 in and the lip from driveway to brick is approximately 3/4 to 1 in.

One edge of this transition leads into a perpendicular walk. The pre made ramps I’ve found are too deep and would impede flow from the cross foot traffic.

Can anyone help me find a solution to prevent tripping?

Answer 1

One of the great benefits of paver walks is that they can be shaped. I built one around my garage, which also accesses a yard shed. The shed is about 6" higher than the walk, so I tapered and sloped to it.

You should be able to do the same here.

1. Pull out the pavers in an area of at least 36" from the edge of the concrete in each direction.
2. Remove any sand substrate and store it for later use.
3. Reshape the underlying soil to create gentle, curving transitions at the concrete and the original walk height, taking into consideration the paver and substrate thicknesses. There should be no sharp angles or abrupt curves at any point.
4. Replace the sand substrate and the pavers.
5. Install polymeric paver sand to fill the joints.

Answer 2

Mortar and a trowel, given the transition is from concrete to brick. Make any slope/length you like.

Answer 3

Look at industrial / warehouse supply houses. They'll have rubber and other materials for exactly this purpose. Cut to size if you can't get exact, though 48"is pretty standard. Only issue is how to attach it, but they typically have adhesives for masonry available.

A quick online search is...confusing. The problem is that big/bulky/heavy stuff doesn't ship cheaply, so the online choices tend to be the cheap stuff (that may not hold up so well) or the big box stores (which have limited selection). Just overall guessing, I'd look probably towards either rubber (flexible so it molds to fit well, but may have temperature issues outdoors) or aluminum or steel (very durable, no temperature problem, but may not fit as well with an uneven existing brick floor). Some examples:

Lowes - aluminum

Home Depot - rubber The catch is this a type where it has a part that goes underneath the higher floor. That works great for new installations of tile/floating floor/etc. but not so well for outdoor brick.

In addition to temperature ratings, depending on design there will be a limit (sometimes a very specific min/max, sometimes more vague) of the overall transition height. Some are designed to overlap the two floor surfaces for quite a distance, some only significantly overlap the lower floor.

Answer 4

Maybe there is something outside the edges of your photo that we're not seeing? I don't understand how you could find that no ramp will fit. There's a ramp for everything. I spent literally 4 seconds searching. If you spend a couple of hours you're bound to find exactly what you need.