Get the ramp length right first
A ramp is a maths problem before it's a product. Measure the step in millimetres, decide who's rolling over it and whether anyone is pushing, and the length picks itself. Get the length wrong and the ramp is either too steep to use or too long for the hallway. Get it right and a front door that's been a barrier for years is fixed by Friday.
Four kinds of ramp
Threshold ramps fix the small lip at a door or a sliding track, up to about 100mm. The Pride rubber threshold ramp comes in seven rises from 25mm to 102mm, from $99. It's recycled rubber, rated to 385kg, and you can trim it with a knife to fit a door frame. It stays put on tiles and doesn't rust, so it suits the back door as well as the front.
Single fold ramps fold in half lengthways and carry like a suitcase. The Pride single fold ramp comes in five lengths from 61cm to 183cm, all 75cm wide and rated to 272kg, from $329. It's aluminium with a grit surface that grips wet tyres, and the longest one weighs 15.4kg.
Roll-up ramps are for one or two steps you need to cross often, or for travel. The Care Quip roll-up ramp ($549.95) is 935mm long and 760mm between the rails. It weighs 6.9kg and rolls into a bundle that fits behind a car seat. It's rated to 300kg.
Folding portable ramps cover bigger steps and vehicle loading. Decpac ramps are fibreglass and carbon fibre and fold concertina-style.
They come in 22 sizes, from a 700mm personal ramp (4.7kg, $1,299.95) to 3.5m senior and edge barrier ramps. All are rated to 300kg and tested to Australian Standards. Edge barrier models have raised sides, which you want for a powered chair or anywhere a wheel could drop off the edge.
Working out the length
Decpac publishes a maximum rise for each ramp length. Those figures assume a carer is pushing and the crossing is short. For a scooter or someone wheeling themselves, we'd go a size or two longer than the table allows.
As a rule of thumb, allow 8mm of ramp for every 1mm of rise with a carer, and 12mm for every 1mm without one. A 150mm step with a carer wants a ramp around 1,200mm. Without a carer, closer to 1,800mm.
| Ramp | Length | Width | Maker's max rise | Ramp weight | Load |
| Pride threshold, 25mm rise | 265mm | 914mm usable | 25mm | 4.3kg | 385kg |
| Pride threshold, 51mm rise | 615mm | 914mm usable | 51mm | 16.8kg | 385kg |
| Pride threshold, 102mm rise | 1,331mm | 914mm usable | 102mm | 60kg | 385kg |
| Pride single fold | 610 to 1,830mm | 750mm | 50 to 150mm riding up yourself, 75 to 230mm with help | 5.8 to 15.4kg | 272kg |
| Care Quip roll-up | 935mm | 760mm inner | not published | 6.9kg | 300kg |
| Decpac Personal | 700mm | 750mm | 180mm | 4.7kg | 300kg |
| Decpac Multipurpose | 870 or 1,000mm | 840mm | 220 or 250mm | 5.6 or 6kg | 300kg |
| Decpac Senior | 900 to 3,500mm | 750mm | 230 to 880mm | 4.8 to 24.7kg | 300kg |
| Decpac Edge Barrier | 900 to 3,500mm | 820mm | 230 to 880mm | 6 to 31.5kg | 300kg |
Figures from the makers' spec sheets. The Pride threshold ramp is sold as seven separate pieces that stack to the rise you need. Pride gives the single fold rises at a 1 in 12 slope (riding up yourself) and 1 in 8 (with help, or an empty scooter).
Check these before you order
Width of the chair or scooter. Measure outside wheel to outside wheel. The roll-up ramp has 760mm between its rails, the Decpac senior ramps and the Pride single fold are 750mm wide, and some scooters are wider than that. The Pride threshold ramp is 914mm usable, so it suits scooters.
Landing space. There has to be flat ground at the top and bottom to stop and turn. A ramp that ends at a closed door is no use to someone who has to open it.
Who lifts it. A 3m Decpac is 22kg or more. If it's going to be moved every day, a shorter ramp on a smaller step, or a threshold ramp that stays in place, is the better answer.
Rain. All of them have grip surfaces, and rubber grips best when wet. Any ramp gets slick with wet leaves on it, so sweep it.
Using it safely
Sit the top lip fully on the step, not balanced on the edge, and check it before every use. Go straight up and straight down, never at an angle.
A carer pushing a manual chair goes up forwards and comes down backwards, with the chair's anti-tip bars down. On a scooter, lean forward going up and keep the speed on its lowest setting. If a ramp feels steep, it is, and the fix is a longer ramp, not more confidence.
NDIS and ramps
A threshold, single fold or roll-up ramp under $1,500 is low cost assistive technology, bought from the core budget with no quote. Most Decpac ramps are over $1,500, which puts them in the mid cost band.
For those the NDIA wants written evidence from an OT that names the ramp and its cost. Our quote gives the OT that cost, and we turn it around the same day. Read the NDIA's assistive technology page for the bands. A fixed ramp built onto the house is a home modification, which is a different budget and a different process.
We're NDIS registered (4050144759). For scooter users, our guide to getting a scooter through the NDIS covers ramps as part of the same claim.
Questions we get
Will the rubber ramp move on tiles?
No. It's heavy and the rubber grips on tiles, concrete and timber. The pieces lock together with a dovetail joint, so the stack moves as one unit.
Can I cut the rubber threshold ramp?
Yes. Pride says it can be trimmed or notched to fit around a door frame or track with a sharp blade.
Which ramp for a single front step?
A front step is usually 150 to 180mm. Riding up it yourself, that's the 183cm Pride single fold or a Decpac of similar length. If someone walks the scooter up empty, the 122cm single fold does it.
Which ramp for the car?
A Decpac senior or edge barrier ramp long enough for the boot floor height, usually 2m or more. Tell us the car and the chair and we'll pick the length.
Does a powered wheelchair need edge barriers?
We'd always say yes. A powered chair can't be steered back if a wheel drops off the side.
Two steps?
Measure the total rise from the ground to the top step, then size the ramp for that. Two 150mm steps is a 300mm rise and needs a long ramp or a landing in between.
Delivery?
Threshold ramps ship by courier. The bigger Decpac ramps go by freight and we'll confirm the cost on the quote.
Send the step height and a photo of the doorway to Nadim on 1300 216 888 and he'll do the length calculation with you on the phone.
