Fit The Support
Your first step of this DIY shed ramp is to attach the 45” long support to the exterior portion of the frame. In order to do that, first cut the support in the correct size and then secure it with screws on the horizontal side.
Build The Joists
Joists are pretty basic stuffs and need very less skill. Use the right saw, correct measurements and half your work is done.
Make sure you smooth the edges and build the other joists in the exact same manner and with the same level of precision: remember that you need all of them to be an exact copy of the others or the thing would not fit well.
Fit The Joists
After you have built all the joists, attach them to the support. Use galvanized hangers so that the joints are rigid and sturdy. The last thing you would want after putting in so much effort is for the joints to be flimsy and come out within months.
Align the components with utmost care and precision and make sure all of them are well-aligned and equally spaced.
Fit The Blockings
After the joists come the blockings. Building the blockings requires a little precision and you need to secure them between the joists so that they fit perfectly.
For a wood shed ramp you need to drill pilot holes through the joists and secure them to the blockings using those 2 ½” galvanized screws.
Fit The Slats
Fitting the slat is a tricky part; you need to pay a lot of attention while performing this particular task. Attach the 2×6 decking to the support. The decking slat should be fitted from the top of the joists and then slowly moved to the bottom.
Make sure you do not split the wood and so you need to drill pilot holes into this one again and secure them with screws. The slats should be equally spaced as well and you can do that by placing a nail in between.
Final Works
This is what the final thing will look like only when you have taken good care of the finishing touches.
- The holes should be filled and let out to dry for several hours and even days.
- You should also make sure to smooth the wooden surface with fine-grit sandpaper and
- Vacuum out the residues.
There are a few more things that you need to keep in mind while building garden shed ramps. The first thing to plan is
- The slope which depends on where you are going to put the ramp and what things you are going to move over it. Generally 20-30 degrees of slope suffices.
- The slope of the ramp will also depend on how big and long the ramp itself is. So for every 8 inches of the ramp length the slope needs to go up by 1 inch.
- Adding inches to the side of your doors is another thing that you should keep in mind besides the slope and length of the ramp itself.
- Don’t make the ramp surface too smooth because then things will just keep on slipping. With too smooth a surface things can as easily go down as they can go up, thereby increasing your effort instead of reducing it.
- That also doesn’t mean that you won’t smoothen the wood and keep splinters on it but paint the surface of the ramp with an anti-slip paint or may be rubberize it to improve resistance.
