Nice stash. But surely there is a cheaper way of boarding out the loft?
A little vid of me slowly getting my balance back. Need to sort the coping as itās stickier than brown stuff to a blanket.
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That ramps sick, Iām looking at my garden and picturing it at the back end. Well jealous. Nice job!
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Hi Pocalyptix
Great to see your ramp, I built one for our little ones aged 6 and 3 last year but we havnāt cut it down to a height yet as they loved pumping up and down the longer transitions.
Our now 7 year old is now searching for the coping at skate parks and after a 25 year break I have got a few skills back but am struggling on the 3ft at the park so wanted to make the garden ramp lower.
I was thinking about cutting it down to approx 2ft but that will stop our little one who is now 4 from riding high but figure she will soon want to follow her older sister.
A couple of questions if you donāt mindā¦
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What height is your ramp from the flat bottom to the decks as it looks somewhere near the height we are considering?
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Did you ever get anywhere with the floor vinyl?
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I was thinking of using 43mm galvanised coping 1 3/4", do you think this is too small, the next size up looks to be just under 2" at 49mm?
Many thanks,
Andrew, Ismay & Alice (South West)
Here is the ramp, as you can see there is currently no decks or coping as the kids love pumping to the top but will soon be searching for the coping grinds etc. Not sure what height to cut it down to, we have 7ft trans, 8ft wide and 19ft long.
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Hi there. Been reading this forum with interest. Now building my son a half pipe
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I took the Far Eastern ply back and swapped for marine ply. Not sure if just one layer of 9mm will be ok. Sone is beginner so wonāt be hitting it hard. I have used full width of ply for height and done a 7ā radius.
youāll need 2 layers, absolutely.
Could I get away with one layer of 9 and 6mm diagonally or stepped joints
Am I right in thinking you can get away with shittier ply underneath but top always should be marine? Or am I imagining things. Laying it diagonally definitely helps. Single layer will sag and create nasty gaps exactly at every single spot itās not perfectly supported around each edge. Also countersink every screw and box in the platforms if you want to reduce noise.
Although havenāt built a full mini in over 20 years this is what I remember.
I thought if I but cheap ply underneath. If would be very hard to stop damp getting through and ruining it. Then having to strip the good stuff off to get to damaged stuff. Ā£216 for 6 sheets of 9mm marine. Thought 6mm over the 9mm would be cheaper option
I reckon for an indoor one you would be fine with that but outdoor I wouldnāt skimp (from my massive experience of building rampsā¦)
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Yeah both Plies marine then. Doesnāt make any sense to go through the utter pain of stripping ramp down to get to the shit layer underneath
Hi - nice that you got the kids on it! Well mine is 2ft talk from flat to section fo deck. The flat is actually 2.5 inches off the actual floor as thatās the depth of the struts running across the floor so the ramp āheight would be just under 2ft as the flat section isnāt ground level (that make sense?!).
Vinyl wise Iām convinced the type of flooring in my kitchen would work ābutā itāll cost approximately Ā£300 to do it; and as itās not a tried and tested route - I havenāt heard of anyone else attempting to use this stuff, itās be a bit of a costly experiment if it didnāt work. Iām also currently looking to creating a big concrete flat area to put ramps on so until I got it all costed this will have to wait. Unless a 50% off deal for the stuff can be found; thatās how I bought it for my kitchen. If I had some reason to re-skin the ramp Iād definitely consider it but staining the wood and painting it with masonry paint has certainly worked well as far as rain protection goes.
Coping wise Iād go with whatever you can get your hands on. Thereās some thatād suggest a wide diameter, other more narrow. If you feel it sticks out you can always lower the top strut going across the ramp that the coping rests on and move the deck ābackā to lower it. So, if I bought coping again, Iād probably go for something a bit bigger as by moving the deck and top strut Iād have more ācopingā area to grind / slide on. Mines a bit low I think but it works; something Iāll play with over time. Iāve heard of people using everything from metal bar to plastic drain pipes; personally I think itās more of a case of what works for you and more importantly for all of your kids. Donāt be afraid to try different stuff or worry if it doesnāt sit right; just take time moving it around!
My ramps got 9mm OSB board screwed in as a bottom layer and that stuff works fine. If you were to paint it with stain / masonry paint prior to laying your riding surface youād make it last longer for sure. 2 layers definite, cheap underneath with 9mm better wood on top thatās what I did; and then cover with a tarp when required if you expecting heavy rain. Clearly marine or skate lite would be the best but I used 9mm WPB board stained and then painted in masonry and itās holding up pretty good.
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Hi Pocalyptix,
Many thanks for your response, I have been doing a bit of research after finding out that skatelite is almost Ā£200 a sheet in the UK. I have found a product called Tricoya Extreme, it is available in many thicknesses and will likely bend ok if you use a 6mm or 9mm sheet. I have found the 6mm for Ā£68 a sheet, skatelite is 7mm so its comparable.
The product is guaranteed for 50 years above ground and 30 underground so it must be tough stuff. i saw a video on youtube of it submerged in water for weeks and when removed it was exactly the same with no expansion etc.
A local supplier sells the stuff so I might go and take a look at some point to get a better idea of the surface texture etc.
My ramp surface would only require 4 sheets so Ā£272 is allot better than almost Ā£800 in skatelite!
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Anyone know what skatelite actually is? Is it some existing product that has been rebranded?
Itās owned by this company, seems to be a unique product
Well thatās worth exploring! My ramp needs 5 sheets but as you say itās still a lot cheaper than a lot of the tried and tested surfaces. Iāve been attempting to get some āhelpā by hitting up manufacturers as, in my mind, if there is another previously unknown revenue stream for a product that they could tap in to itās worth giving a muppet like me a deal for a few planks to see if itās got any mileage. Like shoe gooā¦ they didnāt even need to advertise - just took a few skaters to cover their trainers in it and their profits mustāve gone through the roof. I reckon we all kept them in business back in the 80s. I think whatās cool is finding alternatives for our particular type of climate. Where I am we can have glorious sunny heat followed by high winds and then rain coming in sidewaysā¦ all within 4hrs; so a 100% waterproof plastic derived surface, to me anyway, makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing the idea!!
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