In this video, we're going to take a look at the ramp tool.
We'll look at how to draw them, how to do L and U shaped ramps,
and the various settings to adjust their height and slope.
We'll begin by drawing a simple ramp.
You can find the ramp tool by going to build, stairs, ramp.
You can also find this in your architectural toolbar under the stairs parent tool.
Ramps function in a similar way to stairs in many ways.
First of all,
they automatically connect from one platform to another and find the best fit,
just as stairs do.
So you can simply click near a change in platform height,
and it will place the best fit between the terrain and the porch,
keeping as close to one in 12 slope without going steeper.
So if we double-click to open this railing up,
the slope is currently at one in 12 and a quarter.
And in order to achieve this slope,
we have a ramp length of 264 inches.
I'm going to cancel out of this dialog, delete this ramp, and draw another.
Also like with stairs,
we can draw ramps by clicking and dragging in the up direction.
No matter how short or long we draw this ramp,
it will maintain a one in 12 slope to keep us to ADA standards for
ramps. And I can open the ramp to verify.
Now let's briefly look at all the options available in this ramp dialog before
we make any changes.
Here on the general panel is where we can adjust the size and height of our
ramp. We also can determine if the ramp is open underneath,
meaning it has a fixed thickness,
or if the base of the ramp will remain flush with the ground.
The railing panel allows us to determine the height of the railing and the
overall railing type. We will have newels and balusters, as shown here.
Will it be open underneath the railing, with or without a middle rail,
or will it use panels,
as well as whether it has a top and bottom rail and how high off the surface of
the ramp the bottom of the rail lies.
Under the newels balusters panel, we can adjust the style of posts,
balusters, or rail panels we're using and how they display in plan view.
On the rail panel, we can adjust the railing profile for the top, bottom,
and middle rails if we're using them. And then, just like with all objects,
we can adjust the way it looks in plan view, the materials,
and the components for the materials list.
Now let's go back to the general panel and see how we can adjust the height and
length of this ramp.
Right now we have a ramp that is 87 inches long.
It's bottom height sits on the terrain at negative six inches and the top
height is at seven eighths of an inch. As previously mentioned,
the slope is at one in 12,
which is the steepest we're allowed to be within ADA compliance.
If I adjust the length of the ramp here and then press tab to see the changes
applied, you can see that the bottom of the ramp remained the same.
We don't want it going down into the earth.
But the top height adjusted in order to maintain our shallow pitch.
I can also de-select the option for automatic heights slope if I want to enter
specific data,
rather than allowing it to automatically adjust while maintaining one in 12.
Now, if I raise my top height to six inches and select tab to see the
change, my slope has adjusted to one in eight,
which would be too steep.
I would need to either adjust the bottom height or the overall ramp length to
reduce back to a manageable slope.
When automatic height slope is not checked,
the length of the ramp will not change as I make adjustments.
So if I adjust the height of the ramp, my slope will change.
And if I adjust the slope, the height of the ramp will change.
Whether automatic heights is checked or not, when I adjust the ramp length,
it will keep the slope the same, but adjust the top height.
Now let's cancel out of here, delete this ramp, and draw a U shaped ramp.
This works the same as drawing U shaped stairs manually.
I'll draw one ramp, then another,
continuing the up direction as you would walk up it.
If the two are close together, I can just click where the landing should be,
and it will automatically drop in a landing to connect the two.
I can then easily adjust the landing's shape or dimensions by selecting it and
using the edit handles and temporary dimensions to adjust it.
I could also make a U shaped ramp by drawing the landing first.
I'm going to delete this one and start again.
One of the stair tool options is the landing tool.
I'll click and drag to draw the shape of the landing. And just as before,
I can resize it.
Then I can click and drag to draw a ramp towards the landing.
And when the ramp meets the landing and I release my mouse,
they will automatically connect.
Note how the landing even changed materials to match the ramp.
Then I can draw a ramp coming off of the landing in this direction.
I'll get an informational message indicating that only one section of stairs or
ramp can connect to a landing edge at a time,
so I'll need to break this landing edge into two sections
by selecting the landing, using the break line tool,
and breaking right in between these two ramps. Now,
the second section of the ramp will connect.
I can tell it's connected in my plan view because now there's only one up arrow.
Now I'm going to delete this ramp and we're going to draw an L shaped ramp that
will connect to the porch in this plan.
If you recall at the beginning when we automatically placed a ramp,
it was 264 inches to go from the terrain to the porch while maintaining a
one in 12 pitch. So we need at least that amount.
I'll start by clicking and dragging to draw a ramp segment towards the porch.
Then I'll draw a segment from the sidewalk down here up towards the first ramp
we drew. Once I'm happy with their position,
with the ramp tool still selected,
I can click in between these two to automatically place a landing,
just like we did earlier for the U shaped ramp.
Then I can adjust the size of the landing to ensure it's large enough for a
wheelchair turn or change its shape.
Using the ramp tool in Chief Architect,
you can create a wide variety of different ramps for your residential or
commercial projects.