I built a dog ramp from found material
More often than not, the heavy trash services in the city are awful. There's a suggested day for pickup, but in reality, it's just a big guessing game. In my neighborhood, people spend days or even weeks loading their trash out on the curb. And an even longer time staring at others' trash.
Well, as an avid walker, I've seen a lot of disregarded trash, junk, and debris this past month. In my neighborhood, I have eyed various aspects that contribute to its charm and community spirit. It's a bit like seeing into people's daily lives without even knowing them. It's a trend for others to pick up furniture, toys, and even books that have been thrown out. About two weeks ago, my sweet old doggy and I were out for a walk when I spied a pile of nearly perfect white oak lumber discarded on the curb of a house, two houses down from my own. I knew I had to come back for it! I've wanted to build a furniture ramp for my dog for a while now, since he's aging and has a long basset hound spine. I ran home, got my dad's truck, and drove back to the house with the wood, and my mom helped me load it up.
After inspecting the wood, it seemed they had already tried to build something, I'm assuming they were going to make something like a bookcase since there were some smaller shelf-like pieces, that I also brought home. The longest piece was about 80 inches long by 23 inches wide. I knew the measurements I would need for my dog ramp were 70 in x 18 in, so my dad gave me an in-depth demonstration on how to use multiple power saws.
I used a circular saw to cut my piece to shape once I marked the dimensions with a pencil, then I cut a piece about 13 in off the end of the slab, which will be the top of the platform that sits next to my bed. Then I used two 2x4s to build a frame around the long slab that would act as the actual ramp.
I had to cut the bottom of the 2x4s at an angle to make sure they would sit flat on the floor. I used a pair of clamps to hold the two 2x4s in place while I tried to imagine the frame altogether. Once I screwed the frame pieces together, I made the top frame of the platform, which was a bit harder because I was using an older part of wood that I found behind my dad's garage, then I accidentally messed up the measurements, which would become a problem later.
After making both sections of the frame, I had to attach the two pieces into a ramp shape. Because the ends of the 2x4 frame did not match, I then cut two angled shapes with a bandsaw to meet the two pieces together. Once these were all screwed together, it was just time to attach some legs and leg support to make it super sturdy. This was one of the easier parts, because I knew I was almost done!
After my structure was complete, I began my favorite part, the decoration part. I picked up some carpet tiles from Lowe's because I thought the sticker tiles would be a bit easier than buying an entire roll of carpeting. I love shortcuts!
After sticking these on, and using some screws to secure the tiles I used the small slats I also found to create steps on the ramp to make it easier for my dog to walk on. I used some wood stain I had lying around to make them a bit darker, to fit the color of the carpet. I screwed these on about a foot length apart.
Then it was done! It took about five whole minutes and a handful of treats to train my dog to use his new ramp! I can't read his mind, but I think he felt grateful for it!
In total, it took me less than two days to complete this project. I only spent $70 on the carpeting, which I felt was weirdly expensive. However, it felt really good to make the ramp out of almost completely found material, that were most likely going to end up in a dump anyway. It was a huge success, and I was super happy to recycle this found material.
Thanks for looking!
Do you like building things, or want to try it too?