I have a garage with two small "steps" made of concrete. They interfere with my material handling tasks (moving dollies and carts to/from garage).
So, I would like to have a board such as 2x12, cut "diagonally" along the length to form two wooden wedges to put on these "steps" to smooth them. I need them at least 2 ft long, 10-12 inches wide, 1/5" tall on one side and 0" tall on another (diagonal cut).
Is that explanation understandable?
Is something like that, sold anywhere?
thanks
i
How about using floor-leveling compound.
Lee
You could always get a 3 foot section, clamp it to two sawhorses, then take a handsaw and cut it in half.
If you wanted to get real fancy, you could screw some 1/2" plywood to your new wedges.
If you're moving really heavy stuff, you might want to use a third wedge there in the middle for some extra support.
Now that I think about it, isn't 12" a bit tall for a normal step? Wouldn't a 2x8 be better?
-Nathan
Strike that last comment from me.
I actually understood what you were saying right after I hit "submit." Yeah, I'd go with some cement or levelling compound. Barring that, you could probably buy some quarter inch plywod or hardboard and just take a belt sander to it to get your desires grade.
-Nathan
What about a piece of plywood with blocks attached where needed to support the ramp?
Nope. You could use the leveling compound as suggested, or you could use cedar shingles glued together. Not sure of the loads you're moving around, so can't comment on how long the cedar shims would last, but they're cheap, already tapered and cheap.
R
I'm glad someone does! :)
At first I thought he was referring to steps as in stairs, but after reading the replies I am thinking he means the floor is uneven in two places??
A little west of Chicago, IL. And yes, I would pay a little for them.
i
That would make the door not close -- these things need to be removable.
i
The loads are up to 800 lbs on four wheels, so up to 500 lbs per pair of wheels worst case.
Example of such a load is here
Strike that last comment from me.
I actually understood what you were saying right after I hit "submit." Yeah, I'd go with some cement or levelling compound. Barring that, you could probably buy some quarter inch plywod or hardboard and just take a belt sander to it to get your desires grade.
-Nathan
IIUC you want to make beveled boards whereon the bevel runs accross the entire face. The boards will be like wedges, exept they will taper accross the width, rather than the length.
What I don't understand is how 1/5" of an inch of taper accross the width of a step would be enough to help.
You could use floor-leveling compound on top of thin plyood, and don't nail or glue the plywood down.
Thre is no material that you can taper to 0" exactly and not have that edge break off leaving you with a 'step' greater than
0".
How about if you take a cold chisel to those 'steps' and bevel them?
That should have been 1.5", sorry ("/" is located next to "." on my keyboard).
i
That makes sense now.
The kind of cut you need is called 'resawing' as it is what one does to take a board and saw it again to make two boards of the same width and length. Your situation is similar.
It can be done with care with a handsaw with a ripping blade. You probably could do it in ten minutes with a 4 or 5 points per inch Disston D-8, including stopping to catch your breath.
Roy Underhill could do it in half that time while singing Devo's "Whip it".
Nahrm would do it in 60 seconds on his 18" bandsw but he'd spend an hour making the jig.
The flloor leveling compound I used last did not cure well in thicknesses over 1./8". Ordinary cement would. Again, you could put it on a thin plywood base, and reinforce it with metal mesh (hardware cloth) so it would be removeable. MIght want to seal both sides of the plywood with shellac first, so it doesn't delaminate from the moisture
Use your planer by building a sled and block up the leading edge of the board by 1.5".
Make them from three pieces of stock. A hollow center will take very little strength away, plus they will be lighter to handle. Another option is to make a ramp. Fasten a few roof shingles to it for some friction grip. You can also purchase pre-made metal ramps from auto stores.
Router jig. The scarf jig in Fred Binghams book (thanks Lew) would work great.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.