If you've got family or friends in a wheelchair and an incline or steps that must be navigated in order to get into your home, you probably need to know how to build a wheelchair ramp. The exact process will depend on the slope of your hill or incline, but there are a few steps you can follow to get yourself started on the right track to build the ramp.

You will want to use pressure treated wood to build your wheelchair ramp so it will have a reduced risk of rotting due to weather exposure. Because you will need strong supports for your wheelchair ramp, be sure you find and buy wooden posts that have a rating designed to be burried under the ground. Your posts need to hold the weight of the ramp as well as the wheelchair as it rolls over it, so spend extra money for higher quality wooden posts.

Step One: Using a tape measure, measure from the ground to where the top of the ramp will be once it is built. The rule of thumb to follow when building a wheelchair ramp is for every inch of the measurement from the ground to the top of the ramp (called the rise), you will need a foot in the ramp itself (the run).

Step Two: Now use batterboards and place them out to form the outside edge of the wheelchair ramp.You'll want to use mason's lines to get them straight and level. Use a shovel or similar tool to remove about 3 inches of soil to place the boards into. At the bottom fo the ramp, you'll need to dig out enough to allow the ramp to sit at about the same level as the ground leading to it for better ease of wheeling the wheelchair onto the ramp.

Step Three: Again using mason's lines, take masking tape to indicate where the posts will be dug into the ground. All four corners of your wheelchair ramp will require a post, and then you'll need to place one about every five feet along the length of the ramp. Use a posthole digger or other kind of digging tool and dig about 6 inches below where the ground frosts at each post location.

Step Four: Use forms of fiber tubes and cut them about six inches less than the actual depth of the holes you've made for your posts. You will need to suspend the fiber form tubes in the air about eight inches above the bottom of the holes using 2x4's that are naile to each side of the fiber forms. Place your posts into each hole, use a level to make sure they are sitting level, and hold them in place while you get your concrete ready.

Step Five: Follow the direction sof the pre-mixed concrete and use it to fill in the holes around the wooden posts and fiber tube forms. Make sure there is no excess air by scraping the top of the poured concrete with as scrap board, and following it up with a trowel to level and smooth out the surface. The concrete should set for about 48 hours before you remove the forms and fill in that area with dirt.

Step Six: Use a pencil and mason's line to draw out the top of the decking boards on each of the posts. Also mark out lines on each of the bottom posts as close to the ground as you can get in order to reduce the size of the concrete pad you'll need to pour.

Step Seven: Use landscaping fabric to cover the area where the ramp will be in order to keep weeds and grass from growing up between your ramp wood.

Step Eight: Place the boards to create the wheelchair ramp, nailing to the posts for support.