Disclaimer:

Building and riding ramps can be fun and rewarding; however, caution should be practiced with both. The author Brandon Cardone and any other contributors to this article are in no way, shape or form responsible for any legal matters, injuries or even death that may occur as a result of the information and content in this article.



The following chapter is one of five that can be found in my skateboard ramp building guide "The Beginner's Guide To Building Ramps," This 54 page guide can be instantly downloaded in PDF format from www.buildaramp.com. The skateboard ramp building guide is filled with tons of photos and easy to understand instructions and illustrations, you will also find on my website, tons of useful links related to skateboard ramps, a ramp building photo gallery, free skateboard wallpaper for your computer, a free skateboard screen saver, and even up to the minute skateboarding
RSS news feeds.

Introduction

So you want to build a skateboard ramp, maybe you are a parent and want to build something for your kid. Maybe you have been skateboarding, riding BMX, or inline for a while and realize that you want more than the few spots you get kicked out of on a regular basis. Whatever the reason, you?ve started in the right direction by reading this article. Building ramps is a productive learning experience, but the most important thing is that it is fun and very rewarding if it is done right.


Most people really don?t understand how to build skateboard ramps and end up giving up before they even give it a second thought. I have people all the time ask me "How do you bend the wood like that?" or "Where would you even begin building something like that? "Questions like these are why I wrote this guide in the first place. I want people like you to know that it really isn?t that hard to build skateboard ramps if you have the right knowledge under your belt. I have been building ramps with my friend Mike Fitch since I was like 12 years old and over the years and plenty of trial and error, we have learned the art of building skateboard ramps. I asked myself if this kind of knowledge should be kept a secret, then I remembered all the fun I had growing up building my own stuff to skate and all the friends I have made over the years. We even had the chance to fulfill our dream of building an indoor skateboard park located in Johnson City, NY, East Coast Terminal as a way of giving back to the pastime that gave me direction and purpose in my life. I hope this article gives you that spark of inspiration that I found so many years ago. Who knows, there could be your own dream skate park lurking deep inside of you just waiting to be built and for others to enjoy. I wish you the best of luck in your quest and, most importantly, have fun.

Chapter 1 "Scope Out The
Territory"

• Before you start
  building
• Some Things to consider


• After the site has been decided and inspected

Before you Start Building your Skateboard
Ramp

Before you get all gung ho and go down to your local lumber store to
buy materials and grab the tools out of the shed, there are some things
you should think about before you start building. For example, if all
you want is a slider box or a jump ramp, you shouldn?t need a huge area
to put your ramps. In this kind of a situation, an empty parking lot or
your driveway will work. Be creative, like screwing some trucks and
wheels from an old skateboard or roller skates to the side so you can
wheel it around easy. You could even cut handles in the sides of the
templates to carry your ramp easier.



If you had your heart set on a ramp bigger and unmovable, obviously you
will need more space. You see, the idea here is that if you know where
you are going to be building your ramps, you can measure out the area
and draw it on some graph paper or even some regular paper will work
fine.

Some Things to Consider

• Consider how easy
  it will be to get your materials to the construction
  site

If your spot is way out in the woods, you better
have
some muscles because you will be carrying a lot of wood. This is when a
wheel barrow comes in handy.

• Access to
  electricity

Power tools are your friends and building a ramp
without
them is very hard, but not impossible if you are Amish. A generator or
a bunch of extension cords might be the way to go.

• Neighbors and
  noise

Those nosey neighbors of yours already hate you and
are
just waiting to ruin your fun. Will they call the cops when you?re
having a session at 3:00 in the morning? One solution to this problem
is to fill the coping with concrete or sand and nail a layer of carpet
to the underside of your ramp.

• Weather

Wood and bad weather don?t tend to agree with each
other
over time. If you can find an area that is protected from Mother
Nature, then more power to you. For the rest of us, buying a good tarp
is a really good investment. If you have the extra wood you could even
build your own make shift canopy, this way you can ride your ramp even
if it?s raining. You may also want to consider building your ramp up of
the ground on cinderblocks to keep the ramp high, dry and level. />

• Helpers

The more people you can find to help you build the
better off you will be.

• Ask everyone you
  know about available
  space

Hey you never know, your sisters, boyfriends, dad
might
have an empty garage or empty lot of land that they will sell you
dirt-cheap.

• Damage prone
  areas

Your trying to do a 360 flip pivot to fakie and oops,
you
just zipped out and your board is heading 100 miles an hour towards
your mom?s new car. You should take note of breakable objects around
your ramps and make the necessary barriers to prevent them from being
damaged.

• Zoning
  Laws

You may be living in an area where it is the law to
get a
building permit or you could just take your chances and hope your local
zoning board doesn?t find out. You may end up having to pay fines and
tear down your new creation. Trust me it isn?t fun to take something
apart that you?ve put so much time and effort into.

After the site has been decided and
inspected

Remember, it is important that you build your ramps on a flat or level
surface. If you don?t, your ramp will not be as easy to build and ride.
Once you have decided on a spot to build your ramps, start by measuring
the whole parameter of the space you are going to be working in.
Measure out any obstructions that might get in the way when you are
building, like a tree or a telephone pole, things like that. You should
also observe the landscape to see if you will have to level the area
out or even build your ramp up off the ground on posts. By doing this
you are saving yourself a lot of trouble down the road when you are
halfway through your project and realize you don?t have enough room or
your that one side of your ramp goes uphill.





By:

Brandon Cardone

Author of "The Beginner's Guide To Building
Ramps"

http://www.buildaramp.com />




Here is a list of the other chapters that can be found in "The
Beginner's Guide To Building ramps" found at www.buildaramp.com />


Chapter 2 "Construction Preparation"

Chapter 3 "All About Ramp Templates"

Chapter 4 "All About Framing a Ramp"

Chapter 5 "All About Sheeting Ramp"