You are not buying a ramp in the abstract. You are changing the route between your mother’s chair and the car, through a particular door, across a particular yard, in St. Louis weather. A quote that says only “install wheelchair ramp” leaves most of that route undecided.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Before you approve the work from another state, ask for a marked drawing and a written scope. They do not need to be elegant. They need to show what will be built, what will be moved, and who is responsible when the ramp meets the house.
1. Start with the door she will actually use
Do not let the contractor choose the entrance from exterior photographs alone. Ask someone local to follow the whole trip with your mother’s usual mobility device. Start at the room where she spends most of her time. Continue through the house, across the threshold, along the proposed ramp, and to the place where a car can stop.
Check whether she can reach and operate the chosen door. Notice which way it swings, where the storm door rests, whether a screen-door closer crosses the path, and whether she must back up while holding the door. Look inside, too. A generous exterior landing does not solve a narrow hall, loose rug, or immediate interior turn.
Send the contractor a short video of the route and ask for the chosen entrance to be named in the quote. “Rear entrance” is better than “existing door.” A photograph marked with an arrow is better still.
2. Make the measurements belong to the house
Ask the quote to record the vertical rise from the lower surface to the finished threshold, the available ground length, the clear door opening, and the proposed clear width between rails. If the ramp turns, ask for the dimensions of every landing and ramp run.
Then ask how those measurements were taken. A drawing based on an estimated rise can change once work begins. A drawing that ignores the storm door can produce a landing where the door and wheelchair compete for the same space.
The U.S. Access Board’s ramp guide discusses slope, clear width, landings, handrails, edge protection, stable surfaces, and drainage. Its standards do not automatically govern every private house, so use them as a disciplined comparison point, not as a promise that a particular design is approved for your mother’s property. Ask the contractor which local requirements apply and where the proposed drawing differs from the Access Board’s guidance. Far Away Daughter explains its use of public material on the Sources page.
3. Read the quote from the ground up
A ramp does not begin with boards or metal. It begins where its supports meet soil, concrete, porch, or driveway. Ask the quote to identify the foundation or support method, surface preparation, anchoring, and any attachment to the house.
Look for the work hidden under broad phrases such as “site preparation.” Does that include removing shrubs, relocating a downspout, taking up a walkway, leveling soil, or repairing a porch edge? Who removes the debris? Who restores disturbed ground? If a fence or gate must move, does the quote include that work and a usable replacement route?
Ask where rainwater and melting snow will go. The drawing should show nearby downspouts and the direction water leaves the landings. “Outdoor rated” tells you little about whether water will collect at the bottom or run toward the foundation.
4. Separate the ramp from the things around it
Compare quotes by component, not by the final total. Ask each contractor to separate the ramp runs, landings, rails, edge protection, threshold work, footings or supports, demolition, drainage changes, permits, and restoration.
That separation matters when two contractors propose different jobs. One may include a new landing while another expects to reuse the porch. One may include threshold work while another stops at the door. One may remove the old steps while another leaves them in place. Those are scope differences, not small print.
Ask whether the ramp is permanent, modular, or designed to be removed. If it is modular, ask who owns every component after installation and whether later reconfiguration is allowed. If it is attached to the house, ask what remains when it is removed and who repairs the attachment points.
5. Put permits and approval in one sentence
Ask the contractor to state in writing who determines whether a permit, zoning review, historic review, neighborhood approval, or inspection is required for this address. St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the municipalities within the county do not all use one permit office or one process.
The useful contract sentence is not “permit if needed.” It names who will check, who will apply, whose name appears on the application, who schedules inspection, and what document shows final approval. If the homeowner is expected to do any of that, the quote should say so before work begins.
Also ask what happens if the proposed layout is not approved. Does the contractor revise the drawing within the agreement, submit a change order, or cancel the project? Do not leave that decision for the day materials arrive.
6. Turn the warranty into a repair path
“Warranty included” is not enough. Ask for the complete warranty before signing, and place it beside the quote. Identify who gives each promise. The ramp manufacturer may cover components while the installer covers workmanship. A finish, fastener, or threshold product may have another document entirely.
For each warranty, mark what is covered, what is excluded, when coverage begins, how a problem must be reported, who inspects it, and who pays for removal, travel, labor, shipping, or reinstallation. Check whether coverage requires maintenance records or limits who may repair the ramp.
Ask what happens if the installer stops operating but a manufacturer’s warranty remains. Ask whether coverage transfers if the house changes ownership. If the salesperson promises seasonal adjustments, tightening, or a return visit, put that promise in the signed agreement with the responsible company named.
The Federal Trade Commission advises consumers to read warranties before buying, get spoken promises in writing, and keep the warranty with proof of purchase. Its home-improvement guidance also recommends a written contract that identifies the work, materials, timing, and contractor. These are document checks, not a judgment about whether one design is safe for your mother.
7. Define completion before anyone signs
The final payment trigger should be more specific than “installation complete.” Ask for a completion checklist attached to the agreement. It can require the installed ramp to match the approved drawing, the door to open through its full usable path, rails and edges to be secure, fasteners to be finished, debris to be removed, disturbed ground to be addressed, and required inspection records to be delivered.
Add a walk-through with the mobility device that will use the ramp. The purpose is to catch mismatches while the installer is still responsible for the job. Check the full route in both directions. Include the turn at each landing, the threshold, the door swing, and the transition to the driveway or walkway.
If your mother cannot do that walk-through, name the local person who will. Give that person the drawing and checklist before the appointment. They are verifying the agreed work, not redesigning the project at the door.
Ask how unfinished or disputed items will be recorded. A written list with photographs and a responsible person is easier to manage from a phone than competing memories of a final conversation.
8. Build the folder before the ramp is built
Create one folder with the property address in its name. Save the original quote, revised quote, marked drawing, product descriptions, signed contract, proof of insurance supplied by the contractor, permit records, inspection record, invoices, payment records, warranties, maintenance instructions, and completion photographs.
Keep rejected drawings and change orders, too. A revision should identify what changed and whether the change affects the route, materials, schedule, or warranty. Do not rely on a text message saying the change is “taken care of.” Ask for the contract documents to match the work.
Give one local person access to the final folder, not to every draft scattered through your inbox. If you need someone in St. Louis to photograph the route, attend the measurement, or verify the finished work against the documents, define that assignment narrowly. The Local Help for a St. Louis Parent page explains the role of local eyes without handing over the whole decision.
What to do tonight
Ask for five things in one email: a drawing tied to the chosen door, the measured rise and proposed dimensions, an itemized scope, the full warranty, and the name of the person handling permits and inspection. Attach photographs of the threshold, porch, lower landing area, downspout, path to the car, and the inside approach to the door.
Do not approve the quote until you can trace one continuous route on the drawing and match every spoken promise to a written line. If you need a way to organize the wider long-distance job around this decision, begin with Start Here.
What to leave with the doctor
Leave the construction contract with the contractor. Bring the care team the questions that affect the route: which mobility device your mother is expected to use, whether another person must accompany her, how much clear space that device and helper need, and whether the proposed entrance creates a task she cannot manage, such as opening a heavy door while turning.
Ask for those functional details to be recorded clearly enough that you can give them to the person reviewing the route. The clinician does not need to select the contractor or approve the warranty. The contractor does not need your mother’s medical history. You need the two pieces of information to meet at the doorway.