While serving our customers’ needs, we recognized something that made no sense.

Over 20 years of building, installing, selling and renting wheelchair ramps, we realized that not all of our clients necessarily need a long wheelchair ramp if they have the ability to walk on their own with a walker or a cane. It’s just that their walker’s feet are spread too wide apart to fit on their existing steps, and for many, the average 7-inch step up is too tall for them to lift their own body weight. I also hear them say, “I don’t want a big ramp cluttering up my garage or front lawn.” We listened.

Instead of a long ramp, clients asked if we could build them some larger stair surfaces.

Of course we can. We’re a remodeling company who specializes in helping people with accessibility challenges. So, we would send out a couple of carpenters to build a set of oversize wood stairs with handrails. Sounds simple, but any contractor knows just how time consuming and labor intensive this is. And now with the prices of lumber, decking, stair rails and steel fasteners, we would have to charge the client a few thousand dollars for all the time, labor and costs. The sad thing is, when the temporary wooden steps were no longer needed, they would pay us again to remove the wood steps and put them in the dumpster. What a waste. Nothing against wheelchair ramps, if the client or the family really needs to get out of a house with a wheelchair in an emergency. We care deeply about user safety, so we install lots of modular aluminum ramps for people who cannot manage any stairs at all. But looking at all our aluminum ramp parts got us to thinking. Why can’t we stack these modular aluminum ramp modules like a series of steps? And why not make the legs adjustable so we can give the client whatever height they can manage. And just like aluminum ramp parts, these steps can be adapted to fit existing spaces. This was the genesis of the TreadCraft™ Walker Stair Kit.

Once we started field testing our kits, we learned some real-world facts.

• People prefer to put their walker stairs inside their attached garage, out of the weather, especially in cold winter climates.
• Assembling an ADA compliant ramp in a garage usually means having to park your car on the driveway. A code-compliant walker stair kit can leave enough room to park inside.
• Because our stair treads are adaptable, we don’t have to tear out the clients’ existing stairs, which they especially appreciate if the walker steps are only needed during recovery after surgery.
• Since our walker stair kit is manufactured in the same plant that manufactures modular aluminum ramps, we made our walker stair kit compatible to attach to a platform and even add ramps to the layout if a family would prefer the assurance of having both options.
• A surprising percentage of wheelchair users, given some sturdy handrails, can stand to take a few steps to get into their house. Our oversize stair treads and handrails give them a more stable way to get up through their attached garage door, then sit back down once inside.