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BUILDING A BACKYARD HALFPIPE
the TORRES BROS. mini ramp page
Marco (17) and Tony (15). Built summer '99. Still standing.

[ THE PLAN ] [ MATERIALS & $$$ ] [ THE BUILD ] [ DAD'S RULES ] [ THE NEIGHBORS ] [ TIPS ]

WHAT'S UP We're Marco and Tony. We skate. There's no skatepark in our town (there's one about 40 minutes away and Mom is not driving us there every day, she made that real clear) and the cops kick you off every curb and ledge in town. So this summer we built a mini ramp in the backyard. This page is how we did it so you can do it too. It's not that hard, it's mostly just boring (screws, screws, screws, more screws) and it's cheaper than you think. Ours cost about $340 total and that's with buying almost everything new except the coping. We've been skating it since the second week of August and it's the best thing we've ever done. Every kid we know has been over. Even Dad rolled on it once (on his knees, holding the coping, and Mom took a picture). THE PLAN (in words, because our scanner doesn't exist) It's a standard mini ramp. If you know what that is you already get it, if not: it's two curved ramps (transitions) facing each other with a flat part in the middle, and a flat deck on top of each side to stand on. You roll back and forth. Height: 3 feet. That's a good size for a backyard, high enough to be fun, low enough that you don't die and the neighbors can't see it over the fence (mostly, see below). Width: 8 feet. Because plywood is 8 feet. If you make it 8 feet wide you don't have to cut any sheets lengthwise, you just lay them across. Marco figured this out and it saved like a whole weekend. Transition radius: 6 feet. The transitions (the curved parts) are each drawn with a 6-foot radius. We made the curve with a pencil tied to a string nailed 6 feet away, on a sheet of 3/4" plywood, and cut it with a jigsaw. That gives you a curve that's 3 feet tall and comes out about 5 feet 2 inches along the ground. Then we traced that first one to make the other three sides. (Each side of the ramp has two curved side pieces.) Flat bottom: 8 feet. Some people do less. Don't. Less than 8 feet and you don't have time to set up for the next wall. Decks (the flat tops): 2 feet deep on each side. Enough to stand on and drop in from. So total length is about 5'2" + 8' + 5'2" for the curves and the flat, plus 2' + 2' for the decks, which is about 22 and a half feet long and 8 feet wide. Measure your yard FIRST. We didn't and had to move the swing set. Sorry Mom. Frame: 2x4 joists every 8 inches across the transitions (they have to be close together or the plywood makes flat spots in the curve). 2x6 for the bottom sills that sit on the ground, on top of concrete blocks so it's not sitting in the dirt rotting. Surface: two layers of 3/8" plywood, then one layer of 1/4" Masonite (the hardboard, smooth side up) on top. Two layers of ply bend around the curve way easier than one layer of 3/4", and the seams don't line up so there's no bumps. The Masonite is what makes it fast and smooth. Screw everything, no nails, and countersink the screws so they're below the surface or your wheels will find every single one. Coping: 2-inch steel pipe (it's really about 2 3/8" outside, it's the kind they use for chain link fence posts) along the top edge of each transition where it meets the deck. It sticks up about 3/8" above the deck and out a little over the ramp so you can grind it and hear that noise. You have to notch the top of each side piece so the pipe sits in it. We drilled through the pipe and screwed it down into the frame from inside. MATERIALS LIST & WHAT IT COST All from the lumber yard on the highway except where it says. Prices are what we paid in July 1999, yours will be different. Tony kept the receipts in a shoe box so this is real. What How many Cost 3/4" plywood, 4x8 (for the curved sides and the deck tops) 4 sheets $88 3/8" plywood, 4x8 (two layers on the riding surface) 10 sheets $100 1/4" Masonite hardboard, 4x8 (the top layer) 5 sheets $35 2x4 x 8' (joists, deck framing) 28 $56 2x6 x 8' (bottom sills) 6 $24 Deck screws, 1 5/8" and 2 1/2" (you need SO many) two 5-lb boxes $26 Concrete blocks to keep the sills off the dirt 12 $14 2" steel pipe for coping, two 8' pieces (from the scrap metal place, used) 16 feet $12 Jigsaw blades, drill bits, a countersink bit, string, pencils   $9 TOTAL $364 minus what the lumber yard gave us back for six 2x4s we never used and a box of screws we never opened -$24 WHAT IT REALLY COST US $340 Tools we borrowed and didn't pay for: Dad's cordless drill (dead battery every 20 minutes, get two batteries), Mr. Alvarado's circular saw and jigsaw, a level, a speed square, two sawhorses. If you don't have a drill and a jigsaw, borrow them. Doing 900 screws with a screwdriver is not a thing. Where the money came from: Marco mows lawns and had $200 saved. Tony had $60 from his birthday. Dad put in the rest and said it's a loan, and then said it wasn't, and then said it was again when we left the drill out in the rain. THE BUILD: 4 WEEKENDS Weekend 1 (July 10-11): Measured the yard, moved the swing set (sorry Mom), leveled a spot, laid out the concrete blocks. Cut the four curved side pieces out of 3/4" ply with the string-and-pencil trick. Tony messed up the first one (the string stretched) and we had to re-do it. Tip: use something that doesn't stretch. We used a piece of wire for the second try. Weekend 2 (July 17-18): Framing. Built the bottom sills, stood up the side pieces, and put in the 2x4 joists every 8 inches across the transitions and the decks. This is the boring weekend. Also the hottest weekend. Mom brought out about a hundred popsicles. Weekend 3 (July 24-25): First layer of 3/8" ply on the transitions. You bend it around the curve, starting at the bottom, with one guy holding and one guy screwing. Screws every 8 inches along every joist. Then the second layer, with the seams in different places than the first. Then the flat bottom, which is easy. Marco's cousin Eddie came to help and mostly skated the flat bottom before it was done. Weekend 4 (July 31-Aug 1): Masonite on top, smooth side up, screws countersunk so they're just under the surface. Notched the tops of the side pieces and set the coping. Screwed down the deck tops. Went over the whole thing with a hand and found like 30 screws that were sticking up. Fixed them. Went over it again. Aug 7: First real session. Marco dropped in first because he's older, fell, got up, dropped in again and made it. Tony made it first try and will never let it go. We skated till it got dark and Dad turned the porch light on. DAD'S RULES (posted on the garage, not negotiable) 1. HELMETS. EVERYBODY. NO HELMET, NO RAMP. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE 19. 2. NO SKATING BEFORE 9 A.M. OR AFTER 9 P.M. THE NEIGHBORS HAVE JOBS. 3. NO MORE THAN 4 FRIENDS OVER AT ONCE. THIS IS A YARD, NOT A SKATEPARK. 4. FRIENDS' PARENTS KNOW THEY ARE HERE. I WILL ASK. 5. TARP GOES ON WHEN IT RAINS AND EVERY NIGHT. YOU BUILT IT, YOU KEEP IT. 6. HOMEWORK FIRST ON SCHOOL DAYS. YOUR MOTHER WILL CHECK. 7. ANYBODY WHO GETS HURT GOES TO YOUR MOTHER, NOT TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM ON THEIR OWN. 8. NO MUSIC LOUDER THAN THE SKATING. 9. IF MRS. PELLETIER CALLS, THE RAMP IS CLOSED FOR THE DAY. NO ARGUING. 10. I GET TO TRY IT WHENEVER I WANT AND NOBODY LAUGHS. We break rule 10 constantly. THE NEIGHBOR SITUATION Okay so a mini ramp is LOUD. We didn't think about that. Every time you hit the coping it's like a gunshot and the whole ramp is basically a giant wooden drum. Mrs. Pelletier next door called Dad the second day. She was pretty nice about it actually but she works nights and sleeps in the mornings. So here's what we did. (1) The 9 a.m. rule became a 10 a.m. rule on weekdays. (2) We put a layer of old carpet under the bottom sills where they sit on the blocks, which cut the noise down a lot, we don't totally know why. (3) Tony went over and offered to mow her lawn, and she said no but she did say her grandson skates and could he come over sometime. His name's Jordan, he's 13, he's here like every Saturday now, and Mrs. Pelletier hasn't called since. She did bring cookies once. Marco says it's the Mom Technique and it works on all moms and grandmas. The guy on the other side, Mr. Reyes, came over the first week and stood there with his arms crossed for a while and we thought we were done for, and then he said "I had a quarterpipe when I was your age" and asked if the joists were on 8-inch centers. Then he lent us a real countersink bit. Old guys who skated are the best neighbors. TIPS IF YOU BUILD ONE Ask your parents FIRST. Like, with a drawing and a price. Dad said yes mostly because Marco showed up with the whole plan on paper and said we'd pay for most of it. Make it 8 feet wide so you never rip a sheet of plywood. Screws, not nails. Countersink every one. Check with your hand, then check again. Two thin layers bend, one thick layer doesn't. Get the sills up off the dirt on blocks or it rots in a year. Buy a tarp. Masonite that gets rained on swells up and gets bumpy. We learned that in August after one storm and had to replace one sheet. Carpet under the sills for noise. Talk to the neighbors before they talk to your parents. Four sheets of 3/4" is enough for the sides and the decks, with one to spare for when you mess up a curve. Count your 2x4s before you buy; we over-bought. Helmet. Seriously. Tony split his lip in week two even with one. Without one it would have been his head. WHAT'S NEXT Fall's here and we've got maybe a month or two before it's too cold and wet. We want to: add a 2-foot extension on one side to make it 5 feet (Dad says "we'll see," which means no), put a little spine or a hip on it next summer, and get some pictures on here. Mom's camera has half a roll in it. When it's full we'll get it developed and figure out how to scan them at the library. LINKS Kickflip Kyle's Skate Page - Kyle's 15 like Tony. Kyle, come skate our ramp. The Basement Tapes: Our Garage Band - if your parents let you build a ramp, they might let you have a band. Or not. The Pinewood Derby Workshop - we both did this in Cub Scouts, it's where Marco learned to use a jigsaw. The Board Game Closet - Walt runs the Hobby Horse ring we're on. Different kind of board. Pipeline neighborhood

skaters have rolled through since August 15, 1999

[email protected]
Questions about the ramp? E-mail us. Marco answers the building stuff, Tony answers everything else.

Last updated 9/23/99 · © 1999 Marco & Tony

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