Disabled access

[Blackrose1978]

This thread has been helpful in my research. In our lovely state most of the local haunted houses were shut down even a small one at a pumpkin patch and temporary ones because of fire codes and such. So now the nearest one is a few hours away. My goal is to eventually have a local haunt. I know it may take another year or two but I am patient

[tattman98]

Black rose it is always best to go to your local fire chief and get the do's and don't from
him. That way you can comply to the best of your ability,and if you buy anything that says it is fireproof,(ALWAYS !!!!!!!!!!!) retain the original packaging,they will ask you for the proof. Best to do it right the first time,because tearing it all down and redoing is absolutely no fun. Have learned this from personal experience............

[Abundant Meat]

Good stuff to know. I found a place that has no ramp in the front but has a very long ramp in the back where the loading dock is. I think this would be a good start for a handicap access for wheelchairs. It also has a bathroom with railing and such around it that is quite wide so I'm hoping this would be sufficient. The front is only stair access going up however.

I definitely want to do anything I can to assist those that are handicapped. I just don't understand how it is entirely possible if I incorporate things like a claustrophobia room? A wheel chair would rip the material like nothing. Do you just shut off that portion of the house in the instance someone with a wheelchair comes in?

Tattman98...if you don't mind me asking what things did they make you tear down for? Was it only because of the lack of fireproofing evidence from packaging? Did anything else get brought up by them as a negative thing? I just want to make sure I can soak up all the information possible before I build.

I will be charging for entrance so I want to make sure everything is done the right way.

[Darkmaster]

With bars in the bathroom, you would think there should be a ramp in the front.

With a claustrophobic room, creat another path that would bypass the room, or that portion. When we were at Busch Gardens, they had a seperate path in areas that a wheelchair would not go, and an assistant to inform them. Unfortunately, some scenes had to be missed. But, our wheelchair was accessible to all the haunts.

[tattman98]

Actually Abundant meat,that was the first year we did anything like that for the public.
And we did not contact the proper authorities before we set up. They came down and inspected us,and found we did not use fireproof plastic. So we had to tear all the plastic down purchase fireproof plastic and basically start all over. It was an expensive lesson to learn,but we did and have been haunting for many years now. We now have one of the safest Moose basements in the area. We have installed new hand railings,rewired most of the basement so that it was up to code,had all fire extinguishers replaced or recharged.
And even applied a no slip strip to the stairs going down to the haunt. And if we use any cardboard or material that is not fireproof we spray it down with a fire retardant spray,that cost us about 70.00 dollars a gallon. but it will go a long way if used correctly. Since that first year we keep learning to keep up with the codes in our area.
It might be kind of a PITA, but we have learned to cooperate with our local fire chief and building inspector. They are only doing their job to keep the public safe.