News — ADA Pads & Your Business

By Janne Flisrand       Janne Flisrand spends her time thinking about how people interact with the space around them. Why do they (or don't they) walk or bike or shop somewhere? How do spaces feel? Why do people sit here and not there? Why bus instead of bike, bike instead of drive? What sorts of spaces build community, and what sorts kills it? Can spaces build civic trust and engagement? Does ADA Even Apply to Sidewalks? I live just off Franklin, and have regularly bussed and biked along it for decades. One day many years ago, I was surprised to...

Have you ever exited a Target and been jolted awake by your cart being bounced around, unable to control and vibrations passing though every inch of your body? You may have looked down at those colorful, odd-looking squares near the exit and asked yourself "Why? What are those things? Why are they necessary?!?...They just spilled my coffee!!!" What most of the population does not know is that these colorful squares actually serve a very important purpose! What is the Purpose of ADA Tactile Warning Pads? Tactile warnings provide a distinctive surface pattern of “truncated domes” or cones (which are small...

In the past, there was no choice. If you had to install truncated domes to make your property ADA compliant, you had to hire a contractor. Preferably, a contractor with experience installing ADA tiles, or paving tiles. Because back then, the only option was “wet set” domes, also called “cast-in-place” style truncated domes. Installing wet-set tiles means pouring fresh concrete, and, during the process of pouring that wet concrete, an expert contractor would need to embed, properly level, and secure truncated domes tiles. Expensive, dirty, time consuming work. No possibility for do-it-yourself. But lo! Anonymous geniuses came up with a new product: surface...

Federal and California Truncated Domes Regulations—What's the Difference?These days, the only essential difference between federal regulations and California regulations for truncated domes is this: California requires a minimum 3-foot depth in the dominant direction of travel. California also requires that truncated domes installed on state-owned public access properties be yellow in color. However, the "contrast rule" of the ADA and federal guidelines, will override this. That contrast rule requires ADA truncated domes or pads to contrast in color with the surrounding surface on which they are mounted. And that makes sense; installing yellow truncated domes tiles on a yellow-painted concrete surface...