Should a front porch have a step down, or be flush?
Betsey Thompson
11 years ago
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Comments (13)
abdrury
11 years agonini804
11 years agoRelated Discussions
front porch/steps /landscaping help needed
Comments (13)There's a lot you can do with the front yard and steps depending on your cost. Like others have suggested, you might want to put in wider steps, maybe do stone steps with a paver pathway out to the driveway. I would encourage planting some grasses off to the right of the steps if your facing the house, not to close to the steps, and maybe put some small flowers in a bed around the grasses. It also could look good to run a flower bed from near the step across the front of your home and along the retaining wall. As for the large open space in the front and side of your yard there are so many options. You can do a few different flower beds to break up the area, including one farther out towards the curb with a tree in it to add some closure to your yard if you want. You could do planter boxes along the side of the house if you like gardening to help get some elevation away from critters. There even looks like enough space to do a small circle patio with firepit if you really want out in the middle area 45 degrees and 30-40 ft out from the retaining wall if you want though it would lack some privacy being in the front yard. So many options. Ultimately I'd check out some local landscape design firms or contractors portfolios to get some more visual ideas....See Morefront porch help-old concrete steps
Comments (3)I would not waste effort into tiling the porch. Within a short period of time, tile would start coming loose and off, making it look much worse. (There is a recent thread with this exact problem.) Wherever a crack is in the porch now, it would migrate through the tile. The bullnose corner could not be tiled. Patching in the broken part that holds the railing post, or using a larger base plate is not going to hold. If you added tread depth on to the bottom step such that the area that held the railing is surrounded by additional concrete, and patched the broken part in the process, it would hold longer. But truthfully, all you can do with this is put band-aids on it. The permanent solution is demolish and rebuild. If you do that, first explore the landing and walk to see what associated parts should be reconfigured in the process....See Moreweird steps on front porch
Comments (7)IMO the storm needs to go and honestly with good insulated doors there really is no need for storm doors anymore and if you like to have the air from a screen door get a phantom screen but either way you need to have a much larger front entry and for that you might need to get a stone mason to help with the design My first thought would be to make the whole entry the same height as that bottom step ....See MoreFront Steps and Porch Railing Advice
Comments (6)A simple back railing is what we’re hoping for but the inspector said that the required handrails shall be of one of the following types or provide equivalent graspability. 1.Type I. Handrails with a circular cross section shall have an outside diameter of not less than 11/4 inches (32 mm) and not greater than 2 inches (51 mm). If the handrail is not circular, it shall have a perimeter of not less than 4 inches (102 mm) and not greater than 61/4 inches (160 mm) and a cross section of not more than 21/4 inches (57 mm). Edges shall have a radius of not less than 0.01 inch (0.25 mm). 2.Type II. Handrails with a perimeter greater than 61/4 inches (160 mm) shall have a graspable finger recess area on both sides of the profile. The finger recess shall begin within 3/4 inch (19 mm) measured vertically from the tallest portion of the profile and have a depth of not less than 5/16 inch (8 mm) within 7/8 inch (22 mm) below the widest portion of the profile. This required depth shall continue for not less than 3/8 inch (10 mm) to a level that is not less than 13/4 inches (45 mm) below the tallest portion of the profile. The width of the handrail above the recess shall be not less than 11/4 inches (32 mm) and not more than 23/4 inches (70 mm). Edges shall have a radius of not less than 0.01 inch (0.25 mm). He also provided the picture below. I’m now wondering if a simple black railing meets the above requirements for “graspability”....See MoreSpringtimeHomes
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