New Construction-Front entry step in to house too high-Not to code
4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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chicagoans
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Does your house have a step up into the front door?
Comments (44)I have a walkway leading to the step-up at the front door and like a flower bed between the walkway and the house foundation, where water stands and at the front door. when it rains we can't hardly Step down on it to get to the driveway. what can I do. please help....See MoreHelp me design new front steps, please
Comments (24)Here's a vote for NOT doing the railing in white or any color other than black. Keep it traditional! There's nothing like beautiful black railings, not to mention, regardless of what you do with your house's colors in the future, black railings will work. On to the steps: first thing is make sure you understand your city's codes and regs. You might not be permitted to reduce the height of the risers, as some have suggested, and I suppose it's possible that a deck-type construction in the place of the top step might not be allowed either. (It's really amazing the number of things covered by codes.) With regs on the depth of treads and height of risers, doing any kind of deck or landing will require that the steps be extended, at least by the depth of a full riser to replace that bit in front of the door. (I think that's correct.) In that case, I think you'll have to go down sideways and then right angle straight down toward the street -- there isn't room to go all the way down because you'll cut into the sidewalk. And that's probably against code as well, not to mention displeasing aesthetically. We had a very similar situation here with our back steps, the ones we use all the time: door to a mudroom, with concrete steps going sideways (but each was as long as the mudroom!) from a concrete landing (equally long, or wide if you will -- the whole thing looked like some kind of loading dock!) We now have: a small covered porch in front of the door, about 3 feet by 7 feet; one step going down sideways along the side of the house onto a landing that is about 4 feet by 4 feet; then right angle down straight 3 more steps. The porch, landing and treads are native bluestone; the sides of the whole thing look like dry-laid stone but are in fact cemented in; but the inside consists of the broken-up concrete. The railings are black. They are hand-forged in a design of the fabricator's making, and look 18th century. They had to be done according to code, i.e., a certain height, a certain distance between each spindle or whatever it's called, all around the porch,and then down from the landing to the last tread. Not cheap, unfortunately, but when the building inspector came by to check on the finished work, he didn't even get out of the car....took one look, said they were among the most beautiful he'd ever seen, gave us his blessing, and left. I got the idea for stone steps and iron railings after dealing with always-rotting wood and/or always-deteriorating paint at our former house. I was so sick of having to paint at least every other year! Our stone steps and iron look gorgeous, and they are virtually maintenance free, so I suppose the cost is something I no longer think about! And in fact, given the cost of wood and the labor cost in doing the construction, it's not clear what the marginal increase in cost of stone/iron over wood actually was. which leads, in a rambling way to this: what direction does your weather come from? Our wood steps at the old house were directly in the line of storms, and snow would collect and sit on them. Hence the rot and peeling paint. If you decide to go with wooden steps, I strongly urge you to use the absolute best paint you can. Something like Fine Paints of Europe. I finally used FPE on the wood porch railing at the old place, but never used anything but Benjamin Moore on the landing and treads. Year after year, the latter had to be redone while the former looked as good as when I first painted. Sorry for the ramble today....many things going on around me!...See MoreNew construction vs old construction home values
Comments (19)My fiance and I have been looking to buy our first home for almost a year now. We have been looking for an older home (pre 1930's), because we love the historical feel, especially victorian architecture. A lot of us have that same dream. When I was a teen, I was dating a guy that was in a fraternity that was out of a beautiful Victorian. I remember the stairway, the flowers that were engraved in the wood. I remember the "dome room" and while it was a PITA to put furniture in, amazed me every time I went into it. I remember beautiful moldings, everything was etched and 3 or 4 fireplaces. It had a decent sized kitchen from what I remember, also had a servant room. Man I loved that house and swore that one day, if I could afford to have the house moved I would. The house was located in one of the worst neighborhoods. You had to lock your doors to drive there and run in the house. I bet that in it's day, it was one of the grandest houses. They ended up knocking it down, don't know when but I drove by about 16 years ago, there was nothing on the lot. Anyway, a lot of us have the same dream, to own a beautiful, grand house. Reality is the lack of things needed to live in it in today's world as Tricia said. Since you are not married with kids yet, it wouldn't really matter much, you would probably get by fine. Once you have kids and they start getting older is when you will notice how hard it is to raise a family there unless you luck out and get a house that has larger rooms where you can make closets, or one that has a decent kitchen. I wonder then if my fiance and I should actually change our dream to accomodate the current economy and the deals available? IMO, this might be a good idea, at least for now. Being newly married can be stressful. Unless the 2 of you are currently living together, you have to learn to live with your partner. How do both of you handle stress? Buying a house that you are working on all of the time is very stressful and could eventually start pulling you apart. You'll come home from work some days so tired but you have to sand & throw another coat of spackle on, or paint, or run out to the home store to buy supplies. Hubby & I worked on our last house starting 2 years after I moved in. We removed paneling, faux brick, painted, put in floors as well as putting a new floor frame on a concrete slab in the laundry area to build it up so that we could put a floor down. By the time we sold we were tired & cranky. Add to this a roof, electric upgrade, plumbing, which was a job in itself since there was only 1 shutoff valve, which meant we lost water for the day. We also did central air, a hot water heater as well as new furnace, and had planned to redo all of the baseboards as well. Are there any houses that are in between the old house and new construction for a compromise? You might be able to live a little bit more comfortably and not have to work as hard. It will also give you an idea of how the 2 of you work together as a team (or not). You can save the Victorian house for later on...See MoreFront Porch Off Small Entry Steps (Different Depths)
Comments (2)You need a min 3' landing in front of your door if you going to alter the existing set up to meet the code. You also have a fire hydrant there (is that real or fake?) if this is a real one you have to check to make sure you meet access clearances before you wrap your new deck around it and also a hose bib needs to be moved....See MoreVirgil Carter Fine Art
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoVirgil Carter Fine Art
5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
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5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
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5 years agoMark Bischak, Architect
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5 years agoDaryl Gibson
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago4337 Tupper Lake Way
5 years agoUser
5 years agoCharles Ross Homes
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5 years agoTerri Stewart
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