The appraiser who came to our house told us that the railing is something the bank specifically looks for and stated that he needed to disclose this to the bank. He told us the bank required anything higher than 3 feet to have a railing and that we were at 3 1/2 feet. Funny because here you say 30" and he said 3 feet. Our mortgage broker called and said that we need to have a second "completion appraisal". Apparently the appraiser will come back out to the house and check it out and report back to the bank. I have left a message for the appraiser to see what he suggests we do. My husband and I thought at the very least we can just build up a half a foot of soil in front of the walkway. He also mentioned about taping it off with caution tape and not have it be used but I am afraid that won't "pass". Plus with it being Halloween soon it may just look like halloween decor. So my question here is if we do have to construct some sort of wood railing how would we go about doing so and have it be secure and can it be done without securing it to the house or porch? Thanks!

This is pretty blurry- from a screenshot on my phone. The porch is 8 feet deep at the door and 6 feet deep in front of the window. Another thought I had was to simply add a railing even though we don't need it. I don't want a post in front of the window. Our steps will be the width of the front door with sidelights. Does this help?

OK, you all have convinced me to eliminate the oak look of the risers. While I'm too conservative to paint them, I'm thrilled with the many options for stick on riser decals that can be readily removed, including one with the pattern I've been nuts about for ages! It's called Astra, here. BUT -- back to the newel post/handrail for the upper section of this stairway.....previous comments were that we don't have the open wall for the spindles and we have no place for a newel post. I need to understand if the change I want to make isn't feasible, when it seems to me like it should be...please helps!

Wider beds with more loose and open/airy landscaping will help fool the eye about all that. Hanging a wreath on the brick to the right side of the door can help camouflage the difference. On the right rail, add a metal security bar attached to the actual hand rail. That will be practical and will "fill" some of the imbalance of the larger space. I'll try to find the pic I saved of that.