Access ramp into the house!

[Lincolnshire Ian]

Hi folks

We are nearly finished - hooray! 

We have a conundrum with level access to the house. The difference in height from the edge of the door to 15cm below the vent is 40cm, this means we need a 4.8m long access ramp to get into the house. This has the potential to look rubbish! 

The front door is 8m from the road. 

Any ideas how I could make this look nice? 

Thanks 

[BotusBuild]

Wrap it round that support post?

 

                       DOOR

_______<______ 

|   ▪︎ (post)

|______>______

[crispy_wafer]

I’m sure I’ve read on here that others have lashed something up that resembles an access ramp to get through building control, then when building control have duly signed off, you can remove and get on with life!

[Russell griffiths]

Roll of plastic up the front of the house, 2 cubic metres of weak concrete

build the ramp to spec, get it signed off

pull the ramp out and chuck it in a skip. 
pain in the arse, but I completely don’t agree with these regs so just work around it. 

[Tony L]

Or have some lovely steps at your front door & make your Part M level access at the back door.

[Russell griffiths]

15 minutes ago, Tony L said:

Or have some lovely steps at your front door & make your Part M level access at the back door.

Mine is like this.  

[Gone West]

We had a similar layout and our ramp ran from the left, in front of the house.

[Dreadnaught]

I have the same issue. Will have an attractive landing and steps – and a meandering path for weeding the flower beds to one side that doubles as the access ramp. 

 

I am required to meet Part M(2) so the landing needs to be 1.2m x 1.2m.

[Paulgwat]

Assuming you put a level platform directly in front of the front door, create the ramp heading left towards the corner of the property.

 

instead of having the ramps sloping side visible build a level wall to its front most side to replicate the 3 courses of black brick and however many courses of yellow brick you have on the existing frontage - we have a similar issue and we are having the ramp to the left handside and steps to the right, the wall itself will be a thin planter that will include trailing plants to soften the wall - thankfully we are helped in that the slope of our plot actually reduces the amount we need to travel downwards over its length - otherwise it would look like an olympic downhill ski slope!

 

from straight on all you would see is the area to the far left where the ramp would turn onto ground level, the rest would appear to match the existing frontage. 

[Gus Potter]

On 20/05/2026 at 18:53, Lincolnshire Ian said:

We are nearly finished - hooray! 

What is at the back of the house? Is there another easy way of achieving the access requirements? 

[saveasteading]

We have this issue. A patio door opens on to an area that has to be low fof drainage. As levelvaccess is desirable anyway we are intending to make the area from slabs or large tiles supported by mapei pedestals. They leave a gap fit drainage. Maximum grade is 5%.

I can't say this works for you but it may he an option. There is another manufacturer too.

[Lincolnshire Ian]

On 22/05/2026 at 01:24, Gus Potter said:

What is at the back of the house? Is there another easy way of achieving the access requirements? 

The threshold is more than 15mm at the back, so, unfortunately this isn't an option. 

[Lincolnshire Ian]

On 22/05/2026 at 01:02, Paulgwat said:

Assuming you put a level platform directly in front of the front door, create the ramp heading left towards the corner of the property.

 

instead of having the ramps sloping side visible build a level wall to its front most side to replicate the 3 courses of black brick and however many courses of yellow brick you have on the existing frontage - we have a similar issue and we are having the ramp to the left handside and steps to the right, the wall itself will be a thin planter that will include trailing plants to soften the wall - thankfully we are helped in that the slope of our plot actually reduces the amount we need to travel downwards over its length - otherwise it would look like an olympic downhill ski slope!

 

from straight on all you would see is the area to the far left where the ramp would turn onto ground level, the rest would appear to match the existing frontage. 

I really like this idea. It sounds as if this is your intention to address it in this way, rather than already completed. If it has been finished I'd really appreciate a cheaky picture. 

Thanks 

[saveasteading]

It's a good idea to make a ramp if you can. We get older, have injuries or so do relatives or friends.

[Lincolnshire Ian]

Just now, saveasteading said:

It's a good idea to make a ramp if you can. We get older, have injuries or so do relatives or friends.

... we went through the thought process of thinking about making a temporary ramp and reverting to steps. Then we remembered why we fitted a downstairs shower room with a comfort toilet. We may be only 59, but over the next 15 years there is bound to be a hip replacement or something similar on the horizon.