Need ideas for accessibility modifications

[mathnerd]

Attached is a picture of the outside front entry of my house. It's obviously not easy for the kid that uses a wheelchair more often than not. He can sometimes bump up and down the stairs on his butt, however that's not ideal long term. I've been searching for ideas that will make getting into the house easier for him (and for the other one with the bone disease on the less frequent occasions when walking is difficult for him as well), but I want it to look good as well. I'm not very good at design stuff.

To be quite honest, I adore the look of the front door in all it's spooky glory. I don't want to kill that look. This is also the entry to the house that would be the easiest to convert. There's a sidewalk that goes off to the left and around to the back the house, but there's a step up leading through the fence to the back yard, and there's 5 steps from the back yard to the sliding glass doors in the dining room. The door to the rec room has a small step, but that leads to the first floor (the middle floor is the main floor of the house, where the front door and dining room door lead to).

Since neither kid is completely paralyzed, and the little one has at least some use of his legs, it's not strictly necessary to have a ramp. The minimum would at least be some sort of handrail. I'm clueless what might actually look good, and hoping some of you guys might have some ideas.

Okay, I tried to attach the thing, but the "upload" button on the pop up window won't work. Here's the picture:

[KuariKaydrith]

I don't know that a handrail would be enough, but if you did one it would definitely have to be very well anchored with footing sunk into the ground/step. Have you thought about a removable ramp that can be flipped up when not required?

If it were my house and I was looking to make it more accessible (I've got a younger sister who is in a wheelchair but can get around on her butt if necessary), I'd just do away with the stairs and put a cement ramp in. It would obviously have to come out farther than the stairs do so you can avoid a steep slope, and it probably wouldn't be that difficult with the right forms and cement used.

[Teefies2]

It looks to me like you could put a ramp in off to the left, that would be hidden by the plants there. It could be used when needed, and not seen when not. A hand rail could be anchored into those bricks on the right and painted/stained to match the colors surrounding them. And what exactly is that above the bricks? Is that something that you could anchor a handrail into? I don't know where you're located, so there might be some differences to adjust for winter, but it seems like solutions are available.

I'm not a designer or gardener or even remotely handy, but it looks to me like the fixes needed here would be fairly simple and cheap. Good luck!

[protege]

I don't know that a handrail would be enough, but if you did one it would definitely have to be very well anchored with footing sunk into the ground/step. Have you thought about a removable ramp that can be flipped up when not required?

If you put in a handrail, make sure that it's sturdy enough. A thick wrought-iron post or even heavy aluminum railing would work. Plus, you can get them in various styles and colors as not to detract from the house.

I'd just do away with the stairs and put a cement ramp in. It would obviously have to come out farther than the stairs do so you can avoid a steep slope, and it probably wouldn't be that difficult with the right forms and cement used.

Installing a ramp shouldn't be too hard. The steps would have to come out, which could be expensive. If you take them out yourself, be prepared to spend hours with a big sledgehammer and pry bars. Otherwise, look at renting or hiring someone that has a jackhammer. That thing will make short work of demolition.

Another expensive item would be repouring the concrete. From personal experience, it's not cheap either. After I took out my front porch steps (great fun, BTW ), replacing them cost about $2,000 with railings another $600

[mathnerd]

The expense of pouring concrete is one of the reasons I'm searching for alternatives. The walk leading to the stairs curves, so it wouldn't be a simple, straight ramp either. Plus we don't want it to look bad.

Teefies2, that thing above the bricks is a fake roof overhang that's at the level of the ceiling of the lowest floor. The house is a tri-level split, built into a hill. The front door opens into the middle floor, which extends to the left. To the right there are stairs going up and down. The main floor forms a T with the two other floors. We have some things to do inside the house as well.

[BlaqueKatt]

do a search for "removable accessibility ramps" there's a lot of non-permanant options out there.

like these

and this type

[NorthernZel]

Like Kuari, I'd also think of an aluminum or light stain-free steel ramp with hinges and a hand rail, so you can flip the ramp down when needed and flipped up against the hand rail when you don't. My BIL made one for my now deceased FIL, and it didn't take much time to construct it.

[csquared]

If you go with a handrail, don't get one that bolts to the surface. Instead, have the cement bored out and the set the handrail into the steps/landing.

[TheSHAD0W]

I could design something for you, but I'd need more information. A scale drawing of the area (or a drawing with measurements where a scale drawing could be derived).