Lowering the front door
 

I am in the process of redesigning my house and it seems that the only way I can get my stairs to fit and meet code is if I lower my front door 4 feet and create a split-entry. I was wondering how difficult this would be? It seems to me that it is pretty straightforward. I just want to make sure that there are no surprises that would make this very difficult. I currently have a block wall foundation. The hardest part that I can find would be how to match the brick on the exterior. Is there anything else that would fit with brick and stucco?

Thanks for any suggestions,
Tim

Hi fedie.

This doesnt sound very straight forward to me. We are going to need some pics and some more details to help you out.

Welcome Fedie:
Will lowering the door put any part of your door below grade?
If you remove the bricks carefully below the door; they can be used back above the door. Or you could put a panel of stucco above the door.
Glenn

Sounds weird to me. I would go for a variance to keep stair rise/run the same as current unless its too steep to be comfortable or you have a specific design criteria to lower the door.

Yeah it is kind of hard to explain. The house is built on a hill and the owner before me decided to install a tuck-under garage. Right now, in order to get to the front door you have to go up 8 feet in elevation from the driveway. This grade change is held up by a retaining wall. So it is feasible grade-wise on the exterior and would make it look better. And I was planning on putting a window in the hole that is above the door. I am attaching an existing and proposed interior layout. In the existing layout, in order to make the stairs more friendly I would have to extend them further into the kitchen.

Thanks

Would a landing in the stairs help with the run problem?