Anyone done a cement/brick ramp into the front of their house?

[RJC]

Anyone done a cement/brick ramp into the front of their house? Instead of wooden... blended into the landscaping so it's minimally noticeable?

[royb]

yeah I could see that being done and it have a brick wall that kind of looks like it would be part of a porch and a ramp on the backside so you cant tell from the road.

[sarcastrix]

yeah I could see that being done and it have a brick wall that kind of looks like it would be part of a porch and a ramp on the backside so you cant tell from the road.

That's exactly how I did mine as the entrance door was 90 degree to the street. Steps to the front and the concrete ramp on the opposite side running parallel to the side of the house so when viewed from the street you only saw the steps. Where possible I prefer to landscape a ramp (wooden deck incorporating a ramp) on the rear of the property as not to advertise the fact that I use a w/c.

[RollinPositive]

Anyone done a cement/brick ramp into the front of their house? Instead of wooden... blended into the landscaping so it's minimally noticeable?

talk to your local college or university architecture department and ask if one of the students can take on the design as a project.

Explain you want it to blend and be inconspicuous.

Young brains will get it!

[RollinPositive]

[RollinPositive]

[RollinPositive]

The biggest issue is men mentality big and over build is better!

But most of us want small and none noticeable!

[NW-Will]

That brick one has a nice aesthetic that makes it blend quite nicely.
Combining a ramp with steps, just makes the ramp stick out, if the ramp is done well everyone will use the ramp and the steps become superfluous .

[crags]

My concrete ramp is parallel to the house and is hidden from the street by a row bushes which I planted. As the ramp cannot drain like wood (use TREX instead) decking at the bottom of the ramp one needs to consider how runoff will be obtained. I had some poor drainage at the bottom of my ramp and they put in a drainage grate across the bottom of the ramp which is then directly to an area of my lawn.

If funds are less of an issue and one is using concrete, I would highly recommend installing an electrical the icing system in the ramp. It lessens dependence and improved safety.

Bear in mind, and this is very important, that if one decides to install a deicing system that you choose the system and get it designed properly to work with your ramp layout before you hire a masonry contractor. This is critical, as often times PVC routing tubes for the leads that come out of the deicing mats will have to be installed on the day of the concrete pour and the masonry contractor will not do it. It would behoove you to have the electrical installer on scene the day of the pour to do this.

Lastly, if one chooses a deicing system, make sure to have all parts tested after the boxes are open, lest you embed a defective part under 6 inches of concrete.