Ramp vs regrade the entry

The front door has two or three steps and someone in the house is done pretending those are fine. A ramp is the thing people google. Regrading the walk so the ground comes up to the threshold is the other job, and a rubber threshold ramp is the third, much smaller one. The right answer starts with a tape measure on the rise, not with a catalog photo of a cedar switchback.

This is a hire for anything that changes the yard or the structure. A suitcase ramp you can fold is a cart. A 24-foot run with landings is a contractor. We are not walking you through footings.

If the scare is inside the house, doorway width and grab bars are the next rooms. Stay here for the stoop.

How long is this ramp, really?

The ADA Standards cap running slope at 1:12. That means one inch of vertical rise needs at least twelve inches of ramp run. A 24-inch porch is a 24-foot ramp before landings and turns. A 36-inch stoop is 36 feet. The Access Board also caps a single run at 30 inches of rise, wants 36 inches of clear width between handrails, wants level landings at top and bottom, and wants a 60 by 60 inch landing where the ramp changes direction. Handrails go on both sides when the rise is more than 6 inches.

U.S. Access Board: ramps and curb ramps

Those rules are written for accessible routes the ADA actually covers. A private single-family house is often under local building code instead, and some jurisdictions still want something close to 1:12 if you pull a permit. Use 1:12 as the planning number anyway, because a steeper ramp is how you buy a second project when the first one is too hard to use. Measure rise from the walk to the finished threshold, not from a guess about “two steps.”

If the rise is an inch or two at the door saddle, you are not in ramp-and-landing country. That is a threshold ramp, and it is a different, cheaper conversation than a porch.

What does a ramp cost?

Angi’s 2026 wheelchair-ramp page puts installation at $2,292 on average, typically $1,122 to $3,594, or about $100 to $250 per linear foot. Their size table is a map, not your lot: a 6-foot run for about 6 inches of rise at $600 to $1,000, 12 feet at $1,200 to $2,500, 24 feet at $2,400 to $5,000, and 36 feet and up at $3,600 to $7,500. Permits on that page run $50 to $300.

Angi: wheelchair ramp cost

HomeGuide’s bands split the product type. Temporary ramps $50 to $600. Semi-permanent modular $350 to $3,000. Permanent wood or concrete $1,000 to $6,000+. Rentals $80 to $200+ a month. Installed, they also use $100 to $250 per linear foot depending on material.

HomeGuide: wheelchair ramp cost

A 24-inch porch at 1:12 is 24 feet of run, plus landings. If you only budgeted the 24 feet and forgot the 5-foot landing at the door, the bid will look “padded” when it is just geometry.

Work one porch on paper before you call. Measure rise at both sides of the door, because a sloped walk can hide two inches. Multiply the larger number by 12. Then walk that many feet out from the door and see what you hit: a driveway, a flower bed, the neighbor’s fence, a basement window. If you hit a window well, you are in retaining-wall money, and that is why Bid C jumps. If you have 30 feet of lawn and a 24-inch rise, a straight run might fit. If you have 12 feet of lawn, you are looking at a switchback and two extra landings, which is how Angi’s 24-foot row becomes their 36-foot row.

What does regrading cost?

Angi’s 2026 yard-leveling page puts leveling at $1,022 to $3,334 on average. Regrading around the foundation is $1,000 to $3,000 on that same article. Permits $100 to $500, and land clearing $1,300 to $5,700 if the crew has to remove what is already there.

Angi: yard leveling cost

Regrade wins when the rise is small, the lot already slopes toward the door, and you would rather have a walk than a machine sitting on the lawn. It loses when you would have to bury a window well, fight the neighbor’s drainage, or build a retaining wall that costs more than the ramp. Water has to leave the foundation. A pretty slope that dumps onto the basement wall is a flood with extra steps.

Ask the grader where the water goes in a 2-inch rain, in writing.

When is each the honest job?

Threshold only. Rise of about an inch, maybe two, at the door. A rubber or aluminum threshold ramp in HomeGuide’s $50 to $450 band. No permit if you are not attaching a structure. If someone uses a chair every day, still check the slope and the lip.

Modular aluminum. You need access this month, you might move, or you do not want to pour concrete on a house you may sell. HomeGuide’s semi-permanent band. Often faster than custom wood. Still needs a layout that a person can actually roll: width, landings, handrails.

Custom wood or concrete ramp. Daily chair or scooter, remaining in this house, and the lot cannot take a gentle walk. Concrete is the long life. Wood is the one you will stain and watch for rot. Both need frost-aware footings where you live, and both need a permit in a lot of towns.

Regrade the walk. One or two steps, room to stretch the grade, and you want the house to look like a house. Budget Angi’s foundation-regrade band and the drainage, not only the dirt. If the new walk is still steeper than 1:20 (5 percent), the Access Board treats that as a ramp anyway, and you are back to handrails and landings.

Rent for a season. Surgery, a visit, a short recovery. HomeGuide’s $80 to $200+ a month. Get the rise in the rental order so they do not drop off a 6-foot ramp for a 24-inch porch.

What should three bids look like?

Bid A, modular to the existing stoop. Rise measured, 1:12 run, landings, handrails, surface that is not ice in January. Ask whether it is surface-mounted or lagged into concrete. Ask who shovels it.

Bid B, regrade plus a new walk. Dirt, compaction, drainage away from the foundation, finish material, and the threshold height after the work. If they have to raise the landing at the door, that is a carpenter and maybe a new storm door.

Bid C, permanent wood or concrete switchback. Same slope math, plus frost footings, edge protection, lighting if the path is used at night, and how the rail meets the house without rotting the siding. Compare this to Bid A on total feet, not on “wood feels nicer.”

If Bid C is twice Bid A because of a retaining wall you did not know you needed, believe the wall.

What has to be on the quote?

1. Rise in inches, measured at the door they will actually use, including the storm-door swing.
2. Slope they will build, in writing, and whether they are aiming at 1:12 or something steeper “because it’s residential.”
3. Landings: size, locations, and whether the door can open onto them.
4. Clear width, handrails, and the surface (wet, ice, glare).
5. Drainage: where water goes, and whether the foundation grade still falls away from the house.
6. Permit, inspection, and who calls the town.
7. Maintenance: who owns ice, stain, and fastener checks in year three.

If the honest answer is a better rail this winter and the ramp next spring, buy the rail. Do not skip it because a ramp quote is in email.

How does this go wrong?

Someone builds 1:8 “because the yard is short,” and the chair cannot climb it without a running start you do not have.

The landing is 3 feet deep and the door knocks the person backward.

The ramp is beautiful and the bathroom door is still 28 inches. Measure doorway width in the same week.

Regrade sends water at the basement, and you spend the ramp money on a wet wall.

A portable ramp is too short, too narrow, or not tied down, and it becomes a ramp-shaped trip.

How do I decide this week?

1. Measure the rise at the door you actually use, in inches, then multiply by 12 for a 1:12 run and see whether that length fits the yard.
2. Walk the lot after rain and decide whether dirt can come up to the threshold without soaking the foundation.
3. Get a modular-ramp bid and a regrade bid against the same rise, and make both of them show landings and drainage.
4. If the rise is an inch or two, price a threshold ramp before you price a porch project.
5. If someone needs this for a few months, call a rental with the rise in the order instead of pouring concrete you will cut out.
6. Put rails, lighting, and the interior door widths on the same list so the new path does not die at the second bottleneck.