Threshold and Level Access Questions Checklist

Note how many separate steps sit between the outside ground and the internal floor at this door, and whether they are even with one another.

Uneven steps behave differently from a single change in level and change what a designer will suggest.

Photograph the step from the side as well as from above, because the side view shows overhangs and worn nosings that a photograph from above hides.

A professional can read a great deal from a side view, and it is the shot owners almost never take.

Note whether the step surface is smooth, textured, worn or loose underfoot, and describe how it behaves in wet or freezing weather.

How a surface behaves in bad weather is something only the household has watched, and it is a description rather than a judgement about the material.

Measure the rise with a rule and record it as your own approximate figure, clearly marked as something still to be checked on site.

Your own figure is useful for a first conversation but should never be treated as a dimension anyone can order from.

Record whether the door frame sits on the step, behind it or on a separate sill, since that changes what altering the level would involve.

How a frame is supported at its base is for a qualified professional to establish before any threshold work is planned.

Note how much room there is to stand comfortably outside the door with it swinging towards you, and whether the landing is level or sloped.

The space someone stands in while opening the door governs how the entrance actually works, and it is often smaller than the drawing implies.

Write down who in the household finds this step difficult and describe how, since stepping up, stepping down and turning are different problems.

The specific difficulty points somewhere far more useful than a general complaint that the step is awkward.

Note what is regularly wheeled over the threshold, from bins and bicycles to a pushchair or a wheelchair, and where each of them is stored.

The most awkward wheeled item is a better guide to the threshold than any general preference for a low step.

Note whether the step is visible as a change in level or blends into the paving around it, and describe what you see without judging it.

Whether a level change reads clearly is an observation an owner can make honestly, while what should be done about it belongs with a professional.

Consider whether the household expects mobility needs to change, and record that as a planning input rather than leaving it unsaid.

Owners often raise this only after the design is fixed, when allowing for it earlier would have been a straightforward change to make.

Write down whether a second entrance could be used while this one is altered, and how people and deliveries would reach it.

Threshold work takes the entrance out of use for a stretch, and knowing the alternative route in advance shapes what the household can accept.

Note whether visitors are unfamiliar with this step and whether anything already warns them of it, describing what exists rather than what should.

Note where surface water runs when it rains at this door, and whether it moves away from the building or towards the threshold.

Existing runoff is the clearest evidence of what a lower threshold would be asked to cope with.

Photograph the paving directly outside during or shortly after heavy rain, and mark any place where water sits rather than draining away.

A photograph taken in the rain is difficult to argue with later and is far more use than a recollection of what the paving usually does.

Ask what drainage a lower threshold would rely on here, and what would happen to it if the paving were later re-laid at a different level.

Threshold drainage is a detail for a qualified professional; nothing here should be treated as a rule for your own entrance.

Note where downpipes, gully outlets and overflows discharge near the door, and whether any of them direct water towards the threshold.

A downpipe close to an entrance often decides how much a lower threshold can be attempted at all.

Record whether the ground outside slopes towards the building along this face, describing what you observe rather than assuming it can simply be changed.

Altering ground levels near a wall can affect the building and neighbouring land; raise it with a qualified professional first.

Ask who would be responsible for maintaining any channel or grating at the threshold, and how it would be reached for clearing.

A blocked channel undoes the whole arrangement, and access to it is decided by the landscaping around it.

Ask what would sit under the internal floor finish at this door, since insulation, heating pipes or a screed all affect where the finished level lands.

What lies beneath an existing floor can only be established by a qualified professional opening it up, not by assumption.

Note the current internal floor finish and roughly how thick it is, and record whether it continues into adjoining rooms at the same level.

A finish that runs unbroken through several rooms turns a threshold decision into a decision about the whole floor, which is worth knowing early.

Record whether underfloor heating is being considered anywhere near this door, and make sure the threshold is discussed in the same conversation.

Heating build-up and threshold level are usually decided by different people at different moments, which is how they end up incompatible.

Ask what the floor structure beneath the door is understood to be, and record the answer rather than treating anyone's assumption as settled.

Altering a floor near an external wall may affect the structure or ventilation beneath it; that belongs with a qualified professional.

Note where a changed internal floor level would meet an adjoining hall, room or stair, so the problem is not simply pushed further inside.

A level change removed at the door often reappears at an internal doorway where it is harder to deal with.

Write down whether skirtings, architraves, a stair bottom step or fitted furniture would be affected by a change in internal floor level.

Joinery is set out from the floor, so a level change ripples into work nobody had in mind when the threshold conversation began.

Consider where a mat would sit if the step is removed, and whether you want it recessed into the floor or simply laid loose on the finish.

A loose mat at a level threshold can become an obstruction, which is why the question belongs with the build-up decision.

Ask what a recessed matwell would mean for the floor build-up, since allowing for one now is far simpler than adding it after the floor is laid.

Matwell depth has to be reserved in the build-up before the screed or boards go down.

Note how much dirt, grit or leaf litter arrives at this door through the year, since that shapes what the entrance surface has to cope with.

A door beside a gravel drive or under trees collects far more than one off a paved path, and that difference drives the matting decision.

Record whether you want the same material inside and outside, and ask how the junction between them would be detailed at the threshold.

Ask the supplier what they say about this surface material at an external entrance in wet weather, rather than assuming it behaves like the sample.

Surface behaviour when wet is for the supplier and a qualified professional to address; no material should be assumed suitable here.

Note whether a canopy, porch or overhang shelters the door, since the amount of cover changes how much water reaches the threshold.

Note what lighting reaches the approach and the threshold after dark, and where the switch or sensor that controls it is located.

Lighting is usually settled by the electrical layout, so raising it during the threshold conversation is the only way it gets coordinated.

Record whether anything currently gives support at the step — a wall, a rail, the door frame — and how people actually use it.

Ask a qualified professional what local requirements may apply to any handrail, edge or level change at this entrance, and record what you are told.

Requirements for rails and level changes vary locally and change over time; only a qualified professional can confirm what applies here.

Note whether the edge of the step is visible against the surrounding paving in low light, describing what you see rather than judging it.

Visibility after dark is a separate observation from visibility in daylight, and the two often differ more than owners expect.

Consider whether the route from the gate or drive to the door has its own steps or slopes that would remain unchanged by this work.

A level threshold at the door achieves little if an unchanged step sits further along the approach.

Write down whether the door can be reached without stepping onto grass, gravel or soil in wet weather, and where the route becomes soft.

Decide and record whether a fully level threshold is the aim or whether a reduced step would be acceptable, and write down the reason either way.

Stating the aim lets a professional explain the trade-offs honestly instead of guessing at what you would accept.

Ask what the trade-offs are between weather performance and a low threshold at this exposure, and record the answer in writing.

This balance is a professional judgement about your specific entrance; nothing general should be relied on in its place.

Agree in writing who is responsible for the outside surface, the threshold unit itself and the internal floor, since these usually sit in different scopes.

The threshold is where three trades meet, and unclaimed junctions are where the water and the arguments both appear.

Write down which drawing or note carries the agreed finished floor level, so everyone on site is working from the same reference point.

Levels drift when they live in several places at once, and naming the single controlling document is what stops that happening.

Ask what would happen if the level is found to be different once the floor is opened up, and who decides at that point.

Existing floors rarely match expectations, and agreeing the decision route in advance avoids a stoppage.

Record what maintenance the threshold arrangement would need and who in the household would realistically carry it out.

An arrangement depending on regular clearing suits some households and not others, and an honest answer may change what you ask for.