Rear extension steps

[icklekid]

Hi all, just at the start of an extension design for our 1930s semi and am interested in peoples thoughts on steps! We will be turning our kitchen diner into a living /kitchen/diner. We will need 3 steps down from the extension to the garden however dh and I are unsure if we should step down to patio or have a patio/decking at same height and then step down to the garden. We are looking at having bifold or sliding doors and to some extent the steps decision will influence which type of door we choose! Thanks in advance!

You would need to look at whether you would need consent for the raised deck - it could make an extension that could be permitted development suddenly need planning consent.

We're making the same decision at the moment though ours is a small patio. Think we're going to have the patio flush with the garden then step up into the room. But only because I know the DC would be constantly running into the raised edge of the patio and doing themselves a mischief! There's also drainage and flooding to think about.

Here is information on permitted development and thus whether you need planning consent. You will see that a raised platform (eg decking) of over 300mm in height is not permitted development.

We're doing this at the moment and have gone for steps down from the decking.
Our neighbours have gone for two wide steps (twice width of opening and extra deep_ down to decking (nice for sitting on) and one down into garden.

We have a big drop too - so have a platform of deck the width of the bifold doors and a bit over a metre deep which is the same level as the house. Then there are steps down to a deck which is the width of the house and about three metres deep. Because we have a big slope on the garden, it's basically just above the ground by the house, but nearly four foot higher than ground level where it ends. We've built it over an old patio, so it mostly sits on bearers sitting on top of that.

I like the landing platform outside the door, feels nice to just be able to step out onto it when the doors are completely open.

We had this dilemma last year and opted for a deck and bifold doors with a level threshold.

At the end of the deck you step onto the lawn which is 30cm and I believe the most allowed under permitted development.

Our bifolds are quite wide, so to open the traffic door and pin it right back (as we were advised to), you need to step quite along way onto the deck to open it and hook it back.

So if you have steps, I assume these would need to be pretty deep and shallow to do this, without too much risk of tripping over