To buy a house with steps up to the front door?

[BlessedMamma]

We are currently in the process of relocating due to my husbands job. We have a daughter who will be 2 in November and another due in November. We have found the perfect house in a lovely village, but there are 14 steps from the bottom of the drive to the front door which I'm worried about. Does anyone else have steps to their front door who can offer any advice? I'm concerned that with 2 kids they might be too much work. Thanks in advance.

Honestly it will probably be a right pain in the arse, but if it's otherwise the perfect house I'm not sure a couple of years' annoyance will make it worth missing out on.

Me and DD (age 3) have lived in a third floor flat with no lift since she was born. Three flights of stairs to go up.

The main thing is can you leave a buggy / pushchair anywhere without taking it up the steps? Such as a shed or garage? This will help.

We have a communal hallway to store a pushchair, it would have been really tricky otherwise. I took her out in a sling which I would recommend for the beginning.

If you have somewhere to store your buggy there will probably be a year or so when you have to carry your baby and lots of shopping bags up those 14 steps with a reluctant toddler who wants to be carried too but it will be easier as your kids gets bigger.

There are other small annoyances like baby might be peacefully asleep in the pushchair when you get home from a walk and you have to wake them to get inside.

I say go for it if it's your dream home.

I have this and it makes life difficult. I have to carry the baby into the house then go back for my toddler and then go back for the buggy whilst leaving the toddler and the now screaming baby alone inside. Getting out is the same pain the arse in reverse!

We had 7 steps in our old house, at both the front and back door.

Bit of a PITA with shopping or a buggy but apart from that it was fine.

I didn’t actually realise the difference until we moved!

If it's a great house then go for it, like pp says it's only a couple of years of major annoyance.. I'd use a carrier for the baby and hold the toddlers hand. Leave buggy etc in the car if you have one.

What if you have a difficult delivery or a Caesarian? I couldn’t have gone up and down those steps by myself (let alone carrying a baby/2year old/buggy) for a good few months after my first delivery or for a few weeks after my second. Will you have anybody to help?

Will you have a double buggy or is your 2 year old happy walking everywhere?

We nearly bought a house like this and told ourselves it would be fine (because we really liked the house) but once the sale fell through (for other reasons) I actually realised how difficult it would have made life.

It wouldn’t be a total deal breaker but would put me off. And my dc are a bit older. At the time I had 2 under 2 even the 2 steps to our then front door were fraught with stress...14 may well have finished me off!

We have a lot more than 14 steps to our front door.
However we never walk anywhere with DD in her buggy (there's nothing to walk to as we live in a rural location) so the buggy just lives in the car (and goes in the garage when we need the space in the car) and we carry DD up the steps.

We don't have any problems getting DD into and out of house, or getting shopping to the house though sometimes it takes more journeys and I just leave stuff in the car until DH is home.

If it's perfect otherwise I'd go for it.

I wouldn't, to be honest. Speaking from experience, you never know what the future holds and 14 steps to get into the house could be a major issue for anyone with a disability or for older relatives/friends.

Hi I’ve got 12 steps leading up to my house and as PPs have said it can be a right PITA with kids
I have a 16 month old and it’s a nightmare getting the pram out every morning and afternoon for the school run
I have a stroller in the boot of the car but since I’ve got the pram I’ve really noticed how difficult it actually is
I’m now pregnant and dreading bringing a baby in a car seat along with a toddler up them steps!
Wasn’t something we thought about when we bought the house but it’s great you’ve picked up on this from the outset

I used to live on a house with steps out front, but had no DC. What I liked about it was that because the floor level of the house was so far above pavement level it was very private. We actually lived opposite a commercial building but when sat on the over all we could see was the lovely green trees on the other side of the valley.

Aston the sofa not the over.

Sat ffs

I have twins (now 2) and we deliberately moved somewhere without steps to the front door when I was pregnant. Still a nightmare as I can’t quite fit the double buggy in the hall! Personally I couldn’t handle 14 steps with these two little terrors, but might be easier with a toddler and a baby in the carrier, then an older child when the baby is big enough to walk?

I think you kind of get used to it. My mum has 14 steps & she's a childminder. Has always managed & the children get really confident with the steps. We do have a garage at the bottom though and the buggy stays at the bottom & at times the baby carriers get left in the car.

My mother had a house with a flight of 12 steps up to the front door. It was such a pain in the arse. Moving in was awful, removal men had to negotiate the stairs with all the furniture.

Every shopping trip ended with lugging bags up the steps. Not so bad when it's fine but really miserable shlepping up and down in the pouring rain.

Oh and it is lethal when it's cold and icy. So easy to slip and fall on slippery concrete steps!

A definite no from me.

We had to move to accommodate disability but before then it was fine when we had lots of steps. It meant being much more organised with stuff though, especially shopping, deliveries, tack, gritting in the winter etc.

I wouldn't consider one. I think the resale market is very limited, most people either have or are planning young children, are or have elderly relatives or have someone they know who would find steps a challenge or imposibility.

Bringing all the shopping up with 2 children going up and down the stairs will be tricky for the next 5 years or so, you may find big deliveries and removals charge extra or refuse. Washing machine, fridge freezer or piano could be very intesting.

My mum developed arthritis in her 60's and wouldn't have managed the steps.

However, there are some pretty nifty exterior lifts that you can have installed that could solve all of the above issues.

www.liftech.org/media/media/images/domestic/inclined_wheelchair3.jpg

We have a shared set of 7 then an L shaped walk then another 3 to our door.
I only found it a PITA with the buggy and those days are fairly short lived.
When it’s icy- and we’re in the North of Scotland so not a rare occurance we just make sure the steps are all well salted.

Hello, we have 14 steps up to our front door! We moved there the year before I had my daughter, now 3. To be honest it was fine, i didn't know any different and just got used to it.

It won't be an issue forever, she's already fine going up and down without holding onto me and I just walk up behind her and down in front of her! I tend to get my shopping delivered too as it's just easier generally x

The steps may limit resale - you won't be the first people to wonder how practical they are.

I have a knackered ankle so my questions would be:
Which direction does it face? If northerly facing consider needing to grit the steps on icey mornings. What kind of material are they? How slippery will they be on wet days?

Sorry, meant to say When she was a baby it was fine as left pram in car if didn't need, or if I was ever going for a walk I'd have the pram in house and go out my back gate as avoided steps, can you do that at all? I had a big old iCandy peach as well and was fine going out front as left in car or back as would sort in garden.

I would go for it. Yes they're a pain in the bum but it will only be for a couple more years. We've 10 steps up and my 3 year old is very confident with them. When she was a baby I left the pram in the car or at the bottom of the steps if weather was nice. I agree it is a pain when you have a sleeping baby in the pram and you can't just wheel them in but you could lift of the seat and carry into the house to attempt a transfer!

I've since had twins and I was dreading the steps but it's fine. I manage and I do it all in one go! Thats after a section too! The thing that drives me more mad is not having a driveway!

I was looking for months longer as so many houses had steps and this was the first thing I'd rule out.

I was looking in a very hilly city but no
Just too much hassle.

We have 14 steps to our front door, but then so do lots of houses here as it is a pretty hilly town. We moved in when kids were 5 and 2.5 and actually it was fine (we were out of buggy phase). Kids are pretty good at walking up (although I carried the 2 yr old for a while). The removal men even got a piano up then without too much complaint. We've also had a washing machine delivered without fuss, and online shopping drivers alsways carry up the shopping to our door.
If the house works In Other ways, I'd say go for it.