ᐅ Garage side door does not open onto ground-level terrace

Created on: 25 Oct 2022 12:24
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pim1985
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pim1985
25 Oct 2022 12:24
Hello everyone,

We are currently planning the garden for our newly built semi-detached house.

Our rear terrace is supposed to be level with the house and laid with ceramic tiles.

Unfortunately, it has turned out that the side door of the garage (1 m x 2 m) cannot be opened. The terrace would be 3 cm (1 inch) higher than the garage.

This is a prefabricated garage from Hörmann.

Two options have been proposed to us:

1. The terrace is set 15 cm (6 inches) lower than the house. This would also require installing a step block.
2. The terrace remains as planned, but a lowered area or plateau is made around the garage side door.

We don’t find either option acceptable, as we want a barrier-free access to the terrace. Option 2 would allow this, but water and dirt would constantly collect in the lowered area.

My suggestion is to remove the door frame of the garage side door and set it slightly higher. About 3 cm (1 inch) would need to be milled above the door frame. According to the builder, this is not possible. The manufacturer reportedly said the construction would be damaged. There is steel directly above the door frame.

We paid extra for this garage side door (€850). If we had known about this problem, we would never have ordered the door. We were not informed about this. According to the builder, it was not foreseeable that we would extend the terrace so extensively (by the way, the terrace is small—what else could we have done?). He also suggested buying a new door that is a bit shorter. However, he will not cover the additional costs (about €1000). This is obviously unacceptable, as we have invested a lot of money in the project.

Do you have any ideas on what else we could try?
Tolentino25 Oct 2022 12:39
Have the door open inward? Maybe there won’t necessarily be a car right there...
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Obermuh
25 Oct 2022 12:45
Honestly, in case of emergency, just have the door shortened by 3cm (1¼ inches).

You can either cut it straight off (which will reduce its strength) or have a specialized company do it for you—they can weld a reinforcement at the bottom.
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WilderSueden
25 Oct 2022 13:36
3cm (1 inch) is about the width of a thumb. Could you somehow disguise that difference with the slope? Or just build the terrace 3cm (1 inch) lower instead of 15cm (6 inches)?
i_b_n_a_n25 Oct 2022 14:03
WilderSueden schrieb:

3cm (1.2 inches) is about a thumb’s width. Can’t you somehow disguise that with a slope? Or just build the terrace 3cm (1.2 inches) lower instead of 15cm (6 inches) right away?

That’s exactly what I first thought when I read the text.
15cm (6 inches) is acceptable, but 3cm (1.2 inches) isn’t? They seem to be thinking in grids 😀 😱
Tolentino25 Oct 2022 14:49
That is already less than the slope for a standard terrace with a depth of 3 m (10 feet). Or is that already taken into account? But increasing it from 3% to 4% should also be possible, right?