A Level Entry resource
What to Add to Any Renovation.
A Level Entry resource. Twenty-seven decisions worth making in any house, whoever lives in it, ordered by when each one closes.
You can find most of these ideas for free. That is not what this page is for. This page tells you when each one becomes expensive to add, what kind of decision it is, why it is worth keeping open even if nobody in the house needs it today, and who has to confirm it before the window closes. Take it to the first meeting with whoever is drawing, and mark each line as you go. The marks stay on this device.
What the marks mean.
STD is a published standard, and the source is named beside it. Most of the numbers on this page are borrowed from the standard for public buildings, the ADA, and its residential counterpart, ICC A117.1. The ADA does not apply to your house. The numbers are useful because they were measured for turning and reaching. Every one should be checked against the edition of the standard your local authority uses. PRACTICE is a Level Entry planning preference: what I specify in my own building, usually more than a standard asks, never a code requirement or a universal prescription. L means there is a licensed question inside it. Nothing here is a construction document. Anything about structure, load, getting out of the building, or the plumbing, electrical, and mechanical trades belongs to the licensed people on your project.
Free on the drawing, permanent after.
1. Backing in every bathroom, across the zonePractice
- Closing window
- Before drywall.
- Why preserve it
- Nobody knows today where a rail, a seat, or a pole will go in five years. Continuous backing behind every bathroom wall, floor to ceiling in the shower, plus beside the bed and at the entry, keeps every position open. Adding it afterwards means opening a tiled wall and retiling.
- Who confirms it
- The builder specifies how it is built: the material, how it sits flush with the framing, how it meets the waterproofing, what load it carries. You say where.
2. Wider doors everywhere, closets included, with the clear width verified after hangingPractice · clear width STD, borrowed from ADA 404.2.3 and ICC A117.1
- Closing window
- Before the door order goes in. Then measured after hanging, before final payment.
- Why preserve it
- A thirty-six inch door and a thirty inch door are the same order. Say which one before the order goes in, and it is free. After, it is a framing change. The closet door is the one everybody forgets. And thirty-six inches is the size of the door itself. Once it is hung, the opening is usually around thirty-three inches, and the number which matters is thirty-two inches clear. Check the edition of the standard your local authority uses.
- Who confirms it
- You, with the drawing, at the order. Then a tape after the door is hung, yours or the contractor's in writing.
3. Latch-side clearance on every doorSTD, borrowed from ADA 404.2.4
- Closing window
- On the drawing.
- Why preserve it
- Eighteen inches of clear wall on the handle side, on the side the door pulls toward. The most violated dimension in residential renovation, because tucking a door into a corner is how everybody frames a house. On a drawing it is free. Afterwards it is a wall.
- Who confirms it
- Whoever is drawing. Ask to see it on every door.
4. One no-step entryPractice · L for grading and structure
- Closing window
- Before grading and before the entry is framed.
- Why preserve it
- Front, side, or through the garage. Almost no house in the country has one. It is the difference between being able to leave the house and not. And it is nearly invisible when it is designed in from the start rather than added later.
- Who confirms it
- Licensed for grading and structure. The designer for where.
5. A sixty-inch circle in one bathroomSTD, borrowed from ADA 304.3
- Closing window
- On the drawing, before quotes.
- Why preserve it
- One shape on the drawing, and the fastest way to find out whether anybody thought about turning a chair. The layout is drawn to keep that circle clear.
- Who confirms it
- Whoever is drawing. Ask to see the circle.
6. A bedroom and a full bath on one levelPractice · L for plumbing
- Closing window
- On the drawing, before rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Or the framing and rough-in for one, even if the room is an office today. The house does not need to be single-storey. It needs to be able to become one for a season.
- Who confirms it
- The designer for the layout, licensed for the plumbing.
7. Stacked closetsPractice · L for framing
- Closing window
- On the drawing, before framing.
- Why preserve it
- On a two-storey house, a closet on each floor directly above the other, five feet by five or better, plumbing and ducts kept out of the stack. A closet for as long as you want it to be one, and the only place a lift could ever go without taking the house apart.
- Who confirms it
- Licensed for the framing. The designer for the alignment.
8. Ceiling reinforcement, bedroom to bathroomPractice · L
- Closing window
- While the ceiling is open.
- Why preserve it
- If a ceiling lift ever runs, it runs along the same line. Not installing a lift. Making the ceiling capable of one and forgetting about it. Afterwards, a ceiling taken down.
- Who confirms it
- An engineer specifies the load path.
9. Flush thresholds at every floor changeSTD, borrowed from ADA 303.2 and 303.3
- Closing window
- When the flooring is specified, before it is laid.
- Why preserve it
- Up to a quarter inch, nothing needed. Over a quarter and up to a half, beveled. Over a half inch it is a ramp, not a threshold.
- Who confirms it
- Whoever specifies the flooring. Check the edition for your jurisdiction.
10. Bathroom doors which swing out, or pocketPractice
- Closing window
- On the drawing.
- Why preserve it
- So a door never traps somebody on the floor behind it, and so the door is not the thing eating the turning circle.
- Who confirms it
- Whoever is drawing.
Cheap in rough-in, expensive after.
11. An outlet at the toiletPractice
- Closing window
- During electrical rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- A line on the electrician's list while the wall is open. A wall opened for it afterwards. It is what makes a washing seat possible.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician, on the rough-in list.
12. Switches and outlets inside the reach rangeSTD, borrowed from ADA 308
- Closing window
- During electrical rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Roughly fifteen to forty-eight inches above the floor, so nothing a person uses daily lives at knee height or above the shoulder. Check the edition for your jurisdiction.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician, from the drawing.
13. Lighting at both ends of every path walked at nightPractice
- Closing window
- During electrical rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Three-way switches or sensors, wired while the wall is open, at the bed, the bathroom, the stairs, and the entry.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician, from the drawing.
14. A junction box above each exterior doorPractice
- Closing window
- During electrical rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- For a powered opener now, or in fifteen years.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician.
15. Plumbing with slack at the sink, and a removable vanity basePractice
- Closing window
- During plumbing rough-in and cabinet order.
- Why preserve it
- So a sink gains knee space without moving the pipes, and a base cabinet comes out without a demolition.
- Who confirms it
- The plumber for the slack, the cabinet maker for the base.
16. Empty conduit to where controls might goPractice
- Closing window
- During rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- A pull string in a pipe costs almost nothing and turns a future rewire into an afternoon.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician.
17. Shutoffs and the breaker panel within reachPractice · L for the panel location
- Closing window
- During rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Somewhere a person seated, or unsteady, or in a hurry at two in the morning reaches them without a stool or a staircase.
- Who confirms it
- The plumber and the electrician. Licensed rules govern where a panel may go.
Choices which cost nothing extra, at the time of ordering.
18. Lever handles on every door and every tapSTD for operable parts, borrowed from ADA 309.4
- Closing window
- At ordering.
- Why preserve it
- No tight grasping, pinching, or twisting of the wrist. Single-lever mixers. A closed fist has to work everything.
- Who confirms it
- You, at the hardware order.
19. A hand shower on a slide bar in every showerPractice
- Closing window
- At ordering.
- Why preserve it
- Regardless of the fixed head. It is the difference between a shower seated and a shower not taken.
- Who confirms it
- You, at the fixture order.
20. A curbless shower where the floor allows itPractice · L for the pan, slope, drain, and waterproofing
- Closing window
- On the drawing, before rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Drawn with the slope direction and drain type named. Where the floor does not allow it, the lowest curb the pan permits.
- Who confirms it
- Licensed for the pan and waterproofing. The designer for the drawing.
21. Drawers, not doors, under every counterPractice
- Closing window
- At the cabinet order.
- Why preserve it
- Pull-outs in every base cabinet. A drawer brings the back of the cabinet to you. A door makes you go in after it.
- Who confirms it
- You, at the cabinet order.
22. Comfort-height toiletsSTD range, borrowed from ADA 604.4
- Closing window
- At the fixture order.
- Why preserve it
- Seventeen to nineteen inches to the top of the seat. Now the default in most lines, and the reason to check is the one which arrives inside the fixture allowance.
- Who confirms it
- You, at the fixture order. Read the allowance.
23. Flooring specified by its slip ratingSTD, ANSI A326.3
- Closing window
- At the flooring order.
- Why preserve it
- A dynamic coefficient of friction of 0.42 or better for interior wet areas. Not the word non-slip on a sample. A number on the spec.
- Who confirms it
- You, on the flooring spec, in writing.
24. Contrast at every stair nosing and every floor changePractice
- Closing window
- At the finish order.
- Why preserve it
- In the finish, not a strip applied later. The eye reads the edge before the foot finds it.
- Who confirms it
- You, at the finish order.
25. A counter section at seated heightPractice
- Closing window
- At the cabinet order.
- Why preserve it
- One run of counter at roughly thirty inches with knee space beneath, or a run which becomes one when a base cabinet comes out. Half the kitchen is decided by how long a person is able to stand.
- Who confirms it
- You and the cabinet maker. The OT for the height, if there is one.
26. Rocker switches, and dimmers on anything used at nightPractice
- Closing window
- At the electrical finish order.
- Why preserve it
- A flat rocker works with a knuckle, an elbow, or a full hand. A dimmer means the two a.m. bathroom does not need the daytime light.
- Who confirms it
- The electrician, at finish.
27. Laundry on the sleeping floorPractice
- Closing window
- On the drawing, before rough-in.
- Why preserve it
- Or the hookups for it, capped, behind a closet wall. The basement laundry is the trip most often skipped on a hard day.
- Who confirms it
- The designer, licensed for the plumbing.
How to use this.
Take it to the first meeting with whoever is drawing. Ask which items are on the drawing and which are priced, and mark each one above. Anything marked L goes to the licensed person with a name beside it. Anything not on the drawing is either a decision or an extra, and an extra on drywall day is the most expensive version of a free decision. The "need to ask" lines belong on the routing sheet in module 7.
Every figure marked STD is a published number and should be checked against the current edition of the standard for your jurisdiction. Every figure marked PRACTICE is mine.