Groundwork Design Co. · Online walkway design
The front walk is the first thing everyone touches. Design it like it.
Width, route, steps and landing, planned from your photos by people who build them, so the walk to your door feels easy and the water goes somewhere else.
Single Space plan from $349 · first draft in 10 business days · anywhere in the U.S.
Start your walkway planRead the sample plan
Most front walks are drawn by whoever pours them, on the day they pour them. That’s how you get a walk that’s too narrow for two people, steps with one tall riser that everyone trips on, and a low spot by the stoop that freezes every January. None of those are hard to avoid. They just have to be decided before the first shovel.
A walkway plan decides them. It picks the route people will actually walk, sets the width, puts the whole grade change into equal steps in the right spot, and makes sure water runs off to the lawn instead of toward the house.
The four numbers your plan gets right
Those are the starting points, not the whole job. Your plan works them into your house: where the stoop sits, how far the driveway is, how much the yard drops, and what’s already planted. Our walkway width guide and 17 front walkway ideas go deeper on the options.
What’s in the plan
- A scaled layout of the walk, the steps, the landing and where it meets the driveway or sidewalk.
- Step heights and depths worked out from your measured drop, with a step section.
- The material: pavers, natural stone or a mix, with a border and edge restraint.
- Base depth, slope and where water goes, plus lighting and planting along the edges if you want them.
- A material list with quantities, so you can buy it or have any local contractor price it line by line.
Pick your plan
| Single Space The front walk, steps and landing. | $349 |
| Full Yard The walk plus foundation plantings, a front patio or bench spot, lighting and drainage as one front-yard plan. | $895 |
| Build-Ready Construction detail with sections for a contractor’s bid. | $1,795 |
Where the four numbers come from
Each number above has a reason behind it. Here is the reference for each, plus the edge detail that keeps a paver walk tight. The width and slope figures borrow from ADA accessibility guidance for public and commercial sites; they are benchmarks, not residential code requirements. Codes are adopted and amended town by town, so check with your code office before you build.
| Width for two Garden Gate’s path guide says a front path 4 to 5 ft wide gives two people room to walk side by side. For comparison, the ADA accessible-route standards for public and commercial sites (accessibility guidance, not a residential requirement) call for at least 36 in. of clear width, with 60 by 60 in. passing spaces. | 4–5 ft |
| Running slope The same ADA accessibility guidance caps a walking surface at 1:20, which is 5%. On an accessible route, only parts such as ramps and curb ramps may be steeper. | 5% |
| Cross slope That guidance caps cross slope at 1:48, which is 1/4 in. per foot. That is enough tilt to move water sideways off the walk to the lawn. | 1:48 |
| Door landing The IRC calls for a landing on each side of an exterior door, at least as wide as the door and at least 36 in. deep in the direction of travel, sloped no more than 2%. | 36 in. |
When the walk needs steps
Measure the drop from the stoop to where the walk ends, and divide by the length. If the answer is over 5%, the plan has three choices: make the route longer so the slope eases, build a ramp, or gather the drop into a short run of equal steps and keep the rest of the walk nearly flat. Most front yards end up with steps. How the riser and tread sizes are worked out under Pennsylvania’s stair rules is shown step by step in sample plan 04.
The landing at the door
The landing is where the IRC is most specific. Under R311.3.1, the landing at the required exit door can sit no more than 1 1/2 in. below the top of the threshold. The exception lets it sit one stair riser lower, but only when the door does not swing out over the landing. So the plan needs to know which way your storm door and front door swing before it sets the stoop height.
Lighting and the edge
The plan marks path lights along the walk and lights at any steps, so the wiring goes in before the pavers. Fixture spacing and beam choices are in our landscape lighting design guide.
The edge is what keeps a paver walk from spreading. The Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association calls edge restraints an essential part of an interlocking pavement. They hold the pavers tight so they stay interlocked. Its tech note warns that flat landscape edging does not give enough side support. It also says the base should run past the restraint by at least the base’s own thickness. Spike spacing for plastic or metal edge comes from the edging maker. Base depths are in how deep a paver base should be.
Measure these before you order
- Front door width, and which way the door and any storm door swing.
- Height from the top of the threshold down to the stoop, and from the stoop to the driveway or sidewalk.
- Length of the route you would like the walk to take.
- Where downspouts drain and where water sits after rain.
- Where an outdoor outlet or transformer could go for lighting.
Sources: Garden Gate · U.S. Access Board, accessible routes · IRC R311.3 text (Indiana) · CMHA PAV-TEC-003
Questions
Do I need a site visit?
No. You send photos, a few measurements and a short walk-around video, and we draw from those. Our measuring guide shows exactly what to capture, including how to measure the drop from the door.
Straight or curved?
Straight walks suit formal houses and short runs. A gentle curve suits a longer walk or a house set back at an angle. People cut corners on curves that are too tight, so we keep curves wide enough that the walk is still the easiest route.
Pavers or natural stone?
Pavers are uniform, easier to level and easy to repair. Natural stone looks richer and costs more to set. We compare them in flagstone vs. pavers, and your plan can use either.
Can my contractor build from it?
Yes. That’s the point. The plan and material list give every contractor the same job to price.
How steep can a front walk be before it needs steps?
A useful benchmark is 5%, the 1:20 cap the ADA accessible-route standards put on walking surfaces at public and commercial sites. That is accessibility guidance, not a residential code requirement. Past that, the plan lengthens the route, adds a ramp, or gathers the drop into equal steps.
How big should the landing at the front door be?
The IRC calls for a landing at least as wide as the door and at least 36 in. deep in the direction of travel, sloped no more than 2%.
Does a paver walkway need edge restraint?
Yes. The Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association calls edge restraints essential and warns that flat landscape edging does not give enough side support to keep pavers interlocked.
Groundwork Design Co. is the design studio of Muthler Landscaping & Construction LLC · 913 Bellefonte Ave, Lock Haven, PA 17745 · (570) 397-9800 · PA HIC #PA212584. In central PA? See what we charge to build it. Plans are design drawings, not engineered drawings.