Things To Consider When Planning A Basement Egress Window

A basement egress window is one of the major considerations you must make when remodeling your basement. Building codes require an egress window in any room used for sleeping. If this includes a newly designed basement room in your home, an egress window is required. A basement window is unique in terms of egress because it also requires an egress window well surrounding it on the outside.

Installing a basement egress window is an involved job that might require professional help if you aren’t sure exactly what you are doing. Among the considerations you must make are the code requirements to meet, dampness issues implicit in the well design, the well itself, available headroom and the type of window you will install. If you opt to do the job yourself, each of these 6 things must be carefully considered before you begin.

Start With A Plan

Installing one or more basement egress windows requires a permit. It also requires that your window meet certain specified requirements so that it provides a safe means of escape. Starting with a plan will not only help you keep the project straight, but it will also let the building inspector know what you are doing. By seeing it, the inspector can better assess the situation.

Code Requirements

It is vital that you adhere to the code or else you may have to make costly modifications to the project. An egress window may be no higher than 44 inches from the ground to the sill inside. It must be at least 20 inches wide and 24 inches high, however, those cannot be the dimensions because it must provide at least 5.7 square feet of clear space when open. The minimum dimensions are 20x41 inches or 24x34½ inches.

Egress Well

The egress well must be at least 36 inches long by 36 inches wide. If it is deeper than 44 inches, it must have a fixed ladder or staircase to exit it. You must dig out the ground around the foundation in order to install the wall sides of the well or insert a molded well. The bottom of the well should provide for proper drainage for rain water.

Dampness

On either side of the egress window frame there should be an 8-inch buffer area to prevent water from seeping in the sides. If the ground around the home is in any way sloped towards the house, water runoff might enter the egress well. In this case the ground must be heightened to slope away from the foundation. Downspouts should be relocated if they meet the ground where the window well will go, and gutters should be checked for leaks.

Headroom

Inside the basement, there must be enough headroom to allow for the installation of an egress window. The height of your basement may preclude such an installation, which is another reason why checking with a building inspector is so important.

Window Type

The last consideration to make is the type of window you use. Casement windows provide a good solution, for their total open area is maximized within a smaller frame. Double hung and gliding windows have to be bigger to provide the necessary area which may present a problem during installation.

A professional contractor is a good idea if you are not absolutely sure of what’s involved. Cutting into the concrete foundation of your home is a serious project. After all of the planning that is involved, the actual work is quite extensive. Be sure you understand the scope of it before you undertake the job yourself.

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Teaching Your Family Egress Procedures

Teaching your family, especially children, about the use of egress windows or doors is part of having an escape plan from your home established in the event of an emergency. In homes, the most common types of egress are windows. They are easier and less expensive to install than doors. Every room used for sleeping in a home is required to possess at least one egress window. There are very specific requirements for egress windows in terms of positioning, dimensions and operation. Knowing what to do in the event of an emergency can save lives. Since egress windows are meant for precisely such a scenario, it is imperative that kids know what to do.

Step 1: Ensure Your Home Meets Egress Code

Before you can teach your kids proper egress procedures, you have to be sure the egress windows in your homes are up to code. If you installed them yourself or had them installed, they were likely built according to required specifications. Regardless, check them for safety. In basement egress windows, make sure you and/or your children can safely climb out of the egress well once outside. If not, install a ladder to aid in climbing. Check all of the windows to ensure that they will open without undue force or strength and that anyone can unlatch and open them from the inside.

Step 2: Devise an Escape Route for Upper Level Egress Windows

Egress windows leading out of upper level rooms likely take the occupant to a roof. Be sure you have an escape plan in mind to get your children and other family members down safely to the ground. Buy a rope ladder and find a place to attach it to the home's structure.

Step 3: Make a Whole-House Diagram

Draw a diagram of every floor of your house with each subdivided by room. Resembling a top-down blueprint, use this diagram to create safe escape routes from each room, indicating with a red marker the best, safest way outside from each location. For bedrooms that have egress windows leading to a roof, be sure to mark the location of the emergency exit ladder or where it should be placed. Every bedroom with an egress window needs its own emergency escape route diagrammed. This diagram should be laminated and positioned somewhere very visible in the house. Make photocopies of it and place one in each room.

Step 4: Instruct Your Kids

With the emergency escape diagram in place, spend a little time with your kids showing them not only the diagram but how to properly use their egress window. They should know exactly how to open the window in their room, quickly remove a screen if there is one and be able to clear the window quickly. In basement rooms, show them how to get out of the egress well once they've moved out from the window. On upper levels, walk them through the emergency drill including how to properly attach and unroll the rope ladder.

Your kids need not be tested every week like a regular school fire drill, but you should be confident that they know how to quickly clear the egress window in their room and to safely use any supplemental escape device.

Following these procedures could save a life!

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Basement Window Well Facts & Information

These days basements provide homeowners more living space. They become the perfect addition for home theaters, pool tables and family entertainment areas. Children play, home offices are set up in them and they provide sleeping quarters.

Builders offer homeowners the ability to allow natural daylight into the basement by installing window wells or egress window wells when the home is built. Unfortunately this leaves a large exterior hole that the homeowner is left to deal with.

Indiana code requires that all egress wells be covered for safety. Most builders will cover egress openings using heavy steel grates, fencing or a wooden frame with lattice board. This does adhere to Indiana building code for safety, but leaves the homeowner to deal with constant maintenance issues due to this open style cover.

Open style covers still allow weather elements to reach the window, and in time can allow the basement window to leak and allow water into the basement. Open style well covers allow leaves and debris to collect in the wells creating constant homeowner cleaning to assure the drain remains operable and free of debris. Small animals and rodents can fall thru open style covers and become trapped in the well damaging the window screens trying to find a way back out.

Continued exposure to weather elements will cause rust to steel grates making them aesthetically unappealing. These grates are heavy and remain in place, but could be hard for a child to remove if an emergency occurred. Wooden lattice frames over time with weather exposure deteriorate and provide less support and eventually no safety for this large size opening. Fencing can become cumbersome to climb over again and again in order for the homeowner to maintain the wells.

Hardware and home improvement stores do carry basement well covers. They will generally stock a few different sizes, and if you are lucky enough to find one that fits the width of your well, it will typically not have the correct projection you need to fully enclose the entire opening. These covers will be made out of a thin plastic, will easily break and do not address the following considerations a homeowner should address when purchasing a basement well cover.

Things To Consider When Purchasing A Basement Well Cover

If you own a home with a basement window well or are in the process of building a home that will have basement window wells you should invest in a high quality cover that is constructed using Green Materials built to last. A durable and properly fitting cover may cost a little more up front, but in the long run, will limit the frustration homeowners have of trying to find one that actually fits and the cost involved in the continued replacement of the cheaper plastic covers.

1.) STRENGTH:

The thicker the material being used, the more support the cover will provide.

1/4" polycarbonate material will easily support 300 lbs.

2.) DURABILITY:

Address the material being used to construct the cover. Acrylics and Plexiglas do not provide the strength like Polycarbonate. Polycarbonate will also withstand temperature changes and will not get brittle and break.

3.) FUNCTION & DESIGN:

Will the cover fully enclose your well and window. Some windows extend above the actual well. Also, consider if you prefer the cover to hinge open or prefer it to lift completely off.

4.) AESTHETICS:

Consider how you want your cover to look. A good looking well cover can add value to your property.

5.) SECURITY:

Can the cover be locked from the underneath side to ward off potential burglars, but still allow easy escape in case of emergency.

6.) FIT:

Decide how well you want the cover to fit. Covers that are custom made to fit your well will generally look much more appealing.

7.) VENTILATION:

Proper ventilation reduces condensation and heat buildup.

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