An egress window is defined as a point of entry or exit to and from your basement. A properly installed egress window acts as a safe escape route in case your home has a fire and the other exits are blocked. An egress window must be big enough for a full-grown man to be able to pass through. Many basements only have one egress point, the stairs to the first floor. These single egress point basements create a significant safety risk for anyone in the basement in the event of a home fire. A properly installed egress window provides another escape route for the occupants of the basement.
In addition to enhancing the safety of your family, adding an egress window to your basement offers many other benefits including increasing the value of your home. A basement room without an egress window cannot be classified as a bedroom when selling your home. Adding an egress window to a basement bedroom will allow the bedroom to be legally classified as a finished bedroom. One more bedroom when selling your home will create a nice increase in home value.
Due to the larger size of an egress window, a minimum of 5.7 square feet, significantly more natural light will flood into your basement making it a more welcoming living space. The larger window will also allow greater ventilation with outside air to freshen up your basement.
Your B-Dry® Systems of Louisville consultant can help you plan the perfect egress window installation to enhance the safety, beauty, and value of your home. Call today to schedule your no cost, no pressure quote 502-968-4444.
Egress Windows FAQ
The cost to install an egress window varies depending on several factors. These factors include the type and size of the window, the type and size of the egress well, the obstacles that must be overcome to properly install the window, and the amount of finishing work that is desired after installation. Our typical budget basement egress window installation is typically around $5000. Our premium egress window installation and custom window installations are higher. We do offer a no cost, no pressure quote so feel free to contact us and we will provide you a firm quote based on your particular situation.
No one can give you a definitive answer to this question other than a buyer, but typical sellers have found the addition of a bedroom, which requires two points of egress (door and window) and a closet to meet code for a bedroom, often adds $10,000 to $18,000 dollars to the value of a home. We recommend asking your real estate agent to estimate the increase in value of your home by adding an additional bedroom and the additional square footage of living space created by the egress window.
Yes, while there are a number of factors that must be considered when choosing the location of an egress window, having an existing basement window in that area is not one of them. It is very important for the structural integrity of your home to install the egress window in the right location and to install appropriate support for any perpendicular joists over the window. It is also critical that a steel lintel be installed below any brick façade that is left unsupported above an egress window.
Yes, we have installed numerous above grade egress windows. There have also been several instances where we were able to lower the grade at an egress window installation so that an egress well was not required.
For a basement window to meet ICC (International Code Council) egress code compliance it must meet the following conditions: The window shall have a sill height of not more than 44 inches (1118 mm) measured from the finished floor to the bottom of the clear opening. The window opening with a finished sill height below the adjacent ground elevation shall be provided with a window well. The opening shall open directly into a public way, or to a yard or court that opens to a public way. The window opening shall have a minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet. The minimum net clear opening height shall be 24 inches (610 mm). The minimum net clear opening width shall be 20 inches (508 mm). The window opening shall be operational from the inside of the room without the use of keys, tools or special knowledge. The minimum horizontal area of the window well shall be 9 square feet (0.9 m2), with a minimum horizontal projection and width of 36 inches (914 mm). The area of the window well shall allow the window to be fully opened. Window wells with a vertical depth greater than 44 inches (1118 mm) shall be equipped with an affixed ladder or steps usable with the window in the fully open position. Ladders or rungs shall have an inside width of at least 12 inches (305 mm), shall project at least 3 inches (76 mm) from the wall and shall be spaced not more than 18 inches (457 mm) on center vertically for the full height of the window well. The ladder or steps shall be permitted to encroach a maximum of 6 inches (152 mm) into the required dimensions of the window well. Window wells shall be designed for proper drainage by connecting to the building’s foundation drainage system or by an approved alternative method. Codes are subject to change and states and local municipalities may have additional code requirements. B-Dry will ensure that our egress window installation meets the code requirements for your area.