How To Install Basement Windows

Does your business firm need another bedroom? Converting an unfinished cranium or basement into living space is a corking way to gain that extra room. Both of these expansion options are less expensive than building a domicile improver.

Any and every bedroom in the house must have an egress window for safety reasons. In the event of a fire or other home emergency, an egress window provides a safe means of escape for home occupants, as well as an entry bespeak for a firefighter or other first responder. Of form, egress windows provide other benefits, too. They let light into the room—a valuable commodity in any basement remodeling project. An egress window likewise provides ventilation and a view exterior.

Egress Windows and Building Codes

It'due south important to check with your building section about egress window requirements in your locality. While egress windows are a standard feature in new structure, they are too required in many remodeling applications. Whenever y'all are converting an existing space into a chamber, your building will require an egress window in the new bedroom.

Egress Window Specifications

The most important details about egress windows have to do with size and accessibility. The window must provide an open area at least 20 inches broad and 24 inches tall, totaling at least 5.7 square feet. To be accessible, the bottom of the window opening can be no higher than 44 inches off the floor.

If you are installing an egress window in a basement to comply with your edifice lawmaking, in that location are specific requirements you lot'll need to meet. The egress window must open up into a window well outside the foundation that must be at least 36 inches wide and provide at least 9 square feet of infinite when the window is open up. At that place should exist at least half-dozen inches between the windowsill and the bottom of the window well, and the well needs to be equipped with a ladder if it's more than than 44 inches deep.

How to Install an Egress Window

Window manufacturers typically bespeak which windows in their product selection meet size requirements for egress windows. So, when ordering, be mindful of the requirements and make sure yous select a window that'southward egress-compliant.

If you demand to install an egress window in a wood-frame wall, there are no special structural requirements. You lot can apply the same framing specs required for any window. Merely make sure that the bottom of the window opening is no more than 44 inches above flooring level.

Only Professionals Should Cutting Through Masonry Walls

It'southward much more difficult and more than expensive to install an egress window in a masonry wall, especially if information technology's a basement wall. For starters, y'all'll need to excavate exterior the basement wall in the window location and create a deep window well that will provide full admission to the window. Then you'll need to cutting through the foundation wall to create a rough opening that's the correct size to install the window.

Cutting through a masonry wall (which will likely exist made from concrete block or solid concrete) requires special equipment, and the work is hard and messy. It'south likewise tricky to decide the size of the opening in the foundation wall, considering it needs to arrange wood framing members (pressure-treated studs, sill and header) that reinforce the foundation and provide nailing surfaces for installing the window.

Considering of these factors, most homeowners cull to hire a contractor for this type of job.

Information technology's ordinarily smarter and safer for DIYers to attain savings by doing some or all of the interior renovation work in the basement. However, if you're experienced and want to handle this role of the chore yourself, it's possible to hire a concrete saw and (in some cases) a small excavating machine from a rental center. The size of the opening in the foundation needs to suit the woods framing that creates the rough opening specified past the window manufacturer.

One of the most important decisions you'll need to make when installing a basement egress window is the type of window well enclosure you want on the exterior of your foundation. Some type of enclosure is necessary, for advent and to hold back the soil around the window.

Easiest Method: Buy a Factory-Made Window Well

You can build a window well enclosure using concrete blocks or pressure-treated landscape ties. But it'southward easiest to purchase and install a prefabricated window well that's uniform with your egress window.

There are a number of different factory-fabricated window wells available. Some of these incorporate code-required steps or ladders and clear plastic caps that prevent snow and rain from filling the well. Prefabricated units are easy to install because they are made with wide flanges that are secured to the foundation wall with masonry fasteners.

Once the opening in the foundation has been made, the next step is to prep the new opening for the rough framing required to install the window. Brand sure to smooth and fill any voids or uneven surfaces around the opening that's been cut in the foundation. You lot want the masonry opening to exist as smooth and foursquare as possible before you fasten the window framing lumber to the masonry with construction adhesive and masonry fasteners.

Use some extra mortar to gradient the bottom of the masonry opening toward the exterior, so that water can bleed to the outside. The sides of the framed opening should be plumb; the sill and header should be level.

If necessary, insert plastic shims between framing and masonry to become your crude opening done right. Take care to prevent water intrusion by thoroughly caulking the joint between wood and masonry.

Then you lot can install your window by fastening the window'southward nailing flanges to the outside of your framed opening. Make sure to utilize hot-dipped galvanized nails or corrosion-resistant screws. Afterward your window is fastened in place, you can install the exterior trim using synthetic trim boards.

To finish the exterior part of the task, spread some clean gravel on the floor of the window well and backfill around the outside of the well enclosure. If you didn't purchase a cover for your window well, information technology's wise to make one and put it in place. A comprehend will prevent children from falling into the well, and likewise keep the interior dry during moisture weather.