How To Handle EGRESS Windows In Finished Basements
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- buildshownetwo...
At the Ranch Remodel, Steve helps us solve the challenge of basement windows. One challenge when it comes to basements is dealing with the small windows. Steve shows us how to create a concrete retaining wall on the outside of the windows to hold back the ground for deeper windows and provide the ability to climb out if there was a fire in the basement.
Not all basement windows are egress windows. In an unfinished basement, you might have some ventilated windows, but these likely wouldn't meet codes for egress windows. In finished basements, building codes require you to have egress windows so a person can fit through.
Basement egresses tend to have stricter standards. Steve walks us through the requirements and how to make it happen.
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Any concern about fall protection for children on the outside of the house?
PS thank you for these great videos.
that's one of the reasons i was wondering if if can be a nook with a glass window and hach but sub-grade ( in a older house i saw one that did the same thing but was above grade or on the 2 floor/Victorian stylish or the vibe's was ) and im probably not explaining what i have in my mind really well but i tried to ask as we get enough snow in my area to fill it up making it hard to clean out and use if the need arises
We have clear plastic covers over the opening that attach to our house besides high metal retaining walls around our basement windows.
This is exactly what I needed. I hate my slider egress windows. The interior opening windows will seal a lot better, and thank you for clearing up the drain tile.
I appreciate including a section and sketching over that, so helpful to see the detail!
your welcome
if this is a remodel of an older house, then presumably there is no vapor barrier under the slab or around the walls. did you do anything to create a vapor barrier before finishing the basement?
Insulated the walls with 2" close cell
Ahhh the New England leaf well. Guaranteed to bring in the fresh sent of rotting N.E. maple and oak tree leaves. As an engineer yes i fully realize the need for them, but god keeping those things clean and neat is near impossible.
Acrylic cover?
@@stevenbaczekarchitect9431 Yes but that's kinda big especially for the snow loads. I've seen those clear ones for a normal sized window, but you'd need something massive for the slope. I mean your design is so well thought out compared to most and the extra space will help.
Are there any special details needed for waterproofing the window?
Good idea. Any concerns with frost protection.
What brand of windows did you use? Great video with explanations for choices made.
I think he’s shown this window in another video, where he mentioned it’s “Schuco” - very good quality euro window mfr...
Thanks! What's your required, (and desired) clearance outside the window horizontally? Do your casement windows open all the way? I guess you don't have the issue here, but it seems this design could have trouble if the water table is high. Do you usually run the drain at footing level so it has to go through the footing instead of the wall?
Great video!
Thank you for joining us
Beautiful section plan! I notice there's kind of a groove between the foundation footing and the foundation wall. Does that detail reduce seepage or act as a capillary break? And why was it not replicated on the retaining wall as well?
It's a keyway to keep the foundation wall from potentially sliding/being pushed off the footing in a worst case scenario. It locks them together.
For "water protection", why not look at those "hinged plastic covers" that cover the "dig down", and keeps snow and other weather out of the "dig out"?
Or maybe create a greenhouse. Glass it in and it would be nice in the winter to see some green.
Cleaning leaves out of these window wells always sucks. I like the idea of a cover but you lose the ventilation. I’m consider putting some patio stones spaced apart in my window wells to make leaf removal easier but still allow drainage. The leaves break down and get into the pea stone and it makes a mess and looks like crap.
So two questions: 1. Egress window size is listed at 5.7 square feet minimum. Yours is about half that size. Explain? 2. Your perimeter drain is shown in the footing (since the footing wraps). Huh? What am I missing?
20x24 is the min dimension (wxh) for an egress window, but like you point out you also need the 5.7 sqft (so a 20x24 window won't meet code). In the drawing, there is a 4' 2.75" RO for the window, meaning this is about a 4' tall window. It looked about 2' wide. So the min req. of 20x24 and >5.7 sqft are both more than accommodated with this window design.
2. The perimeter drain is outside of the original footing. The footing on the right of the drain is for the newly added retaining wall for the window well. Note the "rock" pattern applied to the drawing surrounding the drain, that represents the stone that the french drain sits in. The 3 bar hatch is just the soil.
for a below grade window the *clear opening* window size is 5.0 square feet. in any event, it looks like he has easily got 5.7 square feet of clear opening space with the windows shown.
Massachusetts has a relief to 3.3 sq ft for egress windows
@@stevenbaczekarchitect9431 that is a ridiculously small egress window requirement. so much so that it begs the question of why have a code at all in that case? would you be able to escape through a 20"x24" window? not only would you have to be reasonably thin, but you would also have to be fairly flexible. that latter is a tall order for many older people.
YOU could just "hop out" that window? Seriously?