Is your basement dark and dosen’t have a lot of natural light in it?  A egress window can be a great way to add light into your basement.  Some basements have windows near the ceiling.  The let a little bit of light in, but not much.  Your basement also still feels like a basement.  Not only does an egress window add light to your basement, it can also make a storage room a “legal bedroom.” 

In order for a basment bedroom to be considered a “legal bedroom”  and not just another room it needs to have a conforming window in it.  To be considered a legal egress window there are four measurement you need to be aware of.  First, the minimum width of the opening of the window must be 20 inches.  You need to make sure that the opening is 20 inches, not just the width of the glass of the window.  The second measurement is the minimum height of the opening is 24 inches.    The minimum net clear opening is 5.7 sq. ft.  It is 5.0 square ft. for the ground floor.  The final measurement that you must be aware of is that the maximum sill height above the floor is 44 inches. 

Any type of window can be installed for an egress window, as long as it meet the above requirements.  The most common egress window is the casement, or crank out window.  This window is used because it minimizes the hole size for the egress window.

Installing the egress window can be a big process.   Many homeowners call professionals to do the job.  If you can afford it this is a good way to go.  If you are a handy homeowner and want to do it yourself there are a few things that you should do before you start.  First you should check with the city you live in to make sure you are following all of the codes they have for the egress window.  The window and retaining wall need to be certain heights and widths for children to climb out of, and firefighters to get in.  You want to make sure you are following the city codes.  You also want to make sure there are no underground wires.  The eaisest way to do that is in Minnesota call Gopher State One Call.  They will come out and mark where the wires are.  Make sure you dig safely around the wires.

 An egress window is a great way to add value to your home.  It makes a room into a legal bedroom.  It also can add light to a basement family room.  Happy digging!