Egress Windows Case Studies: Egress Window Installation Creates Challenges

Challenge

Homeowners Randy and Carroll were excited by the news that their daughter would be moving back in with them soon. They made plans to have her stay in the basement, but ran into an issue: they needed to install a fire escape in order to feel she was safe living down there. Creating a fire escape would also ensure that the space is up to code if they were to eventually sell their home. 

Service Design Specialist, Brock Scott, came out and inspected and assessed the situation. Randy and Carroll decided to go with Thrasher to install their fire escape because of "how thorough we were on the inspection, how nice our finished products look, and how detailed were are on communicating every aspect of the project." 

A Unique Situation with this Project.

While Brock was inspecting the area of the project, he realized the homeowners had a lot of utilities right outside of the location they initially wanted the project to occur. More specifically, there was an electrical line on the outside, a 220 line was running through the window, and they had an AC unit on the exterior of the dig area.

On top of those technical issues, we also had to create a solution so that they could have a window well cover in addition to a crank-out window. This is challenging because a crank-out window has to sit entirely under the well in order for a cover to work. If not, the window won't be able to open with the cover on. As you can imagine, all these problems created some difficulties. 

Solution

Starting with the technical issues, we recommended another location in the basement that would work for their window and their future bedroom. Using the new location, their daughter would have a fire escape on each side of the home since the stairs were on one side and the fire escape was on the other. We also ensured that this space would easily be walled off, creating a bedroom. 

To create a basement fire escape, we created an egress window. During the project, we used our stone-pressed composite well, providing the family with a beautiful well that is also strong enough to withstand Nebraska's ever-changing clay soil that tends to cause so many problems. Additionally, we were able to provide a cover for the well. To do this, we lifted the well up out of the ground a bit, making it visually appealing. This also created a larger-than-normal header so that the window could sit below the top of the well, ensuring the usability of the cover. 

Do you think your basement would benefit from an egress window? If so, you can get a free estimate here!

Project Summary

Basement Fire Escape: Egress Window