If you're finishing a basement and putting a bedroom in it, you need an egress window. That is not a preference and it is not an upsell. It's a code requirement, and an inspector will catch it.
We do this work. Most window companies won't, because it's a construction job as much as a window job.
An egress window is an exit. It has to be large enough for an adult to climb out of in a fire, and large enough for a firefighter in full gear to climb into. That's the entire logic behind every dimension in the code.
Any bedroom below grade needs one. So does a finished basement in most jurisdictions, whether or not you're calling any of it a bedroom. If you're adding a room, an inspector is going to ask.
Colorado jurisdictions build on the International Residential Code, and the core requirements are consistent across the Front Range:
Two things homeowners get wrong. First, hitting the minimum height and the minimum width at the same time does not get you to 5.7 square feet. Run the multiplication. Second, local jurisdictions amend the code, and Denver, Aurora, and the surrounding cities don't all read identically. We confirm against your actual jurisdiction before anything gets ordered, and we pull the permit.
An egress install in an existing foundation wall is not a window swap.
Cutting the opening. If there's no opening, or the existing one is undersized, the concrete or block gets cut. This is the part that makes it a different job, and it's why the price isn't comparable to a standard replacement.
Setting the window. Usually a casement or a sliding unit, because those give you the most net clear opening for the wall space you have. A double-hung wastes half the opening on the fixed sash.
Excavation and the well. Digging out, setting the well, and getting drainage right so you're not building a bathtub against your foundation. Drainage is where cheap egress jobs fail, and it fails as a water problem in the room you just finished.
Backfill, grade, and the cover. Finished so water runs away from the house, not into the well.
The cheapest version of this job is the one planned into the basement project from the start. The most expensive version is the one an inspector requires after the drywall is up, the flooring is down, and the framing is in the way.
If a basement conversion is anywhere in your plans, get the egress question answered at the beginning. We'll come out and tell you what your opening needs to be and what it takes to get there, whether or not you hire us to do it.
Sometimes there's already a basement window and the question is whether it can be enlarged rather than cut fresh. Sometimes it's already compliant and nobody realized it. We measure the net clear opening and tell you which situation you're in.
That answer is free, and it's occasionally the answer that costs us the job.
We'll come measure the opening, tell you exactly what your jurisdiction requires, and give you a written, line-itemized quote. No pressure, no scare tactics.
Yes. Below-grade sleeping rooms require emergency escape and rescue openings. It's one of the first things inspectors look for.
Sometimes. Older basement windows are frequently too small on net clear opening even when they look large enough. We measure before you plan around it.
Most single egress installs run one to three days depending on whether the foundation opening has to be cut and how much excavation the well takes.
Yes. Egress work requires one in every Front Range jurisdiction we work in.
It depends on whether the opening exists, what the foundation is, and how much excavation the well takes. There's no honest single number for this, so we won't publish one. We'll give you a written, line-itemized quote after we look at it.
We do the window, the opening, and the well. We're windows and doors, not general remodeling.