Basement Room Ideas: Making the Most of Your Space TAGS: basement egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | finishing a basement | Refinishing your basement

Over the course of the next few blog posts, we’ll be examining some of the best ways to expand your home and make use of your available basement space. In our first post: Finishing your basement to be a fully-featured media room, home theater or family room. Whether grabbing popcorn for the big movie, or hot dogs for the big game, one popular venue is a basement media room. It’s an increasingly popular use for finished basement space. In many ways, a basement is the perfect space for installing a big-screen TV – one of the few places in the …Continue reading →

Finish a Basement Apartment Safely with Egress Window Wells TAGS: basement | basement egress windows | Basement Windows | Egress windows | emergeny escape | finishing a basement | means of egress

To finish a basement apartment safely includes having a “means of egress” – a building code requirement that calls for an easy escape in the event of an emergency. But don’t look at your window wells as an obligation – think of the opportunities they could offer instead. Egress window wells are not just a building code requirement – they offer a number of additional benefits that can help make a basement apartment much more enjoyable. When you’re planning to install your basement window wells, consider the advantages of the different rooms you could install them in: Kitchen: There are …Continue reading →

Meeting Egress Requirements with a Basement Rental Apartment: Making the Most of your Space TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | emergeny escape | means of egress | safe basement exit

Over the course of the next few blog posts, we’ll be examining some of the best ways to expand your home and make use of your available basement space. In this post we will address the right way to meet egress requirements for a finished basement turned rental apartment. America is in the midst of a crisis right now – even a couple of years after the recession supposedly ended. The problem is that millions of American homeowners have been hit hard by the housing crash and now owe more on their homes than their properties are actually worth. One …Continue reading →

Color and Crunch for your Basement Window Well TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | Installing an Egress Window

A means of egress is a necessary part of national building code – but just because something’s necessary, doesn’t mean it can’t look cool. If you’re installing a basement window well, think about shaking things up. One option is by choosing an unusual backfill product. Window wells don’t need to be boring. We’ve already covered how they can be used as basement gardens, for growing window boxes filled with flowers or fresh vegetables, but another option for getting a cool look for your well is to mix up the material you use for backfilling. Backfilling is a vital part of …Continue reading →

Installing an Egress Window? We Take the Guesswork Out TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | finishing a basement

If you’re thinking of installing an egress window in your home, we can help you get everything you need with a single click. Last Christmas, I bought a new iPhone, and a whole load of accessories that were on sale. And what did I discover when I got home? That none of the on-sale accessories worked with this season’s latest iPhone. It’s a perennial problem – making sure the accessories and extras you buy fit the product you intend them for – and it extends far beyond just mobile phones. It even extends to home construction supplies (I can’t be …Continue reading →

Cavemen Were Smart. Live Like One in a Finished Basement TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | finishing a basement

A finished basement gives all the benefits cavemen used to rave about. Take advantage. Back in prehistoric times, our early ancestors used to live in caves. This wasn’t just a matter of sheltering from the elements – at also made a lot more sense than building huts or lean-tos; which required a lot of work and materials to construct, and didn’t provide nearly as much shelter as mother nature did. Caves – built as they were from meters of impenetrable rock – were incredibly well insulted. As a result, they were a place cavemen could shelter from the heat in …Continue reading →

Smart Moves to Keep Your Basement Dry TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Basement Windows | bringing fresh air in a basement | damp basement | Egress windows | finishing a basement | prevent mold in basements | Refinishing your basement | Sunlight into a basement

Basements get damp. It’s one of the natural laws of the universe – like how when you drop a piece of toast, it always lands butter-side down. But there are things you can do to keep your finished basement dry, fresh and welcoming. For many homeowners, adding egress windows helped eliminate their damp problem – as it gave a free-flowing source of fresh air that helped expel lingering moisture. But if you’re deciding to finish your basement, there are some other tips and techniques you can use to minimize or eliminate the risk of dampness. The first is to consider …Continue reading →

Don’t Turn Your Window Well into a Wishing Well: Prevent Basement Flooding TAGS: Adding egress windows | damp basement | Egress windows

When you’re adding an egress window well to your finished basement, make sure you take the water table into consideration. Water can make or break a basement refurbishment, as any homeowner will tell you – and adding a means of egress can play an important part in that. Sump pumps and drainage can help prevent basement flooding; but heavy rain and storms can still have devastating consequences if you don’t take precautions. So when you’re considering adding an egress well to your finished basement, make sure you give some thought to how that might impact the way water moves around …Continue reading →

Don’t Move – Expand! TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement remodel ideas | Egress windows | finishing a basement | means of egress

Finishing a basement can be a great alternative to buying a bigger house. Just don’t forget the egress windows! According to economists, the recession is over – but it doesn’t feel that way to millions of American homeowners. In fact, in some parts of the country house prices are the lowest they’ve been for a half century – in Detroit, for example, the average house price has dropped to just $44,000! And with the housing market still deeply depressed, many homeowners with growing families are struggling. “We had our third kid last June,” explained Long Island homeowner Janine, “and we’re …Continue reading →

Basement Egress Window Code Saves Lives – But It Almost Didn’t Happen TAGS: basement egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | means of egress

Basement egress window code saves many lives each and every year – but there were many who tried to prevent a means of egress being part of the building requirements. In 2000, the International Residential Code (IRC) was changed to require all basement dwellings to have a means of egress; in case of fire or other emergency. That inspired politicians to move on similar legal requirements in the United States – but contrary to what you might expect, it wasn’t easy to get them passed. You might wonder why people would resist adding a life-saving measure to the national building …Continue reading →