Stay EPA Compliant When Installing Egress Windows TAGS: Adding egress windows | basement egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | finishing a basement | means of egress

We’ve found a great product contractors will love; which helps them stick to new Environmental Protection Agency regulations when installing egress windows in the basement. Installing egress windows is a straightforward job – but it’s also a messy one. Contractors and homeowners looking to cut through brick, stone, masonry and wood to install their windows are going to churn out a lot of dust, grit and sawdust when they do so. Unfortunately, dealing with this debris isn’t as simple as throwing a tarp down. Because paint chips, sanding, grinding and cutting can throw up a lot of dangerous materials (including lead, …Continue reading →

Illegal Basement Apartments Beware: More Cities are Checking Code TAGS: building codes | Egress windows | means of egress

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are renting out basement apartments – but many of them aren’t up to code and therefore illegal. In addition to being dangerous, failure to install safety features like escape windows could lead to hefty fines and penalties if they’re discovered. There are a lot of reasons why people turn their basements into apartments: Sometimes it’s parents looking to give older kids a little independence. Other times it’s low income families looking for a little additional income. Whatever the reason, however, townships and cities are cracking down on these illegal residencies; and it can cost homeowners …Continue reading →

Window Boxes to Brighten Up Your Basement TAGS: basement egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | fixing smelly basements | means of egress

Britney made her basement blossom with window boxes added to her egress well. Philadelphia resident Britney Clark is loving living on her own for the first time – and hasn’t let any of the stereotypes about nightmarish “first apartments” come true. “My parents thought I was crazy when I said I was going to move out and into a basement apartment near my new job,” she admits. “They thought it would be dark and dank – just some smelly basement.” But Britney lucked out – the husband and wife who rented the apartment, and lived upstairs, had recently renovated it …Continue reading →

Window Well Pictures – Before and After TAGS: basement egress windows | Basement Windows | Egress windows | Photos

Before and after pictures of Elite window wells by RockWell installed for a newly constructed home’s finished basement. Tweet

Basement Apartment Fire in Trenton Demonstrates Importance of Egress Code TAGS: Adding egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | emergeny escape | means of egress | safe basement exit

National building code requires all basement apartments to have a safe means of egress – but many are rented out without this vital safety feature. Doing so, however risks deadly consequences. In Trenton, New Jersey, firefighters were recently called to a blaze in a busy residential neighborhood – in which two houses were engulfed in flames. Read about it at NJ.com. It’s believed the fire began on the porch of one of the Franklin Street homes, caused by a cigarette butt or stick of smoldering incense left in the trash by the occupant of the basement apartment. The upstairs tenant …Continue reading →

Making a Mother Daughter Apartment Safe and Legal TAGS: Adding egress windows | building codes | Egress windows | fixing smelly basements | natural light

When newly single Jess needed to move back in with her mother, she had some ideas to help keep her sense of independence. “You know, I never imagined I’d be married and divorced, all before I hit thirty,” admits customer Jess Mally, from New Hampshire. “It’s a big blow to the ego to have to move back in with a parent – especially when all your friends are buying houses and having babies.” But fortunately, Jess’s story has a happy ending. “When my husband and I decided to get divorced, I thought it was the end of the world. We’d …Continue reading →

Family Fire Drills: Don’t Forget the Basement Route TAGS: Egress windows | emergeny escape | means of egress | safe basement exit

Egress windows are an important safety addition to any basement redesign – but learning to use them effectively is equally important. Clarence Klein, from Cleveland Ohio, takes fire drills very seriously. “When I was just a kid,” he explains, “I lost my dad to a fire in our home.” Even thirty years later, it’s a terrifying memory that stays with him. “That’s why I’m a bit obsessive about fire safety in my own house.” For Clarence, that means running his own family through twice annual fire drills – outlining all the escape routes from the home, and where to meet …Continue reading →

April is Safe Digging Month TAGS: Adding egress windows | Dial 811 | Dig Safe

Whether your basement is beneath a ranch house or a mansion, adding windows to it requires one identical process – digging a big hole! To ensure people dig those holes safely, and to reduce the risk of property damage or personal injury, the Common Ground Alliance has declared April to be “Safe Digging Month.” What’s beneath your feet? For homeowners, the answer could be power lines, cables, gas pipes and sewer lines. As more and more townships beautify themselves, more and more of the essential wiring that keeps our cities ticking has been transferred beneath our feet. For homeowners in …Continue reading →

Better Basement Ventilation: A Second Egress Window Brings a Breath of Fresh Air TAGS: basement | Basement Windows | bringing fresh air in a basement | damp basement | fixing smelly basements | prevent mold in basements

National building code requires all furnished basements to have a means of egress – but adding egress window wells can have other benefits as well; as one New Jersey homeowner discovered. “Sometimes I used to wonder why they even built a basement in this house,” admits Lambertville resident Rick. “We lived far enough away from the river that the house never flooded, but for as long as I lived here there was a funky, damp smell downstairs and it just wouldn’t go away.” Rick’s beautiful Victorian home is just blocks from the Delaware river; and his basement is an important …Continue reading →

DIY Basement Finishing: Make Sure You Know the Codes TAGS: basement | basement remodel ideas | building codes | Egress windows | finishing a basement

Richard thought he was smart to finish his basement himself – until it came time to sell his house. “I guess the moral to the story is: Don’t cut corners.” Richard’s talking about the finished basement of his Reading, Pa. home. “My buddies and I did it about five years ago,” he explains. “My wife and I had been talking about finishing the basement for a while, so we bought what we needed from the hardware store and got cracking.” And for a project fueled by six packs of beer and how-to articles found on Google, Richard and his friends …Continue reading →