Adding an egress basement window to your remodeled basement makes a lot of financial sense – but there’s another advantage you might not have thought of. As 60s pop icons The 5^th Dimension sang, egress windows “let the sun shine in.”

“Let the sunshine in! Oh, open up your heart and let it shine on in!”

Scot Krauser has been singing that a lot recently. A 41-year-old music teacher from Easy Brunswick, NJ, he literally “let the sun shine in” when he added egress windows to the basement of his three bedroom ranch.

“I love that song,” Scot beams. “Hair! has to be my favorite musical.”

And that’s saying something; since Scot admits he’s obsessed with music.

In fact, that’s why he and his wife, Emily, decided to turn their unfinished concrete basement into a music studio and playroom; clearing out the boxes and Christmas decorations that had been languishing there beforehand.

“The reason I’m a music teacher,” Scot explains, “is because I’m basically a frustrated musician. I still play a lot of gigs and my friends and I have been trying to put an album together for years.”

That wasn’t so easy when the closest any of them had to a music studio was a spare bedroom – and things got even more complicated when Scot had a son two years ago.

“I got talking to Emily and we decided the basement was the way to go. It adds a whole new area of living space to the house, and it’ll give Riley somewhere to play when he’s home from daycare.”

Even better, it’ll give Scot somewhere to record his music.

But the project wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds.

“When we started work, we checked with the local township and they said we would be best off having a “means of egress” installed. First off, I had to Google what means of egress actually meant! Then we had to find one to install.”

But installation, as it turned out, wasn’t such a big deal – and came with an unintended benefit.

“We always had a dark basement,” Scot admits, “so adding large egress windows made a big difference.” South facing windows were a great choice for adding light; and turned a gloomy storage space into one of the most welcoming rooms in the house.

“And check out the acoustics,” Scot beams, strumming his guitar. “They’re awesome.”